GIRL POWER
Coming-of-age drama Rocks has delivered a debut role for Bukky Bakray that has taken her from unknown schoolgirl to EE Rising Star nominee. Here, she tells Ella Dove how it’s created a world of possibilities
Bukky Bakray chats about her breakthrough role
It’s hard to believe that actor Bukky Bakray is just 18 years of age. She’s surprisingly self-assured and has a reflectiveness that few possess in their 20s, let alone in their teenage years. ‘I think school for everyone is the best and worst experience of your life,’ she tells me over Zoom, her tone soft and thoughtful. ‘I miss it a lot, but would I want to do it again? Nah. I’m counting down the days until I finish college!’ With good reason. Two years ago, this young star’s life changed irrevocably when she landed the lead role in the drama Rocks. The east London-set film tells the story of British-nigerian teenager Shola, aka Rocks, whose life is turned upside down when her single mother abandons her and her younger brother Emmanuel. On the run from social services, she finds stability and support in her friendship group, who depict a wide cross-section of teenage girls, united despite their varied backgrounds and circumstances. The film has received widespread praise for both its authenticity and its honest portrayal of London-raised girls of colour; it feels at times more like a documentary, as if you’re a fly on the wall observing the lives of a group of friends. And the praise keeps on coming. Not only has it earned five British Independent Film awards, Bakray is now in the spotlight herself, having been nominated for the EE Rising Star Award at this year’s EE BAFTA Film Awards, which honours young actors who have demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition. ‘My agent called and I asked if it was a prank,’ she recalls of the moment she found out. ‘I just didn’t understand what they were telling me.’
The lasting impression the project has had can perhaps be explained in part by the original and unusual filmmaking process. Created collaboratively by a mostly female cast and crew, the project is the brainchild of director Sarah Gavron (Suffragette) and her realisation that there were few films for, or about, young women. Keen to create a drama based on the experiences of real teenage girls in London, casting began without so much as a plot, with Gavron and her team spending months observing girls in schools and youth clubs across Hackney, inviting groups of them to acting and storytelling workshops until a plot emerged. They eventually whittled 1,300 girls down to a cast of approximately 60.
‘Me and my friends thought they were Ofsted,’ Bakray laughs now. ‘It was really weird. They would just stand at the back of our classes and we didn’t really know what was going on. When I was invited to go to a workshop, I thought “I might as well.” At the end, they gave us all a £20 Superdrug voucher and said, “You can come back and audition for the film if you’d like.” I was just staring at this voucher, not really realising what I’d heard.’
In addition to pooling the girls’ real-life experiences, the team were looking for natural friendships emerging. The bond between Bakray and Kosar Ali, who plays Rocks’ best friend, Sumaya, a British girl of Somalian origin, was one they noticed instantly. ‘I don’t know why my body chose to sit next to her in our first session, but it did,’ Bakray smiles.
‘And as soon as I sat down, I knew I’d met a sister. It was this crazy click. We were laughing constantly. We even got kicked out of one of the workshops and had to stand outside at one point. I was thinking, “This girl might have ruined my chances.”’
Far from it; their relationship became the central friendship of the film, Rocks defending Sumaya from bullies and Sumaya providing refuge when Rocks needs it most. Bakray recalls the ‘surreal’ moment she was told the news in a cafe in Islington. ‘I wanted to keep myself composed,’ she explains. ‘But as I walked out, I screamed. I ended up running past Finsbury Park station still screaming.’ Had she ever thought about acting as a career before that? ‘It seemed too far-fetched,’ she says. ‘Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t pick drama for A-level because I didn’t think it was useful…’
For Bakray, it was the beginning of an all-consuming process. She and her co-stars were encouraged to improvise and share anecdotes during filming, as well as keep a diary for each of their characters. ‘We were filming in chronological order too, so it was almost like I was Rocks. I was living her life,’ she says. ‘When I came back to school after, I couldn’t think about anything else. I’d be sitting there reading Charles Dickens, and I’d just turn the page when I could hear everyone else turning the page.’
As Gavron had hoped, Bakray explains that the role made her realise that she sees Rocks ‘every single day’.
‘She could be my partner in Maths, in English, in Science. All of the characters could be. My life is very different to hers, but I can really identify with trying to be who you are when everybody isn’t allowing you to do so, or when there are barriers of entry. I feel like a lot of people can identify with that struggle. She’s individual in her situation, but the way she deals with it is universal, because ultimately, we’re all out here just trying to be.’
When I ask if the film is representative of what it’s like to be a young woman of colour in London today, she nods vehemently. ‘1,000%. But it’s important to remember that all Black women, all women, are individuals because we have different biases. I feel like the fact that young people are so open to different cultures, like in the film, is exciting, too. I’ll go to Kosar’s house now and eat Somali cuisine. Same with all my friends – I’ll go to their houses, eat their country’s food and chat about the culture.’
Is she hopeful of there being more diversity on screen in the future? ‘I’ve realised I don’t need it,’ she reflects, ‘but it’s what I want. It’s what we want. I think a lot of us feel like we sit in some mundane experience. Not all of our stories will be on Wikipedia, not all our names will be said in big rooms. But we all make up the bigger picture of what the world is and what it means to live.’
Being listened to and being taken seriously, Bakray says, has had a profound effect on her self-belief. ‘My old teachers came to watch an early screening, and they were like, ‘Bukky, you’ve changed so much – you stand with your head up, not down now,’ she remembers. ‘Before, I could never really make eye contact. I used humour as a constant defence mechanism. But the Rocks team saw something in me that I would never have seen in myself. I guess it just takes one person to light something in you and then it’s like you’ve come alive.’
Now part of a youth theatre programme in Peckham, Bakray describes life as ‘an endless amount of possibilities.’ In future, she wants to act, write, produce and direct. ‘I want to continue to better myself,’ she says, ‘and I’m really looking forward to the stories that directors and writers will trust me with telling.’ Watch out, world, Bakray’s star is rising. And we can’t wait to see where she shoots next.
‘IT JUST TAKES ONE PERSON TO LIGHT SOMETHING IN YOU’