BUKKY BAKRAY
The star of Rocks on her runaway success and stellar future. Rocks by name, rocks by nature.
AFTER A BLAZING DEBUT WITH ROCKS AND A TRIUMPHANT BAFTAWIN, THE FUTURE BELONGS TO HER
LONG BEFORE BUKKY BAKRAY ever stepped onto a film set, she was re-enacting scenes from Training Day in her bedroom. Fired up by Denzel-inspired excitement, the then ten-year-old East Londoner raced to her computer and typed “how to be an actor” into Google. But after five minutes spent filling out what felt like a never-ending online profile for a talent-finding agency, impatience won out and she abandoned the effort, her fleeting dream seeming unattainable.
Thankfully, life had other ideas. After a lengthy search, the team behind Rocks picked Bakray, then 15, straight out of her Hackney classroom and cast her as the lead in the film, a tender drama that sees a teenage girl forced to fend for herself and her younger brother when their mother unexpectedly abandons them. Bakray’s naturalistic and affecting performance is a big reason why it was one of 2020’s best films, and her star-making turn has garnered an impressive amount of awards consideration. The most notable accolade came in April, when she became the youngest-ever winner of BAFTA’S Rising Star award at the age of 18.
Bakray showcases wisdom far beyond those years when Empire catches up with her on a rainy May afternoon to chat all about her amazing ascent and exciting future. But first, there’s the small matter of her final exam on the last day of school…
How did the exam go?
I was late! I thought it was in the afternoon, but it was actually in the morning. Luckily, I only live 20 minutes away from school, so I only missed ten minutes. I felt like it went okay.
It was a written Drama exam, and Drama is actually my lowest grade, which is ironic. Fingers crossed I get a B!
How challenging has it been to find that balance between your acting life and your normal life?
It’s been pretty difficult trying to juggle school and acting, and I feel like I’m failing tremendously. But today’s the last day! I’m very open to just being able to balance my life much easier because I’m not confined to a school setting, which is nice.
Your reaction to winning the BAFTA Rising Star Award was amazing. Clearly you weren’t expecting to win…
I strongly believed that I wasn’t gonna get the award. Everyone said to write a speech and I refused to do that because I didn’t want to get myself ready only to be disappointed. I was very grateful to be a part of it, and I felt like I had gotten so much from the process already. When James [Mcavoy] said my name, I didn’t hear “Bukky” because I was so ready to hear one of the other nominees named. And when I heard the screaming in my room from my mum, my friends and my team, I was thinking, “Wait, what has happened?” Even though
I was in the Corinthia hotel in Central London, I felt like I was back home and Bukky from the streets came out, because I didn’t believe what was happening. I’m still in disbelief and shock right now.
The first time you watched Rocks, you didn’t enjoy it. Why is that?
I didn’t think I did a good job, and that was me just being my own biggest critic. I didn’t want to believe that it could ever be good and have my name attached to it. Like, I don’t think I’ve even watched the film fully, because every time I watch it with different people I realise things that I didn’t see before. At the family-and-friends screening, even though I wasn’t happy with what I saw, my brothers came out and said, “You can act act.” My brothers never give me compliments, so when they said that I was like,“ah, sick!”
Who are the people in the industry you’ve been most excited to meet over the last few months?
Speaking with Daniel Kaluuya was mad to me. People like him do more for people than they know. Watching his performances — especially in Judas And The Black Messiah — feels like a spiritual exchange because of the heart that he puts into them. Speaking with him after the BAFTAS, he gave me the feeling that not only did I accomplish something, but it opened the door to a longer marathon. People don’t get a BAFTA and have these really long careers because of the BAFTA. It’s because they’re good actors and they did the work, like Daniel. I feel grateful to have him as someone that I can try and emulate. I also spoke with S. o. pé. Dìrísù and Kingsley Ben-adir on BAFTA night, and I will never forget those conversations. Alfre Woodard actually stayed in touch too. There’s been a lot of kindness.
You’ve said that “acting is just you heightening parts of yourself ”. What other parts of yourself are you looking to showcase in future roles?
The parts of myself that I don’t agree with. The parts of myself that are conflicted. The parts of myself that I will become as I grow older. I think that’s what I’m really excited to unravel and reveal through my art. Change is such a constant. I don’t know what I’m going to look like in five years. The way I see your script today and the way I see it in a couple of years’ time is going to be different. The way I used to think before Rocks was insane, and the way I think now has changed dramatically. And I feel like that change is always going to happen because of the people around me. So, if I experience life and don’t get consumed in my own world, that range as an actor will come seamlessly.
Before you started this journey in earnest, you Googled how to be an actor. What comes to mind now when you think of that moment?
I just think back to how impatient I was. There was an agency called Star Now. I was doing the application and putting in information, and it just got longer and longer. You have to pay this and insert this. That process was like five minutes, and I couldn’t do it. When you’re young, you think you can just type anything and be anything. I can’t believe I did that.
Is theatrical training in your future, or are you enjoying learning and growing on the job?
I have auditioned for drama schools. Training is a really big thing for me. Whether that’s through drama school or an acting coach, I think it’s something I’m always going to do because I always want to try and get better at a craft. I know you can learn on the job, but there’s a different essence with actors who have some sort of theatrical training. I’m also thinking about going to university and studying Creative
Arts, because that’s also a big love of mine. I feel like I can learn a lot about myself, the rest of the world, and art, film and music that will then transcend into my acting. It’s all complementary to the end result, which is to be a performer.
You’ve performed roles in two upcoming short films — Self-charm and The Gospel According To Gail. Was going into shorts rather than moving on to another feature a conscious choice?
Yeah. During the lockdown I was doing so much internal work at home, and I was so eager to practise what I had been training myself to do. So I wanted to do those shorts to kind of warm up my body, and I was able to practise what I had learned and make mistakes because the stakes were less high. If I made those mistakes on a bigger film or a series, I would beat myself up about it. So I’m really grateful for those experiences with the short films because I learned a lot about the kind of actor I want to be, how I can navigate myself in all circumstances, and how I can get to that place in a time that’s much more efficient.
You’ve also just finished filming Netflix TV series You Don’t Know Me. How did you find the TV experience compared to film? And how different is your character, Bless, from Rocks?
I like to think of myself as a film actor so the TV experience was very different for me. But I still tried to create my own arc, just as I would when making a film. My character in the series is incredibly different to Rocks. She’s less angry and more understated. Rocks was a very headstrong woman, and Bless is a bit more cool, calm and collected. She was more successful at bottling up her feelings.
With Rocks, you were given free rein to craft your character. How are you finding that experience when compared to other sets you’ve been on?
With Rocks, because I could identify with the characters so much the process was less daunting. But now, jumping into different things where it’s really not my norm, I’m really having to learn from the other actors on set. I feel like any actor that I’ve worked with since Rocks probably thinks I’m really weird because I'm very watchful, and I kind of stare at other actors because I’m trying to learn from them and mirror their work and the way they work. I’m just trying to assess human behaviour.
When you think about pre-rocks Bukky and the Bukky of the present, what’s changed and what’s stayed the same?
I have changed in terms of beliefs and the way I look at the world. But I still have the same friends. I still have the same hardcore values. And what makes me happy hasn’t changed.
ROCKS IS OUT NOW ON NETFLIX