Exclusive:Vivian Oparah, Leah McNamara, Yasmin Monet Prince, and Isidora Fairhurst on Sky’s new thriller Then You Run

Leah McNamara, Yasmin Monet Prince, Isidora Fairhurst, and Vivian Oparah recently joined NationalWorld’s Alex Moreland to talk about their new thriller Then You Run. The series, which was written by The Capture’s Ben Chanan, follows four teenagers on a post-exams holiday – who find themselves on the run across Europe after a run-in with one of Rotterdam’s biggest drug dealers. 

The four actors explained what drew them to Then You Run in the first place, discussed their experience shooting the series in Berlin, and spoke about how their bond as an ensemble shaped their performances. They also revealed some of the challenges involved in bringing the series to life, and 

What drew you to Then You Run in the first place? Why was it something you wanted to be involved in?

Yasmin Monet Prince: The scripts were amazing from the jump. We got about three episodes – which you don't get, it's very rare [to get that many episodes] – so we got to really just dive in and see the world for itself. Like, even if I didn't get the job. I was gonna be like, “wow, I really want to know what happens next!” It was so exciting, it was dynamic, it was funny. It just keeps you on your toes. Ben wrote such an amazing couple of scripts, it just drew me to all of the characters – because they're all such complete individuals, but you also see why they're together. 

Leah McNamara: Yeah, so well said. I think it definitely it was the scripts, as soon as I was sent them – and as Yasmin said, it's very rare to be sent so many episodes at once, sometimes if you're auditioning, you only get a scene with no context and a breakdown of the character – but I definitely remember reading the script and I was like, I absolutely have to play this part. It's really rare to get something that you love so much, and love so instantly – and it was just an instant thing with this script. It's so clever. It's so tight. I think what was on the page definitely shows in the episodes. It keeps you on your toes, you're always on to the next thing, it doesn't lag whatsoever. The writing is clever: it's so thrilling in the action, but then there's also such deep, lovely emotional personal moments, and then it also has great comedic moments. So, I remember initially reading it and seeing all these things, and it being done so well, it was just such an exciting thing to read.

Vivian Oparah: When I got the first couple of scripts – written by Ben Chanan, I was familiar with his work, and I knew he's an incredible writer – I just was super inspired. I felt energized, because I've never read anything like that before – I'd never read four teenage girls and this type of complexity written in them before. And I loved it that it was – at the heart of it, despite everything bonkers that's going on – I love that it was a story about family, and the different types of family that you find, and how far you go to protect that family. Yeah, man, it was just ticks across the board for me, I just really wanted to be a part of it, because I knew I would want to watch it, and I wouldn't watch it if I wasn't in it because I’d probably be too upset!

Isidora Fairhurst: Likewise, the scripts were incredible. Having met Robbie [McKillop, director] and Daniel [Edwards, casting director] in person, before COVID, I could just read the energy of them. It felt very exciting from the start, and I was just very curious to see how it would all unfold. I still am curious, what the rest of the episodes look like, I just really, really want to watch it.

What was your working relationship like, as an ensemble of the four of you – how would you say you influenced each other’s performances?

YMP: I feel like, with the four of us – coming from different backgrounds but having a very similar sense of dark humour, [while] at the same time having different opinions on life – we definitely implement the way we are as four actors into the story of the four girls. It was very easy to play, to be honest; we connected very well from the jump. We were like best friends, to be honest, it was so easy. It’s crazy to think, because you don't get that a lot. It's very rare. You [normally] have to build it as you go along, but we had a group chat at the beginning, before we even started, it was popping every day. 

LM: Yeah! I think that WhatsApp group takes up the most memory of all of my WhatsApp group chats, because of how long it's been there, and how active it's been. I think for me – obviously being Irish, you know, I'm the only one of the four of us who didn't grow up in London, playing someone who had grown up in London – for me, it was so great to have that closeness with the girls. Not just while we were filming either, because I got to absorb how they are, how they talk – absorb more of that London culture from people who actually grew up here. 

All of that information developing Tara as a character was so helpful and so beneficial to me and the girls are so supportive of me, you know, being Irish and playing that part. So, that was definitely great for me, and everyone is so, so good to each other while we're filming – you know, [the camera] isn't on me, and it's on someone else, or vice versa, but you give it 110% every time, you know? Everyone was so selfless with their performances and what they would give people when the camera wasn't on them. That isn't always the case, so it was it was so great to have that constant support, everyone wanting to give it 110% all the time, the whole way through the shoot and that never lagged once. So, it was such a great experience to shoot with the three girls.

IF: Hugely, hugely. I mean, the prep for me [was] just bonding over that WhatsApp group chat and just creating a rapport with each other. Having been cast over Zoom – [casting director] Daniel Edwards did an incredible job – we hadn't actually met each other until after we were cast. Oh, it was incredible to be with the girls in person, and we definitely fed off each other 100% - we helped each other, we created new moments in the scripts, and as our friendship blossomed the girls’ friendship in the series blossomed too.

VO: Yeah, it was great being able to spend time with each other for real in Berlin, because then we're making all these fun memories and you have a basis of a friendship which is actually rooted in reality that you know, a tangible reality rather than a made up one and made-up memories. So then when that's all at stake in the show – because everything becomes at stake, in a grave way – you know what you're gonna miss? These fantastic times - real life moments in Berlin - became the foundations of what we would think about when we were filming. Yeah, it was a good vibe, man.

Then You Run has elements of different genres to it – a bit of crime drama, a bit of a coming-of-age story, so on. Do you have any favourites of those genres? Something that maybe this compares to, or was an influence for you in terms of how you thought about Then You Run?

LM: I think – I really do think! – it is quite original. Like, anytime I tried to think of [something Then You Run is similar to], I feel like there's only little segments that I can associate with it? You know, say like The Sopranos or Love /Hate – it's hard to compare it to anything, because I feel like it's a gangland crime meets a psychological thriller meets coming of age meets a dark comedy. There's so much going on at once, and I don't think I've seen anything like it that is able to bind so many genres so well. It feels very fluid, and it's very cohesive in how it's been done. Maybe I'm biased! But I think it's super super original in that regard.

YMP: That's what makes it so interesting. I feel like when people watch it, they'll see some of their favourite shows within it [at] different parts – because of the three different storylines at the same time again, with the drama and the comedy, with the girls figuring out who they are and how they interact with each other, the fights that they have and the action all in between. So yeah, you can't compare it – when I first watched the first episode I was just like, wow. Like honestly, I'm very harsh person myself, I can sit back and look out and be like, damn, this is definitely different. I'm so excited for everyone to see it.

IF: I saw Beau is Afraid recently, and I thought it was such an experience. I feel like our show has a similar tone – probably not as intense – but I think movies and TV shows now are having to try new things and mix things together. 

VO: The show definitely feels like its own thing and his own world. Kudos, who produced it, produced one of my favourite shows ever, Utopia, and [Then You Run] has nods to Utopia. I always felt like Stink was like an amalgamation of Cook from Skins and Nathan from Misfits, and I love those shows as well. But when it all really comes together, there's nothing that feels like the show, which is why it was so exciting to do. You said that Nessi reminds you of Ron Weasley?

IF: Oh yeah! I was rewatching the Harry Potters, Nessi reminds me of Ron. She's the one in the group that keeps the group together. I mean, Ron is so loyal to Harry, and she's the same. I think Ron’s underestimated as well, and I think Nessi has a similar thing going on there.

VO: These group dynamics, we see them a lot in TV and film, but I don't know that you've seen them with four girls who are like this in in this way before? Which is exciting. 

Obviously, this was quite a long shoot, and an international one too, and for some of you either your first big show, or at least your first lead role in a while. How do you approach something like that?

IF: This was my first big job, really, but it didn't feel like that – because of the friendship that I grew with the girls. It felt so easy. And it was it was a lot easier doing a project that you genuinely like, when the writing is good. That always helps – I'm super lucky. I feel like having come out of COVID, it made it quite a unique experience. I think we were all thirsty to work and just socialize with people. So yeah, we were ready for it, and it was amazing. It really was.

LM: I think the scripts, definitely, were key for me. Having them so far in advance – even as we went into the second block, as the later episodes came in, we always had a good amount of time with them. It was great to be able to just read and reread them, and think about the characters. It was a long time away. The four of us being together, being in Berlin, away from our friends, away from our family, we had such an immediate close friendship that was just so special. That was a huge part of our relationship on screen, but also just us as four young women away from home, just spending time together and enjoying each other's company like that helps so much for the enjoyment of the whole thing.

YMP: For me personally, my process with any long shoot is that I just go with the story. I don't really see it as a whole eight episodes. It's like ‘hey, cool, these are the two episodes, I’m gonna enjoy this bit as if it's a film’ and then we're into the second part. It's just easier that way, because you just never know what you might find while you're filming, and exactly with the girls as well. Like, I really pay off them guys, and what they give me, and what I could give them, so it develops as it goes along.

VO: Yeah, it was incredible. It’s funny: because it was post-COVID, that was a really helpful mindset to be in for Stink, because Stink is so like “I just want to have fun, I'm on this mission of pleasure and enjoyment, I want the best and to do all the fun things”. Honestly, I had a shred of that mind state coming out of COVID – not to the level that she has it, but definitely had that. So, it helped to have that to plug into the character. I think the isolation of COVID helped me to be super granular with the prep process – you could really just sit with a character, and think about the character, and think about the story. [Then You Run] is like a thriller that swerves a lot, but because the world was pausing, you just had time to properly plug into that.

Then You Run begins on Sky Max on Friday 7 July at 9pm, with new episodes airing weekly. You'll also be able to stream the full series as a boxset immediately. You can read our interview with Then You Run's creator Ben Chanan here, or listen to an audio version of that interview with Ben Chanan on Screen Babble here.

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