Breaking Baz: ‘Rye Lane’ BAFTA Nominee Vivian Oparah Says The “Trajectory Of A Black Female Actress Is Very Different To That Of Everyone Else”
deadline.comVivian Oparah is aware of the spotlight on her following her BAFTA Film Awards nomination for her breakthrough performance in Searchlight’s romance movie Rye Lane, but she feels it’s imperative that she “stay grounded” because it’s a more disparate path towards stardom for Black actresses. “For me, this is just the beginning of my career in so many ways, and to be recognized at this level so early on feels super special,” she tells me, “But I still understand that the trajectory of a Black female actor is very different to everyone else’s, so you can’t rest on your laurels because there isn’t a well trodden track that you can just jump on.” Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature Rye Lane, a rom-com scripted by Nathan Byron and Tom Melia and set in South London, sees Oparah playing opposite David Jonsson (Industry, Murder is Easy) as strangers who have a chance encounter in a gender-neutral toilet and spend the day getting to know each other.
Deadline critic Anna Smith called it “a big, energetic bounce forward” for the rom-com genre and called in a “sunny, irreverent take on life and love” that’s at its “most exhilarating when playing out in real time, Before Sunrise-style.” Oparah and Jonsson were lauded for their performances, landing them a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination and Oparah a Breakthrough Performance win at British Independent Film Awards, where the film competed in 16 categories.
Then came the BAFTA nom. “I’m grateful but you also need to stay grounded,” Oparah tells me from Los Angeles, where she’s been meeting her U.S.
reps at CAA. She’ll be back in time for the BAFTA ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre on Sunday, February 18. Yes, the attention that winning the BIFA for Breakthrough Performance
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