Lydia West, 28, made her debut in Russell T Davies’s Years and Years in 2019, and worked with him again in 2021 on the hit series It’s a Sin for Channel 4. She will star in the BBC drama Inside Man later in 2022, with Stanley Tucci and David Tennant.
You starred in It’s a Sin in 2021 – what was it like to work on a show that had such a huge cultural impact?
It was mind-boggling. The whole year was a bit of a blur; being recognised as a Bafta Breakthrough Brit was a highlight, though. It’s not often you can say you’ve been part of a project that’s both entertaining and educational. Personally, I did extensive research, and got into HIV and Aids activism. That’s a role I don’t take lightly. What happened in the 80s can feel like a distant part of history, but it was less than 40 years ago. We can still learn a lot from it, and remember and honour those that we lost during the fight.
