Yourcinemafilms.com | Star of ‘Champion’ Deja Bowens shares her 7 year journey of battling rejection from drama schools, depression and being on the brink of giving up to landing the role that’s changed her career!
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Are you ready for the truth?
’Welcome to Your Cinema'
Follow us on socials:
Tiktok: @yourcinemafilms
Instagram: @yourcinemafilms
Twitter: @yourcinemafilms
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FunTranscript
00:00 Now everyone's making it in film and TV, but we don't really know how.
00:06 Here we uncover the truth.
00:08 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast.
00:10 Welcome to the Your Cinema Podcast today.
00:16 It's the place where we explore the truth about the film and TV industry as well as theatre
00:22 and we hear it directly from those who are smashing it in their areas.
00:27 And today our guest, she really is smashing it.
00:31 She's one of the leads in the BBC and Netflix show Champion.
00:36 She's currently in America touring the play Queens of Sheba.
00:40 She's been nominated for a MoBo and she's only really getting started.
00:46 I introduce to you guys Deja Bowens.
00:49 What's going on?
00:50 Hi everyone.
00:56 What's going on? Thank you for your time today.
00:59 I know you're doing back and forth between New York and LA right now.
01:03 I'll go straight in.
01:06 Basically, so much has been happening for you recently.
01:14 Especially starring in Champion, which is an eight-part drama.
01:22 I want to take it way back.
01:24 Well, maybe not that way back because it's probably only a few years.
01:28 Where did you train?
01:31 I started off training properly at the Lucia Mew Theatre, which is in Catford.
01:40 It's the main theatre in Catford.
01:43 There was a company called Lucia Mew Theatre and it was for anyone that was living or being educated in the Lucia borough.
01:51 It was completely free.
01:52 I used to just go there after school.
01:55 It was very much devised work.
01:57 I'd be there in my summers.
02:00 I'd be there after school.
02:01 I'd be there just any time that they had something on that I was there.
02:05 That was actually my starting of creating my love for the theatre.
02:11 That's where it all started.
02:13 Not many people know that, but that's where it started for me.
02:16 I don't know if maybe Dani, who recently had, would have told you, but she actually went there as well.
02:22 We're both from there.
02:24 That's where it was started for me.
02:26 I was there for years.
02:28 I think I was there from the age of maybe eight or seven or something like that, all the way up until 13.
02:35 Then I went to the Brit School.
02:39 That's where things started for me.
02:44 What was that like at the Brit School then?
02:47 Do you know what?
02:49 You start at the Brit in year 10.
02:52 You can start at two points.
02:54 You can start at year 10 or you can start in college.
02:57 I was there for the whole four years.
02:58 I was there from year 10.
02:59 I'm not going to lie.
03:00 10 and year 11 for me, it was just a bit of a laugh.
03:03 I was just there for fun.
03:06 It was just no uniform.
03:09 You're allowed to leave the premises for lunch.
03:11 It was just freedom.
03:13 It was just this new experience.
03:15 I'm surrounded by creatives.
03:17 Everyone just seems to be having so much fun.
03:20 I was just there for fun.
03:22 We still were obviously obliged to do our GCSE.
03:26 The amount of theatre we did a week was a lot less than when we move on to college now.
03:31 I would have been turning 18 or whatever.
03:34 That's when we obviously had to do a lot more theatre.
03:36 It was actually a lot more theatre.
03:38 I was like, "Oh, this is a sign of hope."
03:42 That's where it started for me.
03:45 Brit for the first two years for me was just lots of fun.
03:49 Then I'd say college is when it got a little bit more serious because they actually opened up the auditions to 25 more people externally.
04:01 There's 50 of us to start with.
04:03 Depending on who wanted to come back or who got back in because you had to re-audition, they opened up the places.
04:10 They opened up for people to come in.
04:12 Those people are people that had finished their A-levels.
04:15 Their parents probably wouldn't allow them to go to Brit school and they were on it.
04:18 It shocked us into being serious because we were like, "Oh, this isn't a joke anymore."
04:22 There's people that actually want to do this acting thing.
04:25 We do too, but we've just been joking around and not taking it seriously.
04:29 Then that's when I snapped into it.
04:32 I was like, "Oh, this is serious. People want to go to drama school after this.
04:35 People want careers after this. I need to take this seriously."
04:39 That's how Brit school went for me.
04:41 Brit school is great. It's such a community.
04:44 I was there from the age of 14 until I was 26.
04:48 I still get called back to help with auditions and give talks.
04:52 It really is a family.
04:54 Once you're in, you're in.
04:56 I love that.
05:02 You finished Brit school now.
05:04 You were talking about people wanting to go to drama school and all of that stuff after.
05:09 What did you do after Brit school?
05:13 I know drama school is really expensive, but it's also super competitive as well.
05:19 What did you do after Brit?
05:23 After Brit, I didn't really understand the concept of drama school.
05:28 I didn't know what it even meant or anything like that.
05:31 I just knew that it was something I had to do next because everyone else was auditioning for it.
05:35 Obviously, I just went with the grain with the rest of my year group.
05:39 I naturally did the same, but then I came into a bit of what felt like a brick wall, and that was money.
05:46 I don't know what it's like now, but when I was auditioning for drama school, you have to pay to audition.
05:54 I wasn't in a financial position like the rest of my friends where they could just pay for several drama schools in one go.
06:03 I could only afford maybe one or two, which I feel like set me back a bit because I had less of a chance.
06:12 It took four years for me to get into drama school, four years of auditioning, because I was only ever able to audition for one or two at a time.
06:20 It was only when I took up a part-time job I was able to pay for more.
06:27 In that time, I really, really struggled mentally because I've seen all my friends go to drama school.
06:36 Most of them by this point had probably finished drama school, and I'm still in a place of like, "What is going on?
06:43 God, you told me that I'm going to be an actor. You told me very clearly."
06:48 This very strong sense of purpose and my reality are not lining up.
06:53 I'm working in Audi. I've worked in every single supermarket you can think of, by the way.
06:57 I've worked in Sainsbury's, Audi, Waitrose.
07:05 I'm doing all these jobs, on the side also going to ID, identity, which is obviously quite expensive as well.
07:15 About four years of just really deep, deep depression and anxiety and just feeling worthless and just feeling almost like I wanted to give up because I was like, "This is too much.
07:28 This is actually too much."
07:30 Obviously, if it was meant to be for me, I would be flying with the rest of my friends.
07:34 I mean, they're off doing their thing.
07:36 A lot of them by this point have got work, and I'm having ladies shouting at me for ID, for alcohol in Audi.
07:44 Working 40 hours a week. I was 18, working 40 hours a week at Audi.
07:51 It was rough. It was really rough for me.
07:53 Then it got to my fourth year, and I told myself, "I'm not doing it. After this, I'm not doing any more auditioning for drama school."
08:03 The third year that I auditioned, I was able to audition for Mountview.
08:07 I didn't get in, but I got to the last round.
08:11 Mountview have this policy or this thing. I don't know if it's a thing anymore, but when I was doing auditioning, they have this thing where if you get to the last round, they'll give you a free second round audition for the next year.
08:23 You get to go straight to second round for the next year.
08:27 That happened for me.
08:29 I didn't even audition for drama schools in my fourth year.
08:31 I was like, "I'm just taking this one because it's free. I don't even care. I'm just doing it because it's free. Why would I not do it?"
08:38 That's the year that I got into drama school.
08:41 I think I just picked some random speech.
08:45 At the time, I think I'd worked with a director and actor at the time called Bollahan.
08:51 I was like, "Bollahan, I don't really care about it. Can you just help me with this speech?"
08:55 I really had no care in the world.
09:00 That was the year that I got in.
09:02 That's how I got into drama school four years later.
09:07 That's a movie in itself.
09:19 I didn't realise, right, I think the first 10 seconds of when you were like, "Oh, I couldn't afford the auditions."
09:32 I was like, "Oh, okay, cool."
09:35 Because I've heard that before.
09:38 I think was it Shak B Gwan?
09:41 He mentioned something.
09:43 I've heard that before. Do you know what I mean?
09:45 Yeah, it's not unique.
09:47 I didn't realise the magnitude of how serious that actually is.
09:52 Because simply out of that situation, it seems like you were in limbo, or at least felt like you were in limbo for four years.
10:08 I've never had it put into perspective what the obstacle is.
10:16 You know, sometimes we say things and it's like, "Oh no, this is an obstacle. This is an issue," and all that stuff.
10:23 But they're not understanding the issue that it actually is.
10:27 It's crazy.
10:31 There's a massive classism issue in drama school as well, which we can get to.
10:37 The financial thing is trying to start out into the industry.
10:42 The financial thing is a big thing.
10:44 There's loads of lovely stories where people have been seen in places or gone to record labels on a random audition,
10:53 and it just works out wonderfully for them.
10:55 It just flourishes for them from there.
10:58 But if you're trying to go in this linear way, it can be hard if you haven't got the money.
11:05 When I was in drama school, there was no such thing as open door.
11:10 There was no such thing as fee wavering.
11:13 None of that was a thing.
11:14 So if you didn't have it, you didn't have it.
11:17 And I didn't have it.
11:19 It was a treat if my dad gave me a bit of money towards a drama school audition.
11:25 And I'm not going to lie, I think a lot of my family by this point were like, "Deja, come on."
11:35 They're just seeing you for four years, being depressed and just feeling sad and trying to keep busy.
11:43 I'm going on Mandy. I'm genuinely trying to keep busy.
11:47 I'm going on Mandy. I'm going on Backstage.
11:50 All these things, all these little bits.
11:53 And I am doing it.
11:54 It's just hard.
11:56 You're travelling, you're spending your own money sometimes to go to these places to be an extra in something.
12:04 Just to keep yourself in the door.
12:07 But it's not quite what you know you're meant to be doing.
12:11 It was a hard four years.
12:15 I feel like my faith in God is what kept me grounded.
12:21 A lot of love from my church community.
12:24 I don't ever ask for money, but people used to be like, "Deja, here, take this 20. Here, take this 10. Here, take this."
12:30 It kept me afloat for the four years that I was working and trying to keep in drama school and do all these things.
12:38 It was a hard one, but we got there in the end.
12:45 Wow.
12:46 I don't know if the phrase is lost for words, but that is...
12:57 I just wasn't expecting that hard.
13:01 You know, everyone's grafted a bit, but that's like, nah.
13:06 Four years of not feeling like you're worth it, but then you've got this deep conviction.
13:12 That's a huge conflict.
13:14 That is so well done for sticking through and being faithful in that regard.
13:21 So fortunately, you've gone to Mount View, right?
13:26 Hopefully it's been a great experience.
13:29 What did you learn from going there that helped your craft?
13:36 Drama school taught me patience, is what drama school taught me.
13:41 And it also helped me in the last year to find myself a bit more.
13:45 Because you start drama school...
13:48 I don't know if Mount View is a little bit different to other drama schools,
13:52 but every type of person is in drama school.
13:57 Especially when you go to somewhere that offers something called a Dada.
14:00 It's a dance and drama award where they assess your family house's income
14:07 and they will give you a bursary on that basis.
14:13 So I got in only because I was given a full Dada.
14:18 If I didn't get a Dada, even then I wouldn't have gone to Mount View, even if I got in.
14:21 And there's a lot of people that had to turn down their places because they weren't legible for a Dada.
14:26 And the fees were too expensive.
14:29 So even still, you get in and you're still faced with money issues.
14:35 So you've got people that are not on a Dada and their families are paying for their drama school experience.
14:41 You've got people that are on a full Dada that are relying solely on the Dada to get in.
14:44 There's people on a half Dada that they can pay half and then the government or whoever it is that pays it, I pay it.
14:50 So every type of person is in drama school.
14:53 People come from all over the world to come study at drama school.
14:56 And everyone wants the same thing.
15:00 And it can be very competitive at times.
15:04 But it taught me patience.
15:06 I mean, I would say, again, money was a big thing for me still.
15:11 And even on a full Dada, I still had to contribute to living at home and I still had to eat.
15:18 I still had to pay my bills. I still had to do everything I had to do.
15:22 So when a lot of my friends whose families were paying for them to stay in the flat or wherever they were staying,
15:29 I was working three jobs whilst going to drama school.
15:33 And I had a very bad first year at drama school because I was so tired because I was just working.
15:40 Like I'd come in at 3 a.m. from doing hair.
15:45 And then I'd have to be back at drama school for 9 a.m.
15:48 But I'd be so groggy and just miserable that I didn't form great relationships at the beginning of my schooling.
15:59 I came across as very, I think, not nice, maybe, but it's not because I wasn't nice.
16:05 I was moody, but I was very tired.
16:08 And it started to just get on top of me. And that's when I'd say that I say first and second year wasn't great.
16:19 And then Covid hits.
16:22 Oh, man.
16:24 And then I'm spending my classes like how me and you are talking right now, like on Zoom.
16:35 And I genuinely thought drama school couldn't get any worse.
16:38 But that is probably the way you're doing stage combat on Zoom.
16:42 How do you even do stage combat on Zoom?
16:45 So someone's like, all right, you ready? Let's do the slap.
16:53 And you're like, wait, no, wait, did you turn your head? Connection, connection, do it again.
16:59 And I wish I was joking, but that was just that was literally how we were, how we were doing our classes.
17:04 And it was just it was awful. And I just you know, I was living at this point with my dad.
17:10 So two of them, my stepmom, my dad were teachers. So they were in their own bedrooms doing their teaching.
17:16 My little sister's still got to do Zoom school. So I'm confined to my bedroom.
17:20 Where I sleep is where I work, where I work is where I sleep.
17:24 And it was too much. And I just hated it.
17:28 And I was like, what? I was like, God, why are you doing this to me? Like, what are you trying to teach me here?
17:36 And it was just, yeah, it was a lot. But thankfully, by third year, we were able to get back into the room and do our third year plays.
17:47 So I was really blessed to be able to do all my third year shows.
17:51 I wasn't we wasn't able to do the showcase that was cancelled, but the third year shows were able to go ahead.
17:58 No audience members were allowed, though. So they were all recorded for us to send around.
18:07 So I did my third year play, which was Benefa's Place.
18:12 And I played the role of Benefa. And in some ways, the digital thing.
18:17 Was that a lead then? Yeah, that was a lead. That was a lead, which was great for me.
18:24 And I thought it was sort of a disadvantage not having to be able not being able to invite agents.
18:31 But it actually was an advantage because if you're able to record something and just compress it into a link,
18:38 you can send it around to like a hundred times more agents than you would ever have been able to send it around.
18:44 Most agents don't go to third year shows. They go to showcases, but they won't go to third year shows.
18:49 And I didn't have a showcase. So I was like, what am I going to do?
18:54 What am I going to do? I was still sort of in this like, woe is me sort of situation.
18:58 I was like, I hate this. I hate my life. This is not fair. I didn't go for all of this for this to be my thing.
19:04 And then one of my good friends, Shabazz, was like, what are you talking about?
19:08 You just got the lead in Benefa's Place. You are Benefa. You are the title role.
19:12 Go and send some emails. I was like, is that OK? All right.
19:20 So I took the link. I wrote a draft and I sent 600 emails.
19:27 600. Yeah. Over the course of three days, I wrote 600 emails over the course of three days.
19:36 And I got about 20 offers. So thanks, Shabazz.
19:49 If I never said it before. Thanks. He just like, he just put it into perspective.
19:55 Are you crazy? You've just been given this. Go and send some emails.
19:59 And I was like, all right, I'm going to send some emails.
20:02 And I was just like something in me was just like I was up till 3 a.m. like every day just sending you emails, not knowing.
20:09 Everyone's like, don't send it to multiple agents from the same agency because they talk.
20:13 And I was like, I don't care, man. I ain't got nothing to lose. I'm about to leave drama school.
20:16 I'm with nothing. I need to send this. And I just sent it.
20:19 I just sent it to everyone that I could, whose email I could get a hold of.
20:23 And I got loads of no's because I might tweet like 20 emails out of 600.
20:31 So the rest were no's. But the yeses were good yeses.
20:36 You know, I mean, some really good agencies were in the mix and wanted to meet up or wanted to give me an offer.
20:42 And it was fantastic. I was like, whoa, like, whoa, like crazy.
20:51 And yeah. And that's how I got my agent.
20:56 And I left. I left drama school signed, which is really, really a blessing because, again, a lot of people are sending agents to emails and emails to agents.
21:07 And they were saying, sorry, we got to look after the clients that we already got and they haven't been working.
21:12 So we can't really take on any more. We can't really take on any more graduates.
21:18 So it really, really was like a blessing to be able to to do that.
21:24 After all that, four years. And then wait, so how many years was Mount View?
21:30 Three. So seven years.
21:35 Seven years.
21:38 And then Shabazz comes and picks me up the mum.
21:45 No, you know, I'm so inspired by your work ethic in those three days.
21:50 That's very interesting. Wow. OK. Wow. Wow. Wow.
21:55 So you've you've you've you've finished Mount View.
22:00 You've got your agent now. Like what sort of jobs were you getting?
22:05 And also also. So what year was this?
22:10 OK, so I finished drama school 2021. I would have just.
22:15 Yeah, the 2021 I would have just I would have finished. And yet the auditions were flying in.
22:22 They were flying in. They were flying in. They were flying in. They were flying in like so many, so many, so many, so many.
22:26 Really? Yeah, really. It was crazy. Like I had so many.
22:31 And everyone used to be like, are you taping? Because I'm not really taping. I'm like, yeah, I'm always taping.
22:36 Like, I don't know. That's all I'm. That's all I do. So I'm taping.
22:41 I'm taping. I'm taping at this point. During my course of studying, I moved around a lot in terms of homes.
22:48 So at this point now I'm living with my grandmother who has been diagnosed with dementia.
22:54 So it's really, really hard for me living with living with her because it's just I think Covid sort of might have accelerated it.
23:02 Being indoors, being cooped up. She was a very active woman.
23:06 She used to go like seniors aerobics at church. She used to bake. She used to go to Lushum High Street on her own accord.
23:13 I mean, she's very independent. And then that being snatched away from her, I think didn't really help the situation.
23:18 So she's declining and I'm living with her. And it just got really hard for me.
23:23 So Mount View have this like sort of job bulletin, not necessarily always acting work.
23:33 It can just be jobs that actors can take on and drop when they need to, if they need to take on.
23:39 Is that like waitressing and stuff like that or not?
23:43 So I saw an au pair. I've never looked after children in my life at this point, by the way.
23:50 But I saw that they were offering a room. I saw they were offering money.
23:54 And I said, I'm going for this. So I went for it because I was like, I need somewhere to stay.
24:02 And, you know, it's getting a bit too hard to be here. I need a more senior member of my family to come in for my brother.
24:08 Yeah, straight. Yeah. So I got it. I don't know how.
24:13 I literally and I told him straight. I didn't lie. I said, I have never looked after children before.
24:17 I'm just letting you know. So. So the lady who he offered me the job, she was pregnant at the time.
24:27 She had a seven year old and she had a three year old. And that's who I was going to be looking after while she was sort of like.
24:32 And I was a nanny for like nine months. And even then I was working three jobs.
24:40 So I was when I was at drama school. So when I was at drama school, I was an estate agent on a Saturday.
24:46 I was hairdressing and I was working at Waitrose. So three jobs.
24:50 And then when I became a nanny, I was a nanny. I was an estate agent. I was still doing hair. So still three jobs.
24:57 So in the day when the kids were at school, I'd do my estate agency.
25:02 And then if anyone wanted their hair done at the weekend, I'd do the hair at the weekend because I didn't work on the weekend.
25:07 And then I'd take the kids to school. I'd bring them home. I'd cook. I'd clean.
25:13 I'd make sure they were put into bed and all that kind of stuff.
25:16 And then she gave birth and I was looking after three children.
25:23 All the while, I was still working my three jobs and auditioning.
25:26 So I was still doing what I had to do. And that was about nine months.
25:30 And I also was nowhere near, not nowhere near home, but I was not, I was no longer living in South London.
25:34 That's where I'm from. I was living in North West London for this nannying gig.
25:37 So I wasn't seeing my family as much as I usually do because my family in South London would literally live like five minutes within distance.
25:45 So I'm just determined. Again, this strong sense of purpose is always what has been driving me throughout this whole journey.
25:53 It's just I know. So even when the little kids used to drive me insane, I used to walk, I used to walk in school and I'm like, "This ain't for long. This ain't for long. Come on, Christopher! This ain't for long. This ain't for long. This ain't for long."
26:06 Trudging my way to school, like, "This ain't for long. This ain't for long."
26:11 And then one day I get, I get a job.
26:16 My first job was at the Domar Warehouse doing Mary's seacoal.
26:23 And that would have been 2022. And we done, we did that, well, the rehearsal started in March, started in April.
26:32 And I think we finished around June. Unfortunately, we lost our last week due to COVID.
26:38 But we had a great run of what we did all the while, whilst I was on Mary's and auditioning for Champion.
26:48 And that's how the story intertwines.
26:57 So how long was that process for you? The auditions for Champion?
27:05 So, rewind back to Nanyan. I auditioned for Champion the previous year, but that was no.
27:19 So I auditioned for Vito already and I was told no. And so that was that.
27:25 There was not really any feedback. She had a great read, but it just didn't go her way. So cool, left it there.
27:32 And the following year, the year that I got Mary's, I was just like, I'm on this like group chat for actors of ethnic minorities.
27:45 I'm just chilling like one day. And then like, I see this like flyer for a role.
27:53 I was like, it didn't give the description of the name of the character or anything like that.
27:57 But I was like, I know I definitely auditioned for this before. I auditioned for her and I went back to my emails and I was like, yeah, this is the same role.
28:05 But what I'd seen was the casting director had changed and it's now an open casting.
28:09 So it's not just going through agents anymore. It's an open casting.
28:14 And when I first read that script, I felt a real conviction. Like I was like, I even called my best friend, Dionna.
28:20 I was like, I'm reading this thing here and everything that's happened to this girl has happened to me.
28:26 She's even the same age, Dionna. And she lives in South London, bro. This has to be mine.
28:31 So when I did get the no, I was devastated because I had this strong feeling that I was going to get this.
28:39 And when I didn't, I was like, well, OK, maybe my discernment is a little bit off.
28:43 And then, yeah, so fast forward, get this sort of flyer come through and I'm like, oh, should I maybe go for it again?
28:56 So I messaged my agent. I'm like, can we go for this again? Do you think I could do that?
29:01 She was like, do it. Of course. So she's like, give me a second.
29:06 She does a little agent thingy, Bob, making the magic happen.
29:14 And then she comes back to me with the sides. And I'm like, cool, cool, cool, cool.
29:18 So first round was a tape. This is all while being on Mary Seacole, by the way, doing the tape.
29:26 And then like a few days, we'd love Deja to come in for a recall. I was like, oh, wow.
29:37 So I had to leave Mary's rehearsals early because I'm still in rehearsals by this point, left early.
29:41 And I'm carrying a suitcase because after Mary's rehearsals, I was off to do someone's hair because I'm still working.
29:50 I stay working, I stay working. We'll come to the audition with a suitcase.
29:56 And Candice, the writer, I met her for the first time, goes, what's in that suitcase?
30:01 I was like, oh, I'm a hairdresser, so I'm going to be doing hairdressing after my rehearsals today.
30:07 She's like, oh, I like that. I was like, yeah.
30:11 So I see they have audition and then I get another recall and they're like, we'd love Deja to come in for a camera read with Malcolm, who plays Bosco.
30:26 And I'm not going to lie, I fangled so hard. I was like, Malcolm, come on.
30:32 I'm like, what's his name? Amy? Amy? Ronell from Top Boy Blunt. Yes!
30:36 Diona! Diona! I am doing an audition with Ronell from Top Boy Blunt.
30:42 She was like, no way. I was like, yes way. Go to the audition.
30:46 I got to do, I think I got to do two more songs and a camera read with him and then two more scenes by myself.
30:56 But I think, but I think, I think by this point, most of the cast had been cast.
31:01 I think I was one of the last people to be cast, but they really, I think they struggled casting Vita because they just wanted it to be right.
31:09 Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
31:11 So it was a, it was a, I think it was a very hard decision for them to make because I'm more or less coming towards the end of Mary's now.
31:20 Like, we're in the middle of the end of Mary's. So you can tell that it was very hard for them to decide, which is why I was like, they were going to, they were going to ask me to come in for a fourth round.
31:28 But my agent was like, she's in tech. So, like anymore.
31:36 So, yeah, they, it was between me and someone else. I don't know who that was, obviously.
31:42 And yeah, my agent calls me one day whilst I'm with the baby.
31:48 So I'm still, I'm still, so by the way, I'm still living in the nanny in house.
31:52 I'm just paying them rent now because I was like, if I go back to South, there's no tubes.
31:58 So I need someone that can get into London quickly. So they were like, yeah, just stay here. Just pay us rent.
32:02 So now I'm living there, but I'm giving them the money.
32:10 Every now and then I do still like look after the baby or whatever, because you know, now at this point, they're just like proper a part of me.
32:19 I'm with the baby and she's like, how would you like to, my agent calls me, he's like, how would you like to, I don't know, lead a Netflix show?
32:27 I was like, no, no, no, no, no, you're lying. You're lying. You're lying. I scream and wake the baby up.
32:34 And yeah, like I got the role that way.
32:40 And literally, as soon as I finished Mary's, I was straight into singing rehearsals with my voice coach.
32:45 It like it was the quickest turnaround ever. So I finished Mary's straight into rehearsals with with the voice coach, got all the songs that I would be doing.
32:55 And we were just on it from the from that day. The work, the work never stopped.
33:01 The work literally never stopped. So it was it's been it's like a roller coaster of a journey.
33:09 Wow. This is amazing. Yeah, it's it's yeah, your seven, eight years.
33:21 That's it's not easy. It's not. It's not.
33:28 Yeah, that's well done, man. Well done. Well done. You deserve it.
33:33 So right. So because funny enough, I was catching up with Malcolm the other day.
33:40 And I was telling him, like, I didn't realize, like, the magnitude of Champion until I watched it.
33:51 Because it's like, hold on. I was expecting maybe like a four part series. Right.
33:59 But it's eight parts. And then you guys flew to Jamaica. Yes.
34:03 Or at least that it was definitely another country. You know, when it's like, oh, this is.
34:13 And it's not just like for a scene or two. And then you do the funeral and you come.
34:18 So in a bit, there's like one or two full episodes of Brood. I was like, are you serious?
34:27 Yeah. Yeah. They really invested in the show. So it's for me.
34:34 So I'm watching it and I'm like, OK, cool. Oh, I did. I wasn't expecting that. All right.
34:39 Cool. But then the show is so emotionally driven in terms of like the intensity of like relationships and like friend groups.
34:49 And one day your friends, one day you like you and Ray Black are hating each other.
34:53 And then your brother's got like PTSD. But then you're trying to be his friend and then he doesn't like you.
35:00 So then you're like, whatever. But then you're like, it's like there's a lot going on. Right.
35:05 In every episode. I just wanted to know. Right. Like because everyone wants to be a lead in it.
35:14 But what was that actually like? Because I feel like sometimes like people don't unless you do it,
35:21 people don't understand the magnitude of what that might mean. So, yeah.
35:28 I loved being the role of Eeyore, like absolutely. But it's probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
35:37 The hardest thing I've ever done in my life, because it's not just it's not just like straight acting.
35:44 If you're not like I was always on the go. So that like if you weren't on set, then you're in a studio.
35:52 And if you're not in a studio, you're getting your hair designed. If your hair's not getting designed,
35:56 then you're getting your hair done. If your hair's not getting done, then you're in a rehearsal for another number.
36:01 If you're not in a rehearsal for another number, then you're in vocal coaching with your vocal coach.
36:05 Like there's no days off. There's no days off. And you're in that chair every day at 5.30
36:11 and you're leaving every single day at the end of the day. Like there's there's no breaks.
36:17 There's no breaks. It's so hard.
36:21 So you said studio as in recording music studio.
36:26 Yeah, yeah. We sing all of the music. So I sing all of my songs.
36:31 Ray sings all of her songs. Malcolm's doing all of his songs. Same as Corey, same as Kieran, who plays Rusty.
36:39 Anyone who anyone that opens them up to sing or rap is coming from them.
36:44 There's no dubbing. There's no syncing. So all our vocals are our own.
36:51 So you can actually sing. I mean, you can actually sing.
36:57 I wasn't a singer, but if it requires it, I'll sing.
37:01 You know what, right? You know what? So when I saw your when I saw you doing all of your songs, right?
37:10 Yeah. Because they've got such a Ray Black cadence.
37:16 Like my girl, that just sounds like a song Ray Black would write.
37:19 You know, I mean, it's very unique and very real and soulful and all of that stuff.
37:24 So then I'm thinking. I'm thinking, ah, Ray Black singing, but she's making it sound like you a little bit.
37:39 Yeah. Do you know? I mean, because you can tell when it's someone else's voice.
37:42 So I'm thinking, OK, cool. But you actually sing.
37:46 Yeah, I sing every single song. Every single one that I do in the show, I sing it.
37:52 Yeah. And like music is not a thing that you do as well as act.
37:56 No, I don't think. So then with your vocal coach, you're really training to sing better than what you can naturally.
38:06 Yes. Yes. That was probably the hardest part for me because like I've always sung as I said this before, I've always sung as a part of like a choir or, you know, a church.
38:16 I'm on the worship team. But that's like a group. But like being a solo artist is something completely different.
38:24 And you're very exposed, especially when you're on set with like the lighting crew.
38:29 You're on set with everyone, the execs, everyone, everyone's on set, directors, everyone and whoever's in your scene, you got to sing in front of them.
38:38 And it's very, very nerve wracking because I don't do that by myself.
38:43 You're singing live.
38:45 Yes. So a lot of the, not for the soundtrack, but in the show, a lot of the recordings are a mixture of live and pre-recorded.
38:55 So there's a mixture in there. Yeah. So some of the stuff they've used, taken some of our live recordings and put it in there as well.
39:04 So it's very exposing. I think the only time I didn't do it is for the finale because there was so much dancing and they were like, don't bother, just lip sync or whatever.
39:18 But even then I still had to do a little bit live just to get like the, because they really wanted to make, the sound design is really amazing.
39:25 And they really wanted to get the breaths in there, like the, to the authenticity of the breath.
39:31 So like they were like, still do it live, we can know where you were breathing, you know, get that sort of like breathiness because obviously you'd be dancing and stuff.
39:38 So they put a mixture. So it's a mixture of live and a mixture of pre-recorded in there.
39:45 So yeah, it was really hard for me, but you know, Josh is amazing and he's my, Josh Alamu is my vocal coach and he's like, he's a vocal coach for some amazing people like Ray, Ray Black.
39:57 Oh is he? He's a vocal coach for all those people. So he's, he's a goat. He knows what he's doing.
40:06 This is amazing man. Do you know what, no, even more kudos to you man, because yeah, I'm thinking, oh yeah, they would have sorted that out in post or it's someone else.
40:16 Like that is a lot. That's a lot. And obviously your hair is going to take longer than Malcolm's in it. So that is, that's a lot man.
40:29 Well done. What advice would you give to someone, right? I think I asked Malcolm this as well, but I think it's very, I think it's very important for, for both of you because it's like you guys have landed lead roles on a show at a particular age.
40:56 And it's like, it's kind of unheard of, like this doesn't happen every day. Do you know what I mean? So it's like, everyone would want to play a lead, but what advice would you give to someone that's like, oh, I wanted to play VR.
41:12 For yeah, any, yeah. Okay. So I'd say trust in your journey, number one, and trust that what is for you is meant to be for you because VR came right back to me.
41:29 Do you know what I mean? When I thought it was gone. And if your first role is a supporting role or your first role is like maybe number, I don't know, 50 on a call sheet, use that because I will take skills away as being, as having my first job as a lead, but I never really got to, I never got, remember it's my first job period.
41:52 It's my first TV job period. I've never had a TV job before. This is my date. So I'm having to, I know my training comes from theatre. So all of this repetition business, being on set for long hours, like I hated that.
42:08 I was like, why, why am I saying this line again? I'm done. I'm done with the scene. I am done with the scene. Can we go?
42:15 There's no, there's no, we can go like, you still got to do all your setups, all your, however, and however many people are in the, the scene with you, their setups, then a wide, then an aerial, then a, do you know what I mean?
42:28 All these setups, and then you got to, and then in between those setups are takes. So you got to keep doing takes. And you can be doing the same scene for a whole day.
42:37 And that took a lot for me to get used to, because I'm not used to that. Me, I'm a live theatre performer. So if I mess up, you either make it work, or you pray tomorrow for a better day. That's it.
42:48 Not all this repetition business. Do you know what I'm saying? So there's, there's, there's a lot that I had to take away. There's a lot of patience I had to learn.
42:56 I had to, you know, the stamina, I didn't have, I didn't have that. I didn't have a lot of stamina because I'm not used to that, you know, that sort of skill set.
43:08 So, like, if that is your first role and your first role isn't a lead, use that to help you for when your lead does come, because you'll be probably in a much better position than me, where I was shocked into my role.
43:22 I had to just learn on the go. I had to just go take, just roll with it, roll with the punches. I had to take a lot of lessons from the people that I was on set with.
43:31 Obviously, I got some amazing people like, come on, Nadine Marshall, Jo Martin, Carl Cullen, Ray Fearon. I got legends. I got veterans to work with. You're not always going to get veterans.
43:41 You're not always going to get that. So, luckily, I was able to just, like, really just take everything from them and they willingly gave it, do you know what I mean?
43:51 So, I wasn't, that's why I was in an amazing position, because as much as I was rolling with the punches and it was really hard for me, I had an amazing supporting cast around me to help me and elevate me.
44:00 And they were so supportive of me as well. Like, they really wanted the best for me.
44:07 So, yeah, that's what I'd say. I'd say, trust in whatever is coming your way and take every role as a blessing.
44:13 Being able to work in this industry is a blessing. It's not, it's really not a right. It's not, it's a privilege to be able to work in this industry.
44:23 So, I take every role that I get as a blessing, every single role as a blessing.
44:28 If my first role was flipping tree number one, I'll thank the Lord for it same way.
44:38 And that's just the way it goes. So, yeah, just accept your journey for what it is. I've accepted my journey. I love my journey.
44:45 At the time, it was horrible. I hated it. But looking back, being able to look back and talk to you about my struggles that really were real struggles for me.
44:54 I love that. I love that I can say, oh, I've come this far and here I am. Do you know what I mean?
45:00 So, that's what I would say. Trust and believe in your journey and be relentless as well.
45:06 Don't let anyone tell you, you know. All this plan B business. I was like, let me tell you what my plan B is. To make plan A work.
45:12 That's what I used to tell my mum. Plan B is to make plan A work. That's the only plan.
45:18 That's what I used to drive me all the time. So, yeah, that's my advice. My small, small advice.
45:29 I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. That is such a great way to round up as well, man.
45:36 Like, Deja, I am inspired. Thank you for your time.
45:41 This is like, even just finding out more about your journey, it makes us, you know, I think, appreciate and even support you more because it's like, yeah, that beginning part.
45:59 Yeah. That's difficult. Yeah. So, well done, man.
46:03 Oh, that girl, she just come out of drama school and got a role. I'm like, nah. It was seven years, darling. It was seven long years.
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