ROSY McEWEN IS THE JEAN GENIE…

Growing up in London, acting was always a far-off dream for Rosy McEwen. “I didn’t think it could be a job; I was too scared.” But following a stint on TV series The Alienist, the 27year-old actor is now the BIFA-nominated lead in the brilliant Blue Jean, an ’80s-set drama about a lesbian PE teacher struggling with her sexuality.

Blue Jean is your first lead. Did you feel pressure in taking on the role?

I think the hardest thing, weirdly, was... I’ve never been in every scene before. And it’s all the little bits in between, like eating cereal. You’re like, “I’m at a really poignant point in the story. What am I feeling when I’m eating the cereal? How do I eat cereal normally? Do I use my left hand? Does this look normal?”

The film covers Section 28, laws that prohibited “promoting homosexuality”. Do you feel it’s relevant to now?

It’s kind of happening in Florida with the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. To make it illegal to talk to children about sexuality at schools prior [to a certain] age. Because God forbid, if children talk about it, they learn what it means to be gay.

You previously featured in the period drama The Alienist. How was that?

That was my first proper TV job. It was just so huge. Those American shows, they have so much money. There are so many facets to [the production]. And you really are one tiny little piece of the puzzle – whereas with an independent film, you are so much more part of the bigger conversations.

Did you have any showbiz connections when you were a youngster?

When I was 12 or 13 some casting directors for Atonement came to our school. I remember lining up at a sports hall and they picked people out depending on what they looked like, which they would just never get away with now. I went up for the part that Saoirse Ronan played and I ended up getting to the final two!

BLUE JEAN OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 10 FEBRUARY