Is there anything better than chatting telly and films with your pals? Well, we’re claiming Wicklow woman Katie McGrath as our good pal now after she divulged all her favourite screen moments.
What were you doing before you sat down to chat with us?
I was hanging out sheets! It’s a really beautiful day, and a good day for drying laundry [laughs]. Getting into crisp bedsheets is the best feeling in the world – it gives me instant gratification and it’s something so small.
So Katie, can you tell us about your latest project, Brown Bread?
It’s about the push and pull between being ambitious and coming home; the pull of your family versus where you want to go. With your family, you’re always the same person and while they want you to succeed, they still want you to remain their little girl or boy. It looks at how family relationships never really change and how sometimes we don’t say the things that are the most important to hear.
We’ll be tuning into that, but what are you watching at the moment?
I started watching Grey’s Anatomy last week because I’ve never seen it and I love a medical drama. I was looking for something that had lots of episodes, because they rarely make a show with 20 episodes per season any more, so we just started that! More recently, I watched Paradise on Disney+ which I thought was amazing. Also Presumed Innocent on Apple TV with Jake Gyllenhall. I loved The Morning Show, too.
Has there been a series that has left a lasting impression on you?
The West Wing. Everything I know about American politics I learned from that show. It’s been very helpful over the last few years!
A movie you won’t ever forget?
I’ve watched millions of movies but I love the original Dune by David Lynch. My eldest brother had read all the books so he sat down and watched it with me. It’s a very complicated movie so I was pausing it every two or three minutes to ask questions but it’s a really lovely memory that I share with him. It took us about three or four hours to watch the movie because he was explaining everything, but I’ve really fond memories of that movie now.
What’s your favourite and least favourite thing about your career?
My favourite thing is that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, and you get to live a million different lives in this one, and that is incredible. At the same time, every big family occasion over the last twenty years, I’ve probably missed. After a while, a really nice hotel room is just that – a hotel room, and you’re sitting there while your family are sending pictures and videos, and that’s really hard. That’s one of the reasons why I moved home because I didn’t want to miss anything else.
What’s the best script you’ve ever read?
This one! Brown Bread was the quickest I’ve ever agreed to. There was no thought involved, it was an immediate yes.
What’s the biggest part you’ve missed out on?
You do so many auditions and read for so many roles, many of which you already know you’re never going to get. I used to read for different movies or shows when I was on Merlin and I knew I probably couldn’t do it. I read for Daenerys on Game of Thrones but I was on another show at the time, so I was like, why am I even doing this? Another time, I missed out on Gods of Egypt but got Jurassic instead, where I was eaten by a dinosaur which was much better. That was amazing, it was just incredible. I was a small part of a very big movie. My first day on set in Hawaii, I looked at the call sheet and it had Steven Spielberg’s name on it. It was an un-repeatable experience.
What’s your dream role?
I’d love to do another really big production, which has a huge scope like Jurassic, Top Gun etc. I love all of that stuff. A big blockbuster. They’re so fun, so massive. Nothing comes close to it.
What else have you got coming up?
I shot a movie called Everyone Digs Bill Evans with Bill Pullman, Barry Ward and Laurie Metcalf. It’s a biopic of a jazz musician. We finished it about two weeks ago, so I’m not sure when it’ll be released but it’s on the horizon.