irish tatler march interview

As a young girl, Jenn Murray
had always dreamt of

becoming an actor – but in
1980s Northern Ireland, with
no role models, amid political

turmoil and a struggling
economy, the notion seemed
a far-fetched one at best. She

talks to Irish Tatler about
making dreams a reality.

INTERVIEW

“Dreams are powerful. They get stronger,

Jenn wears:
V-front dress

(€1,245) by
Balenciaga and
mini rhodium-
plated earring
(€135) by Maria
Black, both @
Brown Thomas;
selection of rings

and bracelet,
Jenn’s own

and one day, you make them a reality”

Jenn wears:
Ruffle detail coat
(€2,500) by Gucci
@ Brown Thomas;
rings, Jenn’s own

Jenn Murray as an actress, this is your way of life and you have to be
really thick-skinned. You need to be kind to yourself also
Shooting our cover at the Bray Head Hotel was like coming – the key to success is understanding that it’s okay if you
full circle for actor on the rise, Jenn Murray. She shot her don’t have work to go to every day!”
first feature film here ten years ago, when she was just Another downside is having to follow the work to other
fresh out of acting college. “It was incredible. Those parts parts of the world. For Murray, this has meant a permanent
come few and far between. It was about a very young girl move to the UK. “London is an amazing city but acting
who had multiple personality disorder so I was sort of can be a lonely profession at times. You learn very quickly
playing seven different characters and it was intense, and who your friends are and that can be actually quite a
I was still green.” The film in question was Dorothy Mills painful smack on the chin, but at least you know that the
and was a mammoth job for a first endeavour. Over the people around you really love you.”
following years, Murray honed her craft - first in Dublin On the flipside, there are benefits to having such passion;
and then in London. In 2015, she got a big break when Murray has never been left wondering what path to take
she won the part of Delores in Brooklyn alongside Saoirse in life. “I’ve learned that I’m really lucky to have that. A
Ronan. Next, came the role of Lady Lucy Manwaring in lot of my peers or family members don’t really know what
Austen’s Love & Friendship, where she rubbed professional they want and it can be overwhelming but I’ve always
shoulders with Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny, and known that I wanted to be an actor. It was a part of me.”
most recently, she was on the big screen in JK Rowling’s It led her, ultimately, to one of the biggest grossing films
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. For some, it of 2016, set against the skyline of 1920s New York and
seems like Murray has had something of an overnight working alongside a stellar cast. “The production was
success, but this is one woman who has dedicated her life huge, it was massive. All the sets were amazing,” she says
to living out her childhood dream. of arriving to work on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
As a young girl, Murray had always dreamt of becoming Them. “I remember my first day of filming, I was on stage
an actor - but in 1980s Northern Ireland, with no role with Eddie Redmayne and it was terrifying. But then
models, amid political turmoil and a struggling economy, suddenly it was all just like being in acting class.
the notion seemed a far-fetched one at best. “I grew up “ You have this incredible prop department, costume,
in Belfast and I didn’t have any family in the industry. I director... the lines that you say are written by JK Rowling
didn’t have anyone around me that was a professional but you do kind of make the scene up. Everyone’s insecure,
actor so it didn’t really seem realistic…There was nobody everyone’s scared but that vulnerability kind of connects
I knew who made a living out of it. In the eighties and you quickly to people. You sit across from your screen
nineties, movie stars were untouchable and that was what partner and you look them in the eyes and you tell the
was so beautiful about them to me.” story and that’s what it boils down to every time.” Despite
It wasn’t until she was 18 that the idea of drama school, her focus on the task at hand, Murray was not going to
and acting as a full-time career, became something bigger. let the detail of the experience pass her by. “I remember
“I think those dreams are quite powerful,” she says of the when Grace Coddington was in The September Issue, she
passion that she felt, and still does, for her craft. “ You talked about how her mother always told her to look out
kind of cultivate these dreams; they get stronger and the window. She said, ‘Look out the window and you’ ll
stronger and then one day you decide to make them a always learn something’. I felt that way; I really felt like
reality. And you realise that you can because they’ve been ‘Keep your eyes open, put your head up and you’re like a
in this little bubble of yours and they’ve been protected, sponge, you take it all in.’ It was a really rich experience.”
nurtured and enriched.” The cultivating and nurturing of Landing roles like this has no doubt opened doors and
the dream is where good old fashioned graft comes into Murray acknowledges that now is an important time to
play. Dreamy and ethereal as Murray is, in both looks and make big career choices and not accept every script that
presence, it’s not lost on her that this is a crucial element comes her way. “I’m kind of in a position now where I can
of anybody’s success. “As a child you’re entitled to have choose and I want to choose carefully, because the actors
dreams and if you’re ready to work hard you can get them. I admire aren’t afraid to say no. They are chameleons. I
Dreams are important and creativity and hope and all know again that that’s idealistic but I might as well try,”
that stuff and it’s your choice; you can have as much of she adds, with a laugh. All the while, as she discusses
it as you like. But I worked really, really hard and I got career ambition and big budget blockbusters, Murray is
knocked and there is so much disappointment; I got a lot completely modest when it comes to her own talents. “I
of rejection and it feels personal but you’ve to be tough.” just feel really lucky,” she says. “It’s still not lost for me
A decade into her career, there have been important lessons that it is a privilege to be an actor. When I go home to
to learn along the way. “I learnt quickly that it isn’t a Belfast I realise it. In London, everyone [in my circle] is
competition. When I came out of drama school, I didn’t doing the same thing, everyone’s auditioning, and it kind
really know how to conduct myself as an actor. I did a of seems normal. When I go home, I realise: being an
movie straight away and then I did a play for a couple of actor isn’t normal! (laughs) You get to do what you love
months, so I was starting ‘unemployment’ six months for a living; that is never lost on me, I am so appreciative.”
later than my peers. For the first while I felt really guilty;

“I grew up in Belfast in the eighties. Being an
actor didn’t seem realistic”