Photographer - Jemima Marriott
Stylist - Prue Fisher
Hair & Make Up - Alexis Day
HMU Assist - Sneha
Georgia Goodman Actress: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.
You have such a rich cultural heritage, with Vietnamese roots on your mother’s side and African royal lineage from your father’s. How has that blend of cultures shaped your identity, both personally and as an actress?
You’d think that as 2 different continents, there would be a clash of cultures but there really isn’t. The foundations in both cultures, and sometimes beliefs, are very similar – respect for our elders (this includes your older siblings), respect for traditions, similar celebrations like Day of the Dead for example, where you prepare a massive feast, lay out the table with your best cutlery, etc. I remember my mother making my brother and me polish the silver cutlery for these events. These foundations help me empathize quicker when I’m in a foreign country by avoiding common tourist mistakes, for example such as knowing to cover my shoulders in certain situations, or standing up with an elder enters a room, or letting an older sibling help themselves first before you do. I try to imbue my characters with the foundations as a springboard and then build from there, for example if religion is important like in the Philippines, does this inform what my character says or does
You’ve taken on a wide range of roles, from the fantastical world of Loki to the darker tones of Wednesday and Silo. What draws you to a particular project, and how do you decide which roles to take on?
I’m not yet in a position where roles are being offered to me without having to audition first, so I don’t have much of a say. However what attracts me is a good script and a character who isn’t written as a boring stereotype, someone I can really sink my teeth into and elevate them out of a stereotype if possible. People have told me that I bring an authenticity and relatability to my characters, making them feel real and grounded, so I guess I must be accepting roles where I feel I can bring humanity to the characters.
How does performing on stage differ from working on a film set, and do you find that one informs the other?
Wow, stage really is completely different. It’s a nightly adrenaline rush whereas I find screen easier. You know that the director can edit out a stumble or you know that you have the opportunity to do better in multiple takes. You don’t have that on stage at all and although it sounds stressful, I love the ability to stay in character for a whole performance. If I happen to go blank on my lines, I trust my stage partner to try and save me until I can get my lines back or we improvise. I love both mediums and would love to have a balance of both in my career.
You’ve shared the screen with some incredible actors like Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips and Glen Powell in The Running Man. Is there a memorable piece of advice or insight you've gained from working with these seasoned professionals?
Just have fun. It’s not brain surgery, you can always have another take, don’t take yourself too seriously. And more importantly, treat everybody respectfully and say thank you! A film needs everybody, you’re not the star, it’s a team effort.
Your portrayal of Gloria in the short film Gloria earned you rave reviews and the film won Best Short Film at the London Labour Film Festival. How did you approach the character, and what do you think made the film resonate so strongly with audiences?
I love that Gloria resonated because it was about the unseen workers in London. Gloria is a Latina cleaner navigating her job in The City, the good and bad, and what keeps her going which is her daughter who’s back home in Uruguay. She puts herself though night school, after working a whole day cleaning up after other people, just to learn how to use a computer so that she can video call her daughter on her birthday. You see my character at the end of the film watching her daughter do a birthday dance on a computer screen. I think Gloria resonated because she showed the sacrifices many immigrants who come here make so that their families back home can have a better life, even if it means being separated from their own children. It also showed that immigrants sometimes are not given a choice as to what work they can do here – Gloria was a professor in Uruguay but can only be a cleaner in London. I really loved portraying her.
With your extensive background in both film and theater, including sharing the stage with Brett Goldstein in Informed Consent, how does the experience of performing live on stage compare to working in front of a camera?
Informed Consent was about organ donation in America. I remember working with Brett and his portrayal of a father who lost his son broke my heart every night. Stage helps with being in the moment, staying focused and making sure you are 1000% prepared because you don’t have a director who’s going to yell “Cut” if you fumble on a line. In that way, screen is probably a bit more relaxed. I enjoy both mediums though I feel I don’t do enough stage.
You’re fluent in English, French, and Spanish—how does being multilingual influence the roles you take on, or the way you approach a character? Does it allow you to connect with different audiences in a deeper way?
I’m lucky to have had an international upbringing, traveling the world with my parents since I was born really. Experiencing so many different cultures and languages is a gift and has enabled me to grasp a character fairly quickly in terms of building their past for example. As for whether audiences connect with me in a deeper way, I can only hope that I do them proud if I’m portraying a specific culture for example. It’s a responsibility I take seriously. Growing up, I remember my mother always lamenting at the portrayal of Vietnamese people on screen. She spoke at least 5 languages and could identify whether an actor was Chinese or Korean or Japanese who was badly portraying a Vietnamese person. So I’m always reminded of that when I work on my characters.
Looking ahead, you’ve got some exciting projects coming up, including Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die with Sam Rockwell and Frank & Louis with Kingsley Ben-Adir. What can you share about these roles, and what excites you most about them?
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die was an absolutely amazing script and I’m so lucky I got to work with all the talent on that film. I play MARIE who happens to be in the diner Sam’s character, MAN OF THE FUTURE, appears in. Marie is there is get away from work, her family, her children, and she just wants a quiet moment with coffee and a nice piece of pie. Simple, right? Not so. She is ‘volunteered’ by Man of the Future to go and save the world with this ragtag group of people. Can’t say much more but let’s just say there was A LOT of running while being pursued and shot at. It was great fun and you really need to watch this on a big movie screen for the madcap ride.
Frank & Louis is another great script that I also really wanted to be a part of for personal reasons. It’s about prisoners in America, lifers, who develop Alzheimer’s in prison and how the system deals with them when some of them have forgotten why they’re there. It was such a beautiful script that had me in tears when I read it. My mother sadly is in the early stages of the disease so I really wanted to be a part of the movie. It will be opening the Sundance Film Festival 2026. I won’t be there but I can’t wait to watch it when it comes out.
With your connection to the Miene Tribe in Gabon, how does your African heritage influence your approach to acting or the kinds of stories you’re drawn to? Does it shape your perspective on roles or characters?
I’m considered too light-skinned to ever be cast in an African role sadly. But growing up in Gabon, and understanding the inner conflicts between tribes, helps me be more detailed with doing script analysis. I don’t think there are enough good modern African stories written, I’m not sure why. Maybe that’s a challenge I can tackle in 2026!
As an actress with such a diverse background, how do you feel about the state of diversity and representation in Hollywood today? Are there particular kinds of stories or roles you’d love to see more of in the industry?
Ok, I’m going to split your question into 2 because Hollywood isn’t the UK. Diversity and representation in Hollywood is there (although it’s still lacking for East Asian and Indigenous actors). It’s the reason why you have the likes of British actors such as Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Eamonn Walker, David Oyelowo and Idris Elba who’ve had to leave the UK to build up their careers to the level they’re at now. With regards to diversity and representation in the UK, and Europe as a whole, it’s sorely behind by about 10 years. Although the Act for Change has helped somewhat, the stories are still white-led and diversity is only found in the smaller roles, still there to support the White-led story rather than be there in their own right with their own story arc. It’s not just about inclusion, it’s about consideration.
However, I can also see things from a production perspective – for example, some countries in Europe don’t have a lot of diversity in their population which means that it doesn’t always make sense to cast a diverse character because people can’t relate to them. But the world is becoming smaller, especially with the streamers and I’d like to believe that even in non-diverse European countries, they’d still accept a diverse casting. It’s a triggering subject for a lot of people because they can mistake questioning the lack of diversity with them being labeled racist, and that is not what’s happening. It’s a difficult topic and the conversation needs to keep happening because it’s always easy to fall back into old habits.
How do you keep it all together when you’re juggling so many different roles? How do you ensure that you give each one your full attention and commitment?
Screen roles never overlap due to contracts, although it has happened to me when I was shooting both Wednesday and Wreck at the same time so I was traveling back and forth between Belfast and Romania for about 3 months I think. I don’t remember having any issues with separating the characters, maybe because they were so completely different and required completely different emotional stakes and accents as well. I was filming in Covid as well and there was the mandatory 1-2 week isolation for each stay so maybe the isolation in each place helped me with the separation of characters. Ask me again if I shoot 2 roles simultaneously in the future, lol!
Having built such a diverse career across both independent films and major franchises, where do you see yourself heading in the next few years? Are there any dream roles or genres you’d like to explore in the future?
Funny, I was asked this by a friend the other day as I’ve just wrapped on my 2nd action movie as a co-lead. I’d love to do more theater if I can, and I’d also love to work on foreign projects if possible, French, Spanish, etc. I’d like to sink my teeth into a complex character going through a journey, like a family drama for example, or a procedural like NCIS. At the same time, I’m a not-so-secret geek and I’d love to be a recurring character on Star Trek or Star Wars or a fantasy show like One Piece or The Wheel of Time with powers. Not a superhero per se, I don’t want to save the world, but maybe I can play the Latina cleaner wise woman teaching the superheroes to use their powers to clean up after themselves, after they’ve destroyed whole cities, lol. Like a Filipina tita or Caribbean auntie!
