Archive Jil Sander jacket, stylists own tights; Keburia skirt, CAMILLA AND MARC shoes, MOYA earrings
SHALOM BRUNE-FRANKLIN IS OUR DIGITAL COVER TALENT, BY MICHAEL BRUNT AND BIANCA FARMAKIS
PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Brunt
STYLING: Veronica Blagoeva
WORDS: Bianca Farmakis
HAIR: Anna Chapman @ Julian Watson Agency
MAKEUP: Sandra Cooke
Speaking to Shalom Brune-Franklin feels like reconnecting with someone you’ve known forever. It’s a quality she carries not only in conversation but also in her performances, which are marked by striking vulnerability and authenticity. Her ability to weave together complex roles, spanning from sci-fi to dark dramedies, makes her a captivating presence.
The British-Australian actor has steadily risen to prominence, gracing screens in BBC’s Line of Duty and The Tourist, alongside Jamie Dornan, as well as Love Me with Hugo Weaving. Most recently, she’s delivered powerful performances in the Golden Globe-winning Baby Reindeer and starred alongside Oscar veteran Olivia Colman in Great Expectations.
Brune-Franklin’s immense talent and on- screen allure may stem, in part, from a nomadic childhood spent between two Commonwealth countries. That same adaptability has seen her couch-surf through international bookings and command attention at Miu Miu’s Paris Fashion Week show.
You could also say part of her success is rooted in mistakes — flunking a subject in highschool sparking her passion for drama, and being kicked out of university to pursue the craft at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Where the actor’s work has been rooted in chaos and a chameleon-like ability to transform into her subjects, this is a conversation about the radical rejection of self-doubt, and the abundance that consumes its place.
SIDE-NOTE— I read that you originally wanted to become a journalist — how different this conversation could have been!
SHALOM BRUNE-FRANKLIN— I know, that was literally what I wanted to do.
S-N— What happened?
SBF— I went to university for journalism but I got kicked out — it was their fault, not mine. They enrolled me wrong. The HR department was like, “You can’t go here, because you’re not a permanent resident yet, we don’t know how you’ve gotten into the system.” So, unless I paid international school fees, I had to leave. I was literally walked off campus — but on that same campus was WAAPA, the drama school.
S-N— Was that the spark?
SBF— Yeah, I loved drama and transferred into it in my final year of high school, because — I’m making myself sound so much worse — but I got kicked out of maths too because I was failing really badly. So I picked drama, and my teacher told me about WAAPA. I thought at the time, people don’t actually become actors. Turns out, all of these things felt like they were in the right place at the right time. The rest is kind of history.
S-N— I wanted to ask you about your, I guess, dual childhood — what was that move like from the UK to Australia?
SBF— It was crazy, but I think I was so desperate and excited for this new life for my family — I knew how much they wanted this. The difference though, between even just going to a school on the outskirts of London compared to going to school in Perth, was wild. Like the amount of people that you get on a school bus with — I think on my first day there were three other kids. I felt like I was in a movie.
S-N— Did that move have any influence on your ability to adapt to roles?
SBF— Oh that’s interesting because you kind of become a new person in a weird way, I guess. It’s definitely given me the skill of being able to be literally picked up from life, thrown into a random city with absolutely no friends, and making that work for the next six months. Doing that at such a young age has definitely given me that kind of nomadic approach — is that depressing?
S-N— I don’t think so. It’s a battle between, “Am I ultra adaptable?” or “Do I never create anything meaningful to attach to?” you know?
SBF— That is exactly the thought process. Is it sad that you can pack everything into a suitcase and uproot your life? Do I have commitment issues? Who knows.
[Both laugh]
S-N— Have you uprooted recently?
SBF— Yeah, when we started shooting Dune: Prophecy, I had to be based in Budapest for the foreseeable future. So it was kind of like, how do I pack? The schedule was all up in the air. My friends have gotten really used to me not being around for months. “Hey, when are you back?” — that is their number one question.
S-N— How do you deal with that uncertainty? You said before, you don’t really have a sense of control when it comes to acting, so what do you find grounding?
SBF— Trying to get as many people to visit me because usually you’re in a fun new place. I’m like, “Dude, come on, come stay, come hang out.” I’m a travel agent trying to sell it to all my friends and family. And then they turn up and I’m like, “Why have I decided to run an Airbnb while I’m working?” Now my friends are going to read this and be like, “Do you really want us to come out?”
S-N— On that, you’ve covered sci-fi with Dune, romance with Love Me, drama with Baby Reindeer, crime thriller across almost everything else — your roles are so different. Is there something that’s attracting you to them?
SBF— When people used to ask me this question, there was genuinely no method to it whatsoever, other than that was the role that I got. There were no other people calling. Now it’s always about the team that’s attached. I’ve definitely chosen to do things that are far smaller parts, but have the overall story I thought that was more compelling or more interesting. Who’s attached? Are they people who I want to work with?
S-N— Is there something you’re itching to play?
SBF— Oh, I don’t know. It’s been a while since I just did a normal drama. The last one I did was Love Me and that was a few years ago now.
S-N— I was gonna say, you’re one of the rare breeds of actors who can actually do both Australian and British accents. How do you compare the two industries?
SBF— They’re really similar, actually. I think the humour is super similar. I also think that they don’t take themselves too seriously. That’s the common thing I find with British and Aussie crews especially. People always say the Australian industry feels smaller, but I don’t know if that’s true — the industry feels small everywhere.
Toga Archives trench coat and t-shirt; CAMILLA AND MARC shoes; MOYA earrings, anklet, and necklace (worn as belt); stylist’s own tights
Prada dress and Toga Archive shoes; MOYA earrings
S-N— I wanted to ask about representation in film, because I get what you mean, there’s this perception that Australia’s such a small industry even though we pump out some of the highest-grossing productions. How do you think our industry is evolving?
SBF— At the time I entered, it was so different; it was changing so much even when I was at drama school. I remember in class, everyone in my year was auditioning for this part to play this Irish character in a TV show. And I didn’t get given the chance to audition. I remember the teachers being like, “You know, we just don’t think that you can play Irish, it’s not the right casting.”
I knew what they were alluding to. And I was thinking that’s weird, because technically I’m British, I’m from the neighbouring country, if anybody in this classroom maybe knows that place a bit, it might be me.
I called my teacher to tell them that I ended up getting the role they were not going to let me audition for and that maybe they should just let everybody have a chance next time, you know?
S-N— Can you imagine having that experience now?
SBF— Not at all. I can’t imagine that somebody would hold someone back from playing that part. Maybe it is still a thing. Who knows? I doubt it.
S-N— How did you grow from that? I can imagine that everything we see on-screen is far from how you’re feeling personally about it sometimes.
SBF— I always have imposter syndrome. I’ve learnt to get over that more recently by pretending I don’t. Every single person feels like they aren’t enough at some point or feel like they don’t deserve what they have. I remember working with a really famous actor, literally an Oscar winner, and I remember her saying, “I don’t know what I’ll do after this, the phone might just stop ringing.” It clearly is just how everybody feels.So I thought, I’m just going to go ahead, I’m supposed to be here, and I have a seat at this table. I can’t be bothered with self-doubt. It’s a waste of energy.
S-N— That’s such a good mindset shift, and it’s a kind of vulnerability you can see in a lot of the work you’ve done, particularly Baby Reindeer. That wasn’t your first time dealing with really dark subject matter, but what is your approach to those sorts of roles?
SBF— I don’t know if I do have an approach or if I’d be any good at articulating it. I mean there is no nice way of going about it. You do have to put yourself in a place that isn’t great, and it’s always in the back of your mind when you’re working because you’re ruminating on that the whole time you’re shooting.
That could be up to four or five months. I think it just becomes a part of you for that period of time. But it’s your job, and sometimes in those stories that are dark, there are light moments. So not every day on set is going to be heavy or particularly emotionally taxing. It’s not always so rough.
S-N— I appreciate the response, it’s very honest. What is your favourite emotion to elicit in your audiences?
SBF— Oh my God, that is such a good question. I’ve never thought about that. I always just go for the bare minimum of wanting people to be talking about it. Just feel something, don’t be dead inside by what you’ve seen!
I love that we could be watching the same thing and you have a completely different read of the character to what I do. And we can disagree so intensely about it. I love when that happens.
[left] Archive Jil Sander jacket, stylists own tights; Keburia skirt, CAMILLA AND MARC shoes, MOYA earrings | [right] Bibiy coat, Jenn Lee dress, stylist’s own tights, MOYA Earrings, CAMILLA AND MARC shoes
