What is the most pleasant noise or sound to fall sleep too?
I went to Mexico earlier this year and stayed in a beach hut with a hay roof, so could hear the sounds of waves all night. I probably got the best sleep of my life there.
Had you been born 100 years earlier and not had your mortality compromised by poor medical understanding and practices, what job do you think you would have pursued?
Well, I don’t imagine a world where I’d be born a non-creative. So, I’d probably open a large house made up of creatives from all classes, races, cultures, walks of life and experiences. Then in the basement, I’d hold Suffragette meetings and The Woman’s Bible readings, workshops with Madame C.J. Walker and Booker T. Washington, and science experiments with Dr. Shirley Jackson and George Washington Carver.
Who do you think gave the best child actor performance ever?
Oooh, there’s so many! Henry Thomas in E.T. will always have my heart, from audition tape to final cut. Leonardo DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?. Sunny Pawar was also amazing in Lion! And, of course, every single child in Stranger Things 1 and 2!
What household item or common object has been forever linked to a scene in a film for you?
I used to regularly close my eyes, touch my mum’s green glass ornaments and shout, “OZ!” I don’t know what I was expecting with that one. Never got old though.
What was the first thing you can remember saving your money for?
Blue and white checkered KangaROOS trainers, with the little pocket on the inside of the tongue. I kept a coin in each foot and felt very proud of myself.
When do you wish you hadn’t trusted your instincts? (If ever)
My instincts never usually steer me in the wrong direction. Having said that, last year I was driving from Spain to Portugal (as you do) and 10 minutes from my destination I ran out of internet, so Google Maps went caput. My instincts told me to take a side road, and I ended up driving around for a further 45 minutes. Fun times when you’re alone.
What do you enjoy eating but rarely or never in public?
Fish! Especially when you’ve warmed it up in a rehearsal space kitchen and people come in saying, “Ugh, what’s that smell?” And you just have to act like you didn’t hear them for a second or just join in and pretended to find the culprit.
What have you enjoyed more with age?
Not caring about what people think and living in my truth unapologetically.
Lashana Lynch can be seen now in Bulletproof, on Sky One (UK).
As told to Paul Vaughan for TPJ
Creative Director & Photographer: Jessie Craig
Stylist: Holly Ounstead
Hair: Fabio Norgueira
Makeup: Gigi Hammond
