MY LIST Leah Brotherhead
LEAH BROTHERHEAD plays Toni, the “bighearted tornado of chaos”, in the Channel 4 sitcom Hullraisers – a character who is constantly trying to sort out her life on the east coast of Yorkshire. Leah, 31, was born in Hull, graduated from the East 15 acting school and has appeared in productions as diverse as Casualty, Zomboat, White Gold and Bridgerton. She divides her time between Berlin and the UK.
I’m currently reading: I’ve been fascinated by a book by Anna Funder called Stasiland, a compendium of true stories about living in Communist Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s very chilling and reveals how the secret police operated, infiltrating into ordinary lives and causing havoc. They truly were sinister, and so deeply underground that no-one knew who they were. In fact, when the regime fell, it came as a horrible shock to many that a lot of the people in their own families had been undercover informants. Funder says in the book that people just learned to keep silent, but, when the files were finally opened, families were destroyed.
I’m a great one for listening out for recommendations, and I suppose if I read anything, it’s book based on social history – either fact or fiction. One of the authors I’ve discovered is a rather neglected Yorkshire writer called George Gissing, who was born in Wakefield, and who had a pretty much miserable life, but for me, his books are infinitely better than those by Charles Dickens.
Being on the move as much as I am, I do use a Kindle quite a lot – it’s useful to have around if you can’t find a proper book nearby, and you can search out an out-of-copyright book to read. But there’s still a great joy to be found in turning “proper” pages.
I’ve been listening to: Berlin radio and its podcasts, and also Italian stations, at the recommendation of a friend. There’s hip-hop, R&B, new British music, a truly eclectic mix. I cannot have any noise on at all when I’m trying to learn a script, it’s just too distracting. I record the entire thing – it doesn’t matter how many lines I may have – and then I play it over and over again, so that not only do I know where I have to speak but what everyone else is saying as well. Every actor has their own way of getting their role together, this is the one that works for me.
On TV, I’ve been watching: The Bear, which is the series based on life in a Chicago restaurant, and while it is fictional, the writers have based it on real-life issues and events. It’s fun, it’s observant, and it’s painfully honest. One of the reasons that I love it is that I do like cooking – although I’d be far too scared to ever put myself forward as a contestant on Bake Off, or any of those shows. I’m one of those people who concocts recipes to suit the moment – crikey, if I don’t use up that fruit, it’ll be on the turn, I’d better use it, that sort of “inspiration”. And yes, I have worked in a catering environment because I once worked on the wards at
the hospital in Hull, pushing the tea trolley around. I’m not so sure that anyone who does that is really ever very popular, since half the time you’re waking patients up from a pleasant doze, to ask them if they’d like a cuppa? The answer, on many occasions, was decidedly in the negative!
The live performance I’d recommend is: I’ve been so busy in the last few months that I’ve completely missed out on Standing at the Sky’s Edge, which originated at the Crucible in Sheffield and has been a total triumph wherever it has played. When it returns to the West End in the new year, I’m going to be at the front of the queue. A friend of mine did the lighting, and another mate is in the cast, and I can’t wait to see what it’s all about. If I’m back in Hull, and there’s something on at Hull Truck, I’ll always make a big effort to get along and see the show.
My next box set will be: The very disturbing Severance, which has more plot twists than a corkscrew. I want to buy the complete new series, and then settle down and binge-watch the lot.
The app I couldn’t be without is: Google Maps. I am not known for my sense of direction, and that is putting it mildly. When I’m in London, I love getting on to the top deck of a bus, putting on the map app, and then tracing where I’m going – it’s a wonderful way of seeing a town, and to get a sense of place.
At the top of my “to do” bucket list:
I have some wonderful friends in Australia at the moment, and we’ve promised each other that we must meet up very soon. So, logically, we’re going to meet halfway, and the place we’ve chosen is Japan. I’ve been intrigued by that country for ages, the culture, the people, the very different way of life, and it’s about time that I went there. I’m told that Kyoto is absolutely stunning.
Hullraisers returns to C4 in November.