Shy kid Naomie Harris practised crying

Actor Naomie Harris, part of the Oscar-winning film Moonlight (2016), says she practised crying as a child.

“I would spend hours in front of the mirror, pretending to be someone else, making myself cry, trying out accents. I just loved it, and would literally spend the whole day doing that,” Harris told Irish Independent newspaper.

“I was really lucky, because some mothers would have thought ‘Oh my God, my child is just crazy’, but my mum actually said ‘Ah, she has a talent’. She enrolled me at the Anna Scher Theatre School, and everything started from there, because they had an agency attached to the school and I started auditioning and got jobs.”The actor, who was nominated for the Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for Moonlight, said she moved into a “weird profession” in light of her shy nature.

“What I really enjoyed was losing myself in character, finding out what it was like to be someone else, and getting inside that and disappearing, that’s what I really loved as a child,” she said.

Harris added, “I’m not shy anymore, but I’m not comfortable being in the spotlight. I’m not someone that enjoys being observed. I’m more of an observer, but I do still love that thing where you find a character to such an extent that you actually feel like someone else. There’s a freedom in that which I really enjoy.”

I would spend hours in front of the mirror, pretending to be someone else, making myself cry, trying out accents. I just loved it. NAOMIE HARRIS ACTOR

PHOTO: DANNY MOLOSHOK/REUTERS Naomie Harris has starred in films such as Collateral Beauty (2016) and Skyfall (2010)