What was the last thing or object you found that you kept?
I found a little teddy bear in Brockwell Park the other week and I was premenstrual and it was very cute and it had been a long day so I took it home, gave it a nice hot bath and now he lives in a drawer.
What is the last film you saw that you consequently classified as a classic?
Probably I, Daniel Blake – me and many other cinema goers at my screening were inconsolable during the end credits. A woman came over and gave me a hug it was that guttural a reaction. It perfectly captures a very current injustice of class. And nothing seems to be changing.
What do you often buy too much of?
Mochas. They’re just a grown up hot chocolate and I find them very comforting.
Acting notwithstanding, what have you always (or usually) found easy to remember or learn?
Late ’90s/ early 2000 pop dance moves. Steps, Britney, Backstreet Boys, N’Sync. The moment I hear one of their tracks, my body starts doing the choreography, involuntarily. My older sister used to run dance drills for the rest of us on Saturday mornings in our living room, and now they’re a part of my DNA. I’ve accepted my fate.
What is the worst meal you’ve ever ordered?
When I was in Romania with my ex and his parents, we went to a Dracula themed restaurant for tourist giggles and it was the most peculiar place. All the dishes had full on names like ‘DEVIL’S CHICKEN’ but it was just half a chicken wing doused in petrol which they set alight and just left you to it, flames a-go-go. It was a stressful and hilarious dining experience.
What is your favourite party or celebration movie scene?
When Muriel and Rhonda do the big F You ‘Waterloo’ dance routine in Muriel’s Wedding – my idea of geeky heaven.
What is an activity you love but feel “too old” for?
Tinder. Wouldn’t say I loved it though… I actually use the phrase “I completed Tinder”.
One of your latest projects, Porters, delves into the lives of employees at a contemporary hospital. What other “regular job” would you like to see get a similarly in-depth perspective?
Cleaners. My mother was a cleaner my entire life and her longest stint was at a probabation centre and at Mi5. I was only small when she started there but my imagination used to run riot with all the crazy things I imagined she was probably getting up to during her night shifts. The reality was she was probably just cleaning dusty toilets.
Susan Wokoma can be seen in Labour of Love, on now until 2 December 2017 at the Noel Coward Theatre, London (UK).
As told to Paul Vaughan for TPJ
Creative Director & Photographer: Jessie Craig
Hair & Makeup: Helen Asher
