WHY OUTLANDER’S ROSIE DAY NEVER ACTS HER AGE
ACTING is child’s play for Outlander star Rosie Day.
Despite being 22, Rosie has never played anyone older than a teenager on screen.
But having already starred alongside Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker, the super-friendly young actress isn’t complaining.
She does, though, tell iN10 there’s a downside.
“I’ve got one of those annoyingly young faces and I get asked for ID absolutely everywhere,” says Rosie, who’s one of the leads in Sky 1’s big new comedy/drama Living The Dream.
“I’ve even had my passport turned away by bouncers at bars and clubs who don’t believe it.
“If I go to the airport and there’s a school trip I get shuffled along with them. And I was on the Tube in London where there was a big American school party waiting on the platform.
“Their teacher was telling them they weren’t getting on the next train – and when I went to do that she yelled at me in front of the entire class of 15-year-olds.
“It’s a regular thing in my life and it creeps my boyfriend – Jamestown actor Luke Roskell – out a bit.”
Rosie’s a teen again in Living The Dream, playing the daughter of Philip Glenister and Lesley Sharp.
They’re the Pembertons, a British couple who up sticks and move to sunny Florida where they’ve bought a camper van park but find, with its eccentric residents, that it’s not quite what they imagined.
The six-part series comes from the makers of Cold Feet and it was shot in sunny America, albeit tax-break Georgia rather than expensive Florida.
Rosie says it was a real adventure, spending three months filming on the other side of the Atlantic.
Working alongside Philip, who she’s been a massive fan of since Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes, as well as Lesley, was another big plus.
“I’ve spent the past 10 years growing up watching both of them on telly, so it was a huge thrill,” admits Rosie.
“Philip is Gene Hunt to me. He’d spend the days repeating Gene’s catchphrases to make me laugh.
“I admire both Philip and Lesley so much that when I walked in to do the read-through with them for the first time I was a bit star-struck.”
A conversation with Rosie is like a breath of fresh air – she is in no way blasé but instead honest enough to admit that meeting her screen idols is a real buzz.
She’s working alongside James McAvoy in the Netflix/BBC remake of the classic Watership Down. She also co-starred with Parker in the rom-com All Roads Lead To Rome and shared a screen recently with Uma Thurman in Down A Dark Hall, from Twilight writer Stefanie Myers.
“Having those moments is a bit mental,” giggles Rosie.
“I just keep thinking that I’m this girl from Winchester and here I am on a movie set with these big stars.
“They really are ‘pinch me’ moments. Both Sarah Jessica and Uma are incredible. As a young girl on a set it’s not always easy to have your opinion valued but I’d watch and learn from how they were listened to.
“Male counterparts my age are treated differently, which is sad, but seeing how these smart women did it was a big learning curve.
“I was doing a scene with Uma and I was so engrossed I actually forgot what I was supposed to be doing.
“Other actors might not admit it, but I’m the biggest fan girl.”
Rosie is one of the country’s hottest young actresses, winning industry “star of tomorrow” and “rising star” awards.
But she lives with her sister who, along with her parents, ensures there’s no chance of her being allowed to get too big for her boots or believe the hype.
She’s already received lots of attention through Outlander, in which she played Mary Hawkins.
“It has such a massiveassive fan base,” adds Rosie. “We filmed at a warehouse in Cumbernauld mbernauld and I’d always thinkk what a glamorous life it wasas at 5am!
“But we filmed thehe second season over about a year and I absolutely fell in loveove with Scotland.”