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Kaya Scodelario on why she was surprised no one ended up fainting while filming her new Christmas romcom-Larushka Ivan-Zadeh-Entertainment – Metro
‘We were filming in front of an open fire wearing bobble hats and scarves’.
Actress Kaya Scodelario stars in new Sky Cinema Xmas flick This Is Christmas (Picture: Getty/Metro.co.uk)
The Maze Runner star, 30, on her Brazilian heritage, working with Johnny Depp and the annual Skins Christmas reunion.
Your new romcom, This Is Christmas, sounds ideal for Metro commuters…
I hope so! It’s all about making connections with strangers over Christmas. I play a chef called Emma, who’s in a relationship that isn’t the healthiest. She becomes fascinated by this man called Adam, who she sees everyday commuting into London. One day Adam decides to get up in front of everyone and invite them to a Christmas party, which as a Londoner is petrifying! But Emma seems intrigued and not scared by this. She actually finds it charming.
Because the first rule of commuting is ‘never engage with anyone’, right?
Exactly! I am half Brazilian and, in Brazilian culture, you talk to everyone! We are a very open people. When I told my mum about this movie, she was excited because one thing that threw her after moving to Britain was that no one communicates with each other. We’re all in our own little world.
I remember the 2012 Olympics, when suddenly everyone was chatting to each other on the Tube. Such a magical time! Now everyone’s going to read this in Metro and want to talk to me on the Tube. I’m just going to be terrified!
Did you shoot it at Christmas?
Kaya co-stars with Alfie Enoch in This Is Christmas (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty)
No! It was during the heatwave. It was 40 degrees the first day on set and we were filming in front of an open fire wearing bobble hats and scarves. There were days where I honestly can’t believe no one fainted. But it left us all with this beautiful Christmas glow in the movie, which looks like a special effect, but it is actually just sweat!
Your love interest is played by Alfred Enoch, aka Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter movies…
Yes! My best friend since school is a very intense Potterhead. She’s always been very uninterested in my job. This is the first time where I told her who I’m working with and she got very excited. Alfie is as lovely and kind and generous and beautiful as you’d hope. He’s a ray of sunshine. He’s also half-Brazilian, like me, so we spoke Portuguese all day, every day, together.
Are you a good cook in real life?
I love cooking. It’s my therapy. The chef scenes in This Is Christmas were actually shot in the same restaurant as the film Boiling Point. It was very cool, though I kept expecting Stephen Graham to jump out and scream at me.
Do you follow a Hollywood-style vegan diet?
I’ve never been able to acclimatise to the expectation that actresses are supposed to eat very clean and healthy food. I think it’s great for people that do, but I grew up in Holloway. I’m 100 per cent a kebab and a beer kind of gal.
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What’s on your menu for Christmas dinner?
Part of Brazilian culture is that we do Christmas on Christmas Eve. We cook a big meal that’s supposed to be at 9pm but inevitably ends up being 11pm, when everyone’s starving hungry, and then we have presents at midnight. We don’t do turkey. We’ll do traditional dishes like picanha [a top rump steak] and bacalhau [salt cod] – but with Yorkshire puds and roast potatoes and all that good British stuff.
Do you still have an annual Skins Christmas get together?
Skins shot Kaya to fame in her role as Effy Stonem (Picture: Channel Four)
We do! Our ‘Friendsmas’. We’re organising it on WhatsApp today as I speak. It’s for whoever is in the country at the time. Last year, I forced Daniel Kaluuya to bring his Oscar with him so that we could put it in the middle of the table and make d*** jokes about it and take embarrassing pictures with it. Which we did. It’s an amazing thing. We are all incredibly close still.
You co-starred with Johnny Depp on Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Are you #TeamJohnny?
Kaya worked alongside Johnny Depp on the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise (Picture: Noam Galai/Getty)
I definitely wouldn’t label myself as his ‘Team’. The situation, like everyone’s in life, is nuanced and complex. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. I can only speak of my experience of working with him as a professional, and in that capacity he was very kind and generous with his time. I haven’t spoken to him since.
What’ll we see you in next?
The actress will be appearing in The Gentlemen, based on a Guy Ritchie film of the same name (Picture: David M. Benett/Getty)
We’re filming The Gentleman. It’s based on a Guy Ritchie film, so it’s lots of blokes and I’m the token girl, which has been a pattern in my career. But listen, I can always go toe-to-toe with the boys! And I love my character. I’m basing her on a lot of the mums of my friends I had growing up. She takes no prisoners, she’s a proper Londoner and a big character. A lot of my work ends up being quite intense – screaming at alligators or fighting zombies – but she’s just all mouth and she’s fun.
Your Instagram bio says ‘Into dogs, fart jokes & pub beer gardens’…
Yeah. Dogs farting in pub beer gardens: that’s my dream afternoon. I bought my son a whoopee cushion for his sixth birthday and he adores it. So I’m plagued by the sound of farts all day.
This Is Christmas is out on Sky Cinema and NOW
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