On the radar – The Strays newcomer Maria Almeida
Starring in new thriller The Strays (in selected cinemas now and on Netflix Wednesday Feb 22nd), actress and dancer Maria Almeida takes on her first film role. She plays Mary, a normal teen girl who finds her family under threat from ghosts from the past…
Interview Scott Bates Photography Christian Trippe
Green dress by Karina Bond, pearl necklace by Ateliersó, black pendant necklace by Capsule Eleven, shoes by Rosamund Muir
Almeida started out as a dancer, and only begun her career as an actress after landing The Strays. “I was actually a dancer – I still dance – I was training at college and I was planning on going to drama school, doing dance or musical theatre, but right when I was about to start applying to unis I began working on The Strays!” she explains. “I was lucky enough for my college to give me days off for when I was working on the film.”
“I was lucky enough for my college to give me days off for when I was working on the film.”
Almeida stars alongside Ashley Madekwe (County Lines) and Bukky Bakray (Rocks) in the drama. With this being her first major film role, how did she find the experience? “I’d done one project a couple of months before, but I was only on set for seven days, and because I was on set so much for The Strays I just really fell in love with it, the atmosphere and everything!” And what about being on a film set did she enjoy most? “How much people love what they’re doing, how much effort they’re putting into everything, learning about everyone’s different experiences… Some of them went to RADA, and Bukky literally won a BAFTA from a street casting!” She especially enjoyed “going onto this big studio set where the whole house, every room, was being built, and seeing the blue screens – I’m a big comic book movie fan, I love the MCU, so it was awesome seeing how they do that stuff. And bonding with your castmates and the crew, and bonding with everyone – it was so… not overwhelming, but it was really surprising how much was going on! It was amazing.”. Getting to act was fun as well!” she laughs.
Black bra by BLVCK, necklace by Ateliersó jacket by Vintage Mason Martin Margiela, both Tutu stylist’s own, shoes by Pretty Ballerinas
The Strays is directed by Nathaniel Martello-White, who’s previously helmed episodes of the acclaimed TV shows Small Axe, Deceit and I Hate Suzie. “I got to really learn about my character from Nat” Almeida says. “We had a week of rehearsals so I tried to talk to him as much as possible, and would always be jotting down notes about every characteristic or personality trait, which I’d go through before I had a scene.” In the film, her character, Mary, is “the youngest of the family and kind of like the golden child. She’s very respectful to her parents, and living in this upper-middle class white community but being mixed race she does have this side to her where she wants to learn about her culture, which was one of the things I liked about the character when I first read her description.”.
What does Almeida look for in stories, in characters? What in particular draws her to a script? “Something new, something you haven’t seen before. There has to be something about the character that can give me a challenge, someone who’s not like me – maybe dyeing my hair or dressing really differently!”
“I definitely want to merge my acting and my dancing – doing a movie musical is one of the goals!”
Having started out as a dancer, Almeida says she’d like to combine that with her newfound career as an actress. “As a dancer I’ve done a few music videos, and right now I’m getting into a new training company. I definitely want to merge my acting and my dancing – doing a movie musical is one of the goals!”. What else would she like to do on screen? Any particular genres she’d like to tackle next? “I want to do something in every genre!” she says enthusiastically. “I’m an avid movie watcher – when I’m watching something I find myself going “How would I do that?”, or “I wonder what that was like?”.”
Dress by Zeynep Kartal
Dress by 3am Eternal Deluxe , earrings by Ateliersó and ALOË
When she isn’t busy working, does she watch many films herself? “I kept a list of every film I watched last year, and I think it got up to just under 200! I watch a lot of TV shows too – I think I got about 50 last year! “I want to go and see Empire Of Light soon. I’ve been busy lately, but I’ll hopefully go in the next week.” She says she’ll usually go to the cinema to see a film rather than wait to watch it at home – “When I was younger going to the cinema was for special occasions only, kind of a privilege, so now I try to go as much as I can! I try to go at least once a week.”. That’s not to say though that she hasn’t done some impressive marathons from her sofa – “There are days when I just watch to chill at home, and I’ll watch like five films in a row. I think the most I’ve done in a day is seven!”. On TV she says she was a big fan of Heartstopper, and “read all the books”.
“When I was younger going to the cinema was for special occasions only, kind of a privilege, so now I try to go as much as I can! I try to go at least once a week.”
So what’s up next for Almeida? “I have an Amazon series called Fifteen Love coming out later this year. It’s a tennis drama with themes of female empowerment, the MeToo movement, and it has an amazing cast – Aidan Turner, Amar Chadha-Patel, Jessica Darrow. Everyone worked so hard – acting-wise and tennis-wise! I can’t wait for people to see it.” Does she play tennis herself – and is she any good? “I do! I did three months of training before we started filming. I haven’t done it in a while, but I think if I started again I’d get the technique back!”.
And who would she like to work with? Which creatives does she look up to? “Greta Gerwig – I read her scripts all the time, they blow my mind!” she laughs. “And Zendaya, because I’ve been watching her since I was literally a kid. She’s so incredibly talented.”
Jumper by Sarah Regensburger
Watch the trailer for The Strays below
Team credits
Interview Scott Bates
Photography Christian Trippe
Fashion Lily Lam
Beauty Editor Claudine Blythman
Hair Emma Small at Stella Creative Artists
Fashion assistant Cabrielle Lin
Photo assistant Tom Beck
Special thanks to Amber and Shelby from AMPR
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