“I think every actor would love to have find a character where they can full immerse themselves,” says Jay Lycurgo. “Because once you have that, you’re gonna strike gold.”
Fortunately for the fast-rising British actor, it’s occurred to him in close to fast succession, with two roles which have supplied him “the playground to find the truth in what these characters are.” And struck gold Lycurgo has.
Netflix’s drama “Steve,” which premiered in Toronto, noticed him sort out the uncooked emotional complexities of the upbeat but troubled Shy, a misplaced younger man at a last-chance reform college.
Lycurgo’s first main movie efficiency captured individuals’s consideration nearly instantly. He received the British Unbiased Movie Award for finest supporting actor there was widespread disappointment when he wasn’t recognised by BAFTA for the Rising Star class.
Not that he wanted it. Eight months on and, after a short journey to world of “Peaky Blinders” for “The Immortal Man” film spin-on, he’s again with one thing very “Steve”-y in Clio Barnard’s “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.” The movie follows a bunch of shut associates who grew up on a working class property in Birmingham and at the moment are making an attempt to outlive maturity as they battle demons previous and new. Lycurgo performs Ollie, the “comic relief” who helps bind the group (which additionally consists of Joe Cole, Anthony Boyle, Lola Petticrew and Daryl McCormack) collectively, however somebody additionally combating drug dependancy.
“I love these characters, I love those stories — it’s just so real,” he says. “Shy and Ollie, they both breathe in this world and it doesn’t feel artificial.”
“I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning” additionally brings Lycurgo to the Cannes Film Festival for the primary time, with the movie bowing within the Administrators’ Fortnight sidebar. We’re truly chatting from the again backyard of Carlton Resort a full week earlier than the premiere, with him having been flown out as a particular visitor of Louis Vuitton (and kitted him out accordingly). This relationship is one thing that got here off the again of “Steve.” “They were like, ‘Who’s this depressed kid? Let’s get him a bag!’” Lycurgo jokes.
Even with out his new designer gear, it’s been fairly a yr for the 28-year-old.
Born within the city of Croydon in London, Lycurgo had an early function mannequin in his dad, the footballer David Johnson, who himself would work in the identical type of schooling institutes depicted in “Steve” after he retired from the sport. “So I always had ambition in my family, with my dad saying that you can go and do what you want to do.”
Sadly, this ambition wasn’t sufficient to get Lycurgo into the BRIT College on the age of 15 (“I thought acting was just trying to get a tear down your cheek”), however pushed by an “naïve energy” he would later get a slot on a three-year course the ArtsEd drama college.
“I don’t think people really believe that I wanted to do it because I was just messing around,” he says. “But then once it got to second year and third year, I really started to take it seriously. And I said, I think I can do this. Drama school really taught me discipline. It really did. And from then, I just started working.”
Jay Lycurgo (L) in ‘I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning’
Chris Harris
Like most Brits, Lycurgo would make his debut in BBC daytime drama “Doctors,” incomes £800 ($1070) for the privilege. “And I thought, I’d made it, I’ve made some money!” he says.
Different small roles on TV and movie would come — Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You” and Matt Reeve’s “The Batman” — earlier than he landed a daily slot on HBO’s “Teen Titans” about younger superheroes in Gotham. “So by the time I was 23/24, I felt like I was going in the right direction,” he says. However, as he notes, he “always wanted to do roles like ‘Steve’ and ‘I See Buildings’”
When “Steve” got here his method, Lycurgo remembers pondering, “Nobody else is getting this — I had real motivation, especially with my dad working in schools like that.” Serendipitously, information that he had obtained the half got here only a day after he discovered he’d missed out on Ari Aster’s “Eddington” (the younger police officer function that went to Micheal Ward).
There’s a Cillian Murphy throughline connecting Lycurgo’s most up-to-date — and accelerated — trajectory.
Murphy produced “Steve” after being given an early copy of Max Porter’s guide by the creator and would play the varsity’s frazzled head. On set, Murphy talked about to his star that he was doing the “Peaky Blinders” movie, “The Immortal Man,” and some months after manufacturing wrapped the audition got here by way of, with Lycurgo donning the present’s iconic flatcap for its massive display screen spin-off. And with “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning,” Murphy is associates with Enda Walsh, who tailored Keiran Goddard’s novel.
Whereas he’s unsure how a lot direct involvement Murphy had, Lycurgo does observe that having him in his nook “is a powerful thing — especially with those eyes!” He now considers Murphy a “mentor” and messages him often.
With “Steve” having put him on the map, “Peaky Blinders” underlining his studio abilities and “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning” giving him his Cannes stripes, Lycurgo — who not too long ago signed with CAA — is having fun with his interval within the solar.
“I feel like I worked from 21 to 25. It was great, and i was going on sets and working and grateful, but I was just an actor – there’s no life experience,” he says. “So ‘Steve’ finished, and then I did ‘Peaky’, and ‘I See Buildings’ but after that I didn’t get anything — and we’ve been being picky. So the last 10 months has been me loving myself honestly. And it’s been really great.”
However there’s extra coming, with Lycurgo noting that an upcoming mission will take him into the style world. And, in fact, he’ll willingly be part of Murphy in no matter he’s making subsequent.
“I’m really happy,” he says. “That’s the truth. I feel in a really good spot and very confident with the work that I’m putting out now. And the last 10 months have been the happiest I’ve been.”
