ON HER UNFORGETTABLE MONIKER Funnily enough I’mnot actually aftera terror group named
RISING STAR ISIS ON HER UNFORGETTABLE MONIKER Actress talks about working class roots, becoming an actress and new flick Catherine Called Birdy
NEW Scots star Isis Hainsworth is a name you might not know yet – but one that you won’t forget. The Edinburgh-born actress has had her best year with Netflix’s Metal Gods, BBC horror series Red Rose and Lena Dunham’s new upcoming Amazon comedy Catherine Called Birdy. And while you will recognise her face, that Christian name is a bit of a talker.
The 23-year-old admitted: “People ask me about my name quite a lot. And they think it’s quite strange.
“And it is quite strange, especially in the last few years. Funnily enough, I’m not named after a terrorist organisation, I’m actually named after the Bob Dylan song, Isis!”
As the terror group fades, the Scot’s fame is increasing. Film bible Screen Daily has made her one of their Stars of Tomorrow following in the footsteps of now big names like Benedict Cumberbatch and Emily Blunt.
And Variety made her one of its top 10 Europeans to watch.
It’s good news for Isis who left the capital at 18 for London but since the pandemic, which she spent at home in Edinburgh, she splits her time between the two cities.
She admitted: “I’m one of those people who struggles to balance my work and personal life. My job is so intense that I get so used to being consumed by whatever job I am on.
“Then suddenly you are doing nothing for a period of months which is very strange. At the moment I am splitting my time between London and Edinburgh.
“When I’m in London, I try to do as much fiesta as humanly possible without breaking my bank. And when I’m in Edinburgh, I like to spend time with my family and friends as much as possible.
“That’s where I try to just properly relax until I work again.”
As a working class Scot, Isis didn’t think she’d get to be an actress.
Bitten by the acting bug doing youth theatre in Edinburgh, she moved to London, at just 18, to take over the role of Orla in the West End transfer of Olivier Award-winning Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour. It was the adaptation of Alan Warner’s cult Scottish novel The Sopranos, about a group of schoolgirls let loose in Edinburgh for the day. She’d had a
small role in BBC Highlands miniseries One of Us, which starred Julie Stevenson and Laura Fraser and in Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel biopic series In Plain Sight starring Martin Compston. But she admitted: “I had just finished school and I thought acting might never happen for me, especially because I’m from a working class background.” Since she moved to London, she hasn’t looked back and has had her best year this year playing Rochelle in horror series Red Rose and in films Metal Lords and now Catherine Called Birdy which is set in medieval England and stars Bella Ramsey, who played Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, in the title role, Sherlock and Fleabag actor Andrew Scott and Billie Piper.
Isis plays Aelis, Birdy’s best friend and it was a different kind of role for the Scot.
She laughed: “I’m not used to playing the pretty girl so that was quite exciting. At first I thought there was no way I’d be asked to do the movie.
“Then I was and it was the biggest joy. I couldn’t believe it.”
American Lena Dunham found success as the creator, writer and star of Girls. Catherine Called Birdy is her third feature film. Isis is smitten.
“She’s just a genius. Her mind is so special and she is so collaborative. And she really trusts all her actors to know their character, which is really lovely.”
The film has some big names in the cast including Russell Brand and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Isis admitted: “I just spent my entire time being starstruck basically, and then you chat with them and it’s like, ‘Oh you are all really lovely nice normal people.’ It was really special.”
She and Nottingham-born actress Bella hit it off straight away, especially as Isis is a big Game of Thrones fan, and both immersed themselves in the medieval period. Isis laughed: “I loved it. We had the prettiest costumes. That was really fun.
“Getting to be pretty doesn’t happen very often for me.”
Usually in medieval films the women are in distress while the men are knights on quests or killing dragons. As it’s a Dunham film this isn’t the case with Catherine Called Birdy.
Isis said: “This is a kind of story that we don’t see all that much.
“It’s about a young girl who doesn’t have a special power or anything like that.
“She is just a girl, living her life. It’s nice to see that teenage girls can be strong and powerful by being themselves.” While she isn’t the star of Catherine Called Birdy, that kind of role won’t be long coming and Isis is hoping to get her dream role of something gritty.
She said: “I want to do something that really pushes me a lot.
“Something that’s really difficult. I have a few dream roles, a few different things I like. I don’t want to jinx things but I want to do something where I really have to immerse myself into that character, something where I have to transform myself.
“That would be amazing. Something quite gritty and hard-hitting.”
● Catherine Called Birdy streams on Prime Video from next Friday.