Lucy Boynton is hitting the high notes.

“I watched a lot of Saoirse Ronan interviews,” laughs Lucy Boynton of her preparation for taking on an Irish accent in feelgood musical Sing Street for director John Carney ( Once, Begin Again). “I’ve always loved musicals,” beams the 21-year-old English actress. “Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films.”

How did you end up getting involved in Sing Street? It was one of those scripts you read and you get to the end and it’s just like, “I have to play this role!” I was auditioning when Begin Again came out, and I thought, “Now I really do have to get this role, if [ John Carney] makes movies like this.”

How would you describe Raphina, your Sing Street character? She’s kind of a muse character, but actually she’s much more than that because she’s a very hurt and lonely person. There’s the huge ’80s hair, the big make-up, and the colourful jewellery, but it’s a way of creating a facade.

Can you tell us about the films you have coming up?

Don’t Knock Twice was so much fun: I spent the entirety of filming running through the dark covered in mud and blood. And Let Me

Go couldn’t be more different; it’s based on the true story of a mother who abandoned her daughter to go to work at Auschwitz.

Is there a bucket list role for you? Tennessee Williams is my favourite playwright, so I have my eye on the role of Maggie in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I’d love to play a Norman Bates role – a psycho role. But my goal is just to play as wide a variety of characters as I possibly can.

ETA | 20 ma y Sing Street opens next month.

‘She’s kind of a muse character’