‘I just loved this girl. It’s everything I love in a coming-of-age story’
Ruby Barker tells Danielle de Wolfe about gritty drama How To Stop A Recurring Dream
Marital separation is always a hard-hitting subject matter, particularly when there are children involved.
It’s precisely the premise upon which How To Stop A Recurring Dream, the debut feature from British filmmaker Ed Morris, is built.
Starring Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker as Yakira, the eldest of two sisters caught in the midst of their parents’ separation, the film tackles a host of raw and emotive topics – from the realities of loss through to shifting family dynamics.
“I just loved this girl,” says Barker, 24, emphatically. “It’s everything I love in a coming-of-age story.”
A project that also touches on questions surrounding identity, Barker’s character is shaped through her experiences growing up as the only mixed-race member of an otherwise all-white household.
“Yakira’s dealing with alienation, you know? And I think one way we see her deal with that is the fact she’s mixed-race and she lives in this suburban, mostly white sort of area.
“I grew up in a situation like that myself, so I could really relate to that. I relate to it as well because when my parents split up, my mum married a woman and she had a daughter.
“And so, I lived with two white mums and a white stepsister, and next door to me was a mixed-race family.
“I looked more like I should have been over there but I was in this really different, modern day kind of set-up.
“And Yakira has a similar sort of family background herself.”
With the film’s premise hitting close to home, Barker says the script’s relatability wasn’t initially something director Ed Morris and the wider production crew were aware of.
“They had no idea,” says Barker. “But when I went into the casting, I did tell them my life story.
“I was like, ‘listen mate, this is me. This is where I come from. This is my background’, you know? Because this role was just mine.
“And it was, so it all worked out in the end.”
The role is a far cry from the corsets and demure demeanour of Marina Thompson as part of hit Netflix series Bridgerton.
However, Barker says that swapping leopard print leggings for regency corsets and extravagant gowns was something she took in her stride.
“I couldn’t let that throw me,” says Barker of the thematic transition between the two projects.
“I shot How To Stop A Recurring Dream first in 2018 and I started Bridgerton in 2019.
“I just had to focus on the character and the job at hand, do my historical research and get used to wearing a corset.
“I took a corset home with me so that I could practise. I wore it all the time so I could practise breathing in it because they’re really uncomfortable.
“I wore a half corset, so it wasn’t as bad. Nicola (Coughlan), who played Penelope, she was in a fullon corset. I don’t know how she did it but she did, she’s an absolute trooper.”
● How To Stop A Recurring Dream is available to stream via Amazon, Google Play and Apple TV