Fleabag and The Archers actor Angus Imrie: 'Stories are so important during lockdown'

It’s been a busy couple of years for young actor Angus Imrie.

His recent projects include roles in the latest big screen adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, released in February, last year’s Yorkshire-set coming of age movie Pond Life and the new HBO television series Industry.

He also has the recurring role of Josh Archer in the national institution that is The Archers and landed a part in the second series of the multi-award-winning TV phenomenon Fleabag, playing Jake, teenage stepson to Claire, the older sister of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s title character.

Earlier this year he was involved in Slung Low’s short film The Good Book, the first production of the company’s newly formed Leeds People’s Theatre, which is released on the company’s website free to view from today.

"Everyone in the cast and crew was mucking in together on an equal footing; the community cast were brilliant, so committed and involved.”

Imrie has previous experience of working with Slung Low. In 2014 he played the part of Pip in the company’s production of The White Whale, James Phillips’ adaptation of the classic novel Moby Dick, which was performed at Leeds Dock.

“We had always wanted to do something together again and this was such an exciting project to be part of,” he says. “Slung Low were going to release the film much later in the year for festivals but they were keen that now people are at home due to the lockdown, they can watch it for free. Stories at this time are so important.”

And the film’s narrative actually feels very timely. Set in Leeds in the near-future it depicts a society on the verge of civil war, divided between loyalists of the powerful Queen Bear and radical followers of Galahad.

Imrie’s character Geraint befriends a young woman Avalon (played by Bradford actor Riana Duce) who is desperate not to take sides, but agrees to try and rescue a precious relic, the good book of the title, from destruction.

“Geraint was an interesting part to play,” says Imrie. “He is quite complex and difficult to read, you are not quite sure what he is up to.”

The son of actors Celia Imrie and the late Benjamin Whitrow, Imrie has barely had an idle moment since graduating from LAMDA in 2017. Working on Fleabag was a particularly memorable experience he says.

“It was an amazing creative process. There were times when Phoebe would say in the middle of filming ‘this isn’t working I’m going to rewrite it’. It was so fresh and vital. Every moment really mattered.”

And he enjoys his occasional visits to Ambridge as Josh Archer. “Doing radio is a brilliant challenge for an actor because you have to imagine everything around you,” he says. “We are just about to start recording it from our own homes, which is great, but we do miss each other – we’ve set up a Whatsapp group to keep in touch, we have so much fun together.”

The Good Book, slunglow.org/TGB, from noon today

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