Introducing a collection of interviews with some of London’s best British talent, from artists to actors, and what they love about our one of wonderful neighbourhoods, Soho!
Jasmine Lee-Jones is a writer and actor creating waves in the industry. Her first play, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, was presented Upstairs at the Royal Court in 2019. It swept the board at all the awards, winning the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer, the Alfred Fagon Award, the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the European New Talent Drama Award. In April 2023, Jasmine Lee-Jones won the $175,000 Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, becoming the youngest recipient of the prestigious award.
What is your earliest memory in Soho?
Well, the earliest thing I remember has to be Topshop (R.I.P.!). Many an after school trip with friends – it functioned as a hang-out space too with free wi-fi! As I got older, there have also been many a Friday night spent in Balans getting a breakfast in the early hours of the morning. Soho is definitely a place littered with memories of my late teens/early twenties.
What was it that first made you want to become an actor and screenwriter?
I was a very shy child but storytelling, show and tell, and mythmaking have always been the other side of the coin of that reality, strangely – or perhaps out of necessity.
The truth is, I think it was probably children’s TV shows like Storymaker and Mystery Hunters that made me really believe and invest in the mystical quality great stories can have on the psyche and gut. As an adult, a lot of my stories seem to be coming back to this mysticism – in everything, even things that seem to start in an intensely socio-realistic place, have the foundations of a myth within them.
When not on set filming, which boltholes in Soho would we catch you in?
As I mentioned earlier, Balans was a favourite in my early twenties. I don’t really go out, out anymore so haven’t been there in a while. End of last year, I went to Akoko which was amazing – would love to go back when I have the money!
Which London based actors or directors have had the biggest impact on your career?
It would have to be Michaela Coel in terms of influences. In all of her TV creations she’s never compromised the authenticity of what those multifaceted London experiences are, whether it’s growing up on an estate in East London or trawling through the streets of Soho the morning after trying to piece together your past. She’s inspired me to be fearless, not just as a choice but as a responsibility.
In 2022, I worked with Lewis Arnold on a show called The Long Shadow – he’s another person whose lack of compromise in telling the stories of his characters inspired me to protect my instincts without apology. The second, between trusting yourself and self-doubt can seem marginal but actually in the grand scheme of things can make the biggest difference in protecting the truth of your character.
You often take your career into your own hands; writing, acting and directing. What has been your favourite example of this to date?
It would be when I was still at drama school doing all three for the initial version of my play curious. I had no budget, no set and out of it came something remarkable. In truth, I don’t think I’ve felt anything as special since, and I think the beauty of it was I had nothing to lose and the audience member I cared about the most was me.
It is important to protect that little girl watching no matter how; big the project is, how much money you are being paid, and regardless of the expectations being placed on you. Something lit up inside me in that experience and I’ve been holding onto it ever since.
What is the best piece of advice you would give to a young writer trying to get into the industry?
It would be what I said above, protect your audience. And by audience, I mean, you. Do, write and make the story you would make if a million versions of you were sat in the audience.
Tell us about what projects you have been working on and what you have coming up next?
I’m working on an adaptation of The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey for Film4. And independently, a gigantic adaptation of another project which will live on long after I’m gone.
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