A RELUCTANT STAR

Olivia Cooke won (and broke) hearts in Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, and now she’s building on her leading-lady potential with a role in Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi thriller – and slowly coming to terms with fame

Olivia Cooke is slowly adjusting to fame (and the reality of working with Steven Spielberg).

WHEN I FOUND OUT I’D BEEN CHOSEN FOR STEVEN SPIELBERG’S READY PLAYER ONE, I FELT A BIT SICK. It was a combination of celebrating, especially a job this big – the biggest I’ve had in my career – and the self-doubt of, “They’ve got the wrong girl. I’m going to fuck this up. This is a terrible decision on their part. I don’t want to do this. I do want to do this.” There’s a breadth of emotion that comes with getting that call. I HAD HUGE ACTING ASPIRATIONS AS A KID. But when you get the call to say it’s going to become a reality, it’s mind-blowing. I think when you actually achieve whatever it is you wanted to do, it’s a pinch-me moment, especially for an ultimate pessimist like myself. I just never in my wildest dreams thought that was going to happen to me. WORKING ON A FILM IS SO INTIMATE AND SO INTENSE. When I was younger I would have done anything but now, luckily, I’m able to be a bit choosier with roles, about how I want to spend my year. As I become more wired to the way I want to work and the way other people work, I want to choose quite meticulously who I give myself to next. BEING RECOGNISED ON THE STREET IS A REALLY STRANGE THING TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND. The first time was probably after [TV series] Bates Motel, because as soon as something hits Netflix, then everyone’s seen it, it seems. Sometimes people who have seen something you’re in look at you with these starry eyes, and you’re like, “Oh my God, you’d be so disappointed if you actually knew me!” [Laughs] I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER COME TO TERMS WITH IMPOSTOR SYNDROME. I need people around me reassuring me, until I’m like, “Alright, I did an okay job.” It’s such a personal thing, like when you get your picture taken and you think, “Oh my God, I’m hideous,” but no-one else can see that. When I’m on set and playing with all these different characters, it just feels like make-believe – I forget that [people are] going to see things that I do. Then I watch [the film] for the first time and I’m like, “What the fuck am I doing? What am I doing with my face? Why is my eye twitching?” But you have to throw that away. It takes a while, though – I don’t think that will ever go away. It possibly gets harder. NOT REALLY BEING ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS JUST FOR MY SANITY. Doing this job, I’m already exposed, and while there’s an element of celebrity I have to lean towards, when I’m just working, I don’t want to put myself on social media. I think there’s a mystery I still want to keep, and I don’t want people to get to know me because then it would be really hard for them to see me as anything else. If I can’t go down the street to get a bottle of milk, then what’s the point? READY PLAYER ONE COMPLETELY BENT THE [SCI-FI] GENRE FOR ME AS I KNEW IT. But it’s a future that’s not too far away – an internet that’s so developed it’s completely immersive, which isn’t hard to imagine. Next I’m doing a movie with director Rebecca Thomas called Gonzo Girl, based on the book of the same name, which was written by one of Hunter S Thompson’s assistants. I play the assistant, who wants to be a writer herself and really looks up to him, but quickly realises you should never meet your hero. Humans are very flawed and so, despite who they are, some people are going to surprise you, and some people are going to disappoint. Ugh, that was wanky, that was really wanky. E Ready Player One is in cinemas now