Laura Donnelly, a Belfast born and bred starlet, has quickly become a name in that business called show. Only twenty-seven years of age, she has an impressive portfolio and a blossoming career, avoiding “the rut” which most young aspiring actors unfortunately fall into early on in their career. Her abundant talent has seen her conquer film, television and theatre roles, having portrayed Juliet in the open air in the London summer evenings. Of this Laura says, “It was an absolute fantasy come true.”
BY HANNAH GOODALL
Realising at a young age that her heart lay in the performing arts, Laura felt that the only way she could truly indulge her passion was to apply to the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Her subsequent acceptance into the drama college was one step in the right direction for the young actress who aspires to follow in the footsteps of acting icons.
She says, “Judi Dench…Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren…those women have taken time to work on their craft, really immerse themselves in a character to the point where you don’t see the actress, you see the person they are playing.”
“Drama College was the obvious route…It gave me the training to work in theatre and the professionalism needed to work as an actor in any capacity,” she says.
Having first come to light in ‘Sugar Rush’ Laura has subsequently done a fair amount of both television and theatre, professing that they couldn’t be more different.
“Theatre requires a lot of technique. In TV, the camera does a lot of that work for you. Both are spontaneous but in different ways,” she says.
Recently having appeared in the BBC hit TV series ‘Merlin’, she relished the opportunity to work on something so different.
“It was a great show to work on. I got to work in the most incredible setting in the French countryside with a lovely cast and crew. It’s nice to do a fantasy series because the usual boundaries simply don’t exist. That kind of work is refreshing.”
Recently, Belfast has become a centre for artistic development and discovery, and Laura can count herself among the Belfast elite of a small Northern Irish acting community. “I’m really interested in the films being made in Ireland, with Irish casts for an international audience. They can be small, independent productions, but they’re often the best. And our country has so much to offer artistically that I’d love to see more of them come through.”
Now residing in London, Laura has never forgotten her roots, and no one can doubt that she has a bright future ahead of her. Her advice for those aspiring thespians?
“If you want to be a star, don’t bother. If you have real passion for what you do … go at it with as much enthusiasm and hard work as you can possibly muster. I think the most important things as a professional actor is to be on time, be hard working and easy to work with. Being nice gets you very far.”