Khalique-Brown Hannah

VIEWTIES got the opportunity to sit down with the lovely British actress Hannah Khalique-Brown to discuss the most challenging acting work she’d ever done - her leadingroleinPeterKosminsky’sTheUndeclaredWar.

Taking place in a post-pandemic world against the backdrop of an upcoming British general election, The Undeclared War follows the leading team of analysts as they attempt to ward off a cyber-attack on the country's electoral system. For Hannah, thestoriesandthewritingaresoimportantatthemomentinchoosingaroletoplay, andherrolehereasSaaraParvinisn’ttheexceptiontoherruleofcontributingwith herartandskills,challengingherselftothefullest.

Hannah starts our conversation with a sweet anecdote about her early memories thatintroducedhertoacting.Shedescribesitasapullfrominsideandexplainsalot of her style and what she conveys. Hannah answers some thought-provoking questions on this role, similarities, the relationship with the cast and crew and why working with them lent itself to a sense of trust and community on set. She also shares her thoughts on maturing as an artist and her experience dealing with rejection,criticism,pressureandexpectations.

V: I wanted to start our conversation by remembering your first experience as an actor and how this has led you to pursue acting as a career. Was it anything in particular that made you feel an inkling for the arts?

HANNAH:It’shardtopinpointwhatmyfirstexperience as an actor was, because I feel like I’ve been a “performer” in some way since I could walk, I think! One of my earliest forms of acting was playing with my Dad as a child We had this repertoireofcharacters–allwithdifferentnames, accents,voices,personalities.Whenwewereinthe car throughout my childhood until I left home at 18 (and even still now when I go back home!) we would each choose a character to embody when we got into our seats, and would stay in character intheseimaginaryworldsuntilwegotoutthecar at the end of our journey. Those are some of my fondestmemories,andprobablywhereitallbegan. Ialsohadacoupleofreallyformativeperformance experiences through childhood which just confirmed to me that this is what I have to do. But honestly, I don’t really know where it all came from–Ithinkit’salwaysbeenapullfrominside.

V: I’ve seen you playing serious roles, stories with a meaning, and this recent one doesn’t seem like the exception. It makes me wonder, what do you look for in a role; is it the story, the challenge or something else?

HANNAH: This is a great question. I think first I look to the story and writing. If I feel like it’s a story that I really want to be part of telling, that I reallyfeelaneedtocontributetobringingintothe world. Good writing is then always an instant pull. In a way, if I feel like I want to serve the writing, story,orvisionitbecomesaloteasierformetofall inlovewiththecharacternomatterwhotheyare! AndthenI’lllooktocharactermorespecifically,to seeifthereiscomplexityandchallengeintherefor me.Idon’tliketoplaythingsthatareeasy–Ihave tobeabletochallengemyself.

V: I also wanted to discuss with you the negative aspects that are usually linked to this job. I’m talking about rejection, criticism, pressure and expectations. How do you deal with it to the point of not letting it bring you down?

HANNAH:Again,thisisagreatquestion!I’vebeen asked about rejection before, but it’s really interesting to also think about criticism, pressure, and expectations I always say with regards to rejection that a way of avoiding this getting you down is to alter your perspective to not see it as rejection. One of the most common forms of perceived rejection is through auditioning and not gettingtherole,butIthinkifyouworkhardonthe material, share that work with the casting team –offerwhatyoucandoforthecharacterandstory and then walk away without ever even thinking about“bookingtherole”…thenyoucan’tlose.You havetofindtheartisticfulfilmentintheprocessof doing the work and sharing it, and that’s it. It just can’tdependon“results”likegettingpeopletolike you or getting a job. If you genuinely commit to this mindset, you won’t feel rejected – honestly! Criticism is another really interesting one – we have to be able to define what that means for ourselves. Taking notes and suggestions from directors or people you’re working with can’t be seen as criticism, I don’t think We have to work hardtore-framethatasanopportunitytoexplore, find something new, or learn. Criticism outside of theworkingprocessisadifferentthingaltogether – your work is done and you can’t change it, and youhavetobecarefulwhoorwhatyoulistentoat that point and ask yourself if it will help you become a better artist. I think usually, the answer is no. Pressure is a weird one. I kind of love it. Sometimes pressure can be conducive to really goodwork!Buttoomuchofitisnogood Idoget reallyawfulimpostersyndromewhenthepressure feels a lot, and that can be hard. I think the best thingyoucandoisremindyourselfthatit’snot>>>

<<< all down to you Usually, this kind of work is highlycollaborative.Thepressureisn’tallonyour shoulders – it’s something you have the privilege ofsharingwithlotsofotherhighlytalentedpeople. Allyoucandoistakeeachdayasitcomesanddo your absolute best, and that’s enough. Finally, expectations.Ithinkyoujusthavetofocusonyour own expectations for yourself and not pay any attention to what expectations others may or may not have of you I actually set really high expectations for myself and find that quite fulfilling, butpaynomindtowhatanyoneelsemightexpect fromme.

V: What is the piece of advice or a phrase that has been important and helpful during your career?

HANNAH:Imean,Istolemyideasaboutrejection fromBryanCranston,whogivesthisamazingpiece of advice in his autobiography A Life In Parts whichisfantastic.ForatasterIwouldrecommend typing into YouTube ‘Bryan Cranston advice for aspiring actors’ and watching the first video that comes up. And apart from that, anything that my acting coach Laurence Mitchell says! He is this incredible fountain of wisdom and comes out with insanely concise and brilliant phrases that just make something click, and I carry a lot of them with me all the time. Two of my most treasured from him are “never take the path of least resistance” in your acting work, and “your minimum has to be everyone else’s maximum” in terms of work ethic. I live by both of those and manyotherofhisgoldennuggetquotes!

V: Now, focusing on your performance as Saara Parvin in Peter Kosminsky’s ‘The Undeclared War’, what was your response to the script and what was it that made you want to be part of this production so bad?

HANNAH: I pretty instantly fell in love with the whole project! I was already quite a fan of Peter’s work,andtheideaofpotentiallyworkingon >>>

<<<oneofhisprojectswasprettymad,thenreading the character breakdown of Saara... it was just an instantconnection.Ilovedhowatthecentreofthis storywasabrilliant,complexyoungwoman.Notin the side-lines or background – but leading the show. It was so exciting. And then reading those first few audition scenes, and Peter’s flawless writing – I was just instantly very, very excited. I felt a very powerful and profound love for Saara really early on, so that was obviously quite a big pullfromwithinmetowardstellingherstory.

V: Did you find similarities between her and yourself?

HANNAH: It’s funny, because Saara and I are actually really different! We are quite different in personality, we think differently, we speak, walk and talk differently… Peter joked about this once we started working – he was like, “you’re really not like her!” I tend to prefer to work in a way whereIhavetostretchmyselfandstepoutsideof myself. The key for me is understanding and deeply loving my character, even when they are wildly different from me, which happened almost instantly with Saara I think there are some similaritiesthough–webothliketoprovepeople wrong when we feel underestimated, we both expect quite a lot of ourselves and are both very determined,drivenpeople.

V: What helped you to approach this role; did you need to work in-depth to connect with her in spirit, or was it all in the script?

HANNAH: This is a great question! I think both, but it’s really interesting to think about. Peter’s writingisprettyspecial–Imeanhisscriptsreadin averyspecificandhelpfulway.Hegoesquitedeep into character thoughts and inner life in sort of “stage direction” part of the scripts compared to others – there are often extra notes and ideas about what’s going on inside for each character. SomescriptshavethisbutPeter’sare>>>

<<< different – he writes in an almost poetic way sometimes, and his language seems to magically cut through all the noise and reach the actor’s heart. I guess that’s one of the many reasons why he’s such an incredible filmmaker. So a lot of Saara’s spirit was palpably alive in the script, in Peter’s writing, which was amazing. Along with that he gave me a huge amount of backstory for Saara, which again, is rare. I had pages and pages ofnotesonhercharacter,personality,andlifeeven beforeIbookedtherole,whichwasjustincredible AndIthinkmyspiritualconnectionwithSaara,and profound love for her was pretty instant, but I always,alwaysdoalotofin-depthworkandthat’s when our connection built more and more until it wasreallyoverwhelmingandpowerful Ireallylike to build characters up from the text into a full, complete, other human being with real, lived memorieswhilstformingadeeploveandbondfor them,andIwassortofabletodothatworkright fromthefirstauditionupuntiltheendofshooting thanks to Peter’s approach, so that in-depth work neverreallystops!

V: Did you find that there was anything challenging about your character or during the shooting process of The Undeclared War?

HANNAH: Everything! I’m sort of half-joking. Shooting The Undeclared War was definitely the best period in my life to date and the most artisticallyfulfillingthingI’veeverdone.Butitwas extremely challenging! Which is probably why it was so fulfilling. I was really, really well looked after by production, by Channel 4, Peter Kosminsky who was my guiding light throughout every day, and many of my co-stars like Simon PeggandMaisieRichardson-Sellerswhosupported me in different ways, but yes – it was an intense and challenging shoot! Long days, long nights, difficult scenes, emotionally demanding work - on notverymuchsleep!Iwaspushedandchallenged physically as well as doing the most challenging actingworkI’deverdone.Itwasalsoanew>>> senseofresponsibilityforme as an actor with my levelofexperiencetoleadashow.Butallofthese things are a huge part of what made it such an unbelievably special experience, and made me learn so much and grow an awful lot as an actor andperson,andIwouldn’tchangeathing

V: How was the atmosphere on set? I’ve seen a photo on your Instagram with some cast members; how would you describe the experience working with them?

HANNAH: The atmosphere was really special. You mention cast but on set, most of the people around you are the incredible crew (who, by the way, work even longer and harder hours!). There was something really special on our set and everyone in our crew was incredibly dedicated committed to the work we were doing together andyoucouldactuallyfeelitintheair.Onatough shoot with long days and nights it takes a certain amount of sacrifice and everyone was just completely focussed. This really lends itself to a senseoftrustandcommunityonsetwhichIreally think can make or break a performance. I especiallyvividlyremembertheatmosphereondays where we shot some of the more intense and emotionally demanding scenes. It was the atmosphere curated by the crew, from ADs to camera to lighting, makeup, costume, art department – everyone – that meant us actors could fully trust the process and be entirely vulnerable, just giving over to the moment and knowingthateveryoneintheroomisonashared missionandhasyourback.Crewnevergetenough credit But yes, working with the rest of the cast wasincredibletoo.Iwasabletoworkwithsomeof my heroes like Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Alex Jennings and Adrian Lester to name a few who werealljustabsolutelyamazinginsomanyways.I alsomadetwoofmydearestfriends,GermanSegal who plays Vadim and Maisie Richardson-Sellers who plays Kathy. Everyone was just amazing, and allarenowtreasuredfriendsindifferentways.

V: In which way do you feel this show has helped you mature your creativity as an artist?

HANNAH:Anothergreatquestion!Ifeelit’shard topinpointexactlywhat,becauseitwassuchahuge creative education for me altogether I got to put intopractisesomuchofwhatIlearninthestudio with my acting coach and mentor Laurence Mitchell, which was invaluable. I grew a lot as an artist with respect to confidence and trust. Yeah, trust was a huge one Trusting yourself, your love and relationship with your character, the people workingwithyouandaroundyouandallowingthat toformhowyouapproachyourworkonsetevery day. I learned a lot about having a long-term relationship with a character I also grew in my understandingofcreativeboundaries,andwhatyou needasanartisttodoyourjobtothebestofyour abilityindifferentcircumstances.There’stoomuch to put into words really! So much of it felt like a reallyfundamental,almostspiritualeducation

V: What will surprise the audience about The Undeclared War and your character?

HANNAH:Ithinktherearetoomanysurprisesin the show to count! Honestly, it’s packed full of twists and turns, through a ridiculously tense and gripping plot. It’s a very thrilling show, so expect surprises from where you least expect them I think people will also be surprised at some of the really unexpected and beautiful friendships and relationships that Saara explores in the show… I know in the UK those have been some of the favouritetake-awaysfromtheseries

V: This last question is a little bit personal to me, as my nationality is Argentinian; I like to ask the people I interview what they know about the country, you know, its art and culture. So, I was wondering, have you ever seen or experienced any type of art/culture from Argentina?

HANNAH:Iamsobloodyexcitedaboutthis>>>

<<< question. So… I actually have a direct link to Argentinian culture – not quite art but this is reallycool!Ipromisethisiscompletelytrue.My great, great grandfather was Admiral William Brown, also known as Guillermo Brown or Almirante Brown, who was the creator and the first admiral of Argentina’s Navy! You have to check out his Wikipedia page, it’s insane. This is my Dad’s side of the family, who are Irish –AdmiralBrownwasIrishbornandthenbecame, and here I’m quoting from a caption of a painting of him on Wikipedia, “Founder of the Argentine Navy, William Brown is considered a national hero in Argentina, with more than 1,200 streets named after him.” There are statues and postage stamps of him in both Ireland and Argentina, Italian hero Garibaldi named one of his grandchildren “William” after him, as well at four different Argentinian football clubs amongst many other things! You can also visit Plazoleta Almirante Brown (Admiral Brown's Square) in the city of Mar del Plata, or his grave in Recoleta Cemetary in Buenos Aires Can you believe I only found this out a few years ago? I find it so cool! If you’re a massive history nerd like me you’ll love reading about him, I’ve only scratched the surface and it’sfascinating.