Niamh McCormack : "When I was a teenager, I wanted to understood and be seen"

Having taken on roles in The Witcher, Dungeons & Dragons and The Magic Flute, Irish actress Niamh McCormack has stepped into the role of Alison in Everything Now, a coming-of-age series with elements of Sex Education and Euphoria.

Known mostly for her work in fantasy roles, the actress now steps into the YA genre - a big change of pace.

”It’s really beautiful to revisit those times in your life,” says Niamh over Zoom. “As actors, we always pull from our own pool to help us in whatever character we’re playing, and I think playing a 16-year-old girl was really exciting and useful. You get to have a lot of fun with it. The characters are at that point in their life where everything’s happening so fast, and to be able to go back and relive it in some ways, that’s really cool.”

McCormack’s character, Alison, is a little bit tone deaf at times. How does it feel to take on a character who isn’t always the nicest?

”I kind of understand Alison at her core,” says McCormack. “I know she doesn’t really mean anything she says with malice. She really wants to understand, but she does such a bad job of doing that. It was really interesting to not approach it with the sensitivity all the other actors had to.

”Also, she’s just very fun to play. She’s like one of the comedic relief characters, so it was always fun to go into the scene and mess it up a little bit, or catch people offguard.”

How similar was Niamh to Alison at 16?

“We’re polar opposites,” McCormack laughs. “I relate to Alison in a lot of ways though. Like, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be understood and seen. I also had that time of figuring out who I was. As a teenager, you’re in that really weird stage of not knowing who you are yet. Obviously, I’m very different from when I finished school. But we can always relate to teenage characters, in general, because it’s like looking back at ourselves.

“I had a playlist I would listen to every day that was very Alison. I think creating Pinterest boards and finding the accent was very important. Also, we filmed in London and being in the city, with that whole vibe, definitely helped build the character.”

The show has amazing make-up, hair, and costumes - surely Niamh nabbed herself something small as a memento?

“I brought home the necklace that Alison wears throughout the series, it has a little ‘A’ on it,” she admits. “Because I wore it every day, I thought it would be something I’d love to have forever.”

Niamh also spills some fun behind-the-scenes secrets.

”I was hoping this would come up,” she giggles. “In episode four, I think - just before one of the big parties – we’re all walking up a hill to one of the party houses. The day we were filming it, I actually fell over and sprained my ankle. I was kind of playing it off and saying, ‘It’s totally fine guys’. I ended up walking in the scene on my sprained foot, so throughout that episode, if you see me hobbling, that’s why that is. I had to use crutches for two weeks afterwards. I thought that was hilarious, but it was all for the craft.”

Everything Now is available to stream on Netflix.