Tom Rhys Harries: Jacob, where are you in the world right now?

Jacob Ifan: I’m up in Glasgow have a couple days left on a shoot up here.

Tom: I love Glasgow.

Jac: It’s an amazing city. Shooting up here’s been great. Where are you?

Tom: I’m in London about to head back to Wales. I’m doing a lot of back and forth at the moment from London to Cardiff on a job back there...shall we kick off this Q&A? Did they send u cue cards?

Jac: Yeah but I’m gonna try and organically weave them into our chat…Tom, describe your perfect morning.

Tom: Wow so fluid. Alright, well there’s a difference between my idealized morning and what most of my mornings actually look like. I feel like you and I probably have fairly similar approaches to morning routines.

Jac: Yeah I think that’s probably true. 

Tom: Jac and I used to live together and we both wake up naturally early. I think as well because of the nature of our work and how varied and changeable everything is with it, from where you are to the hours you are working, I find it kinda key for my head to have certain things that I can keep consistent. So the morning routine I try to stick to is pretty easy to do anywhere. 

Jac: Yeah I like getting up, doing a crossword.

Tom: You’ve never not got a crossword on the go.

Jac: Good for my brain

Tom: I probably should do some brain stuff, I mean I  ‘journal' I say that lightly because it sometimes will consist of like a one word entry. But generally speaking, I love that time of day when you feel like you’re the only one up and you can sort yourself out before the day. I like to train in the morning and I’ll have coffee. I haven’t really done breakfast for years now, I find that works for me.

Jac: I’d like to caveat this conversation by saying Tom and I would usually be having this conversation in Welsh, so feels a bit formal.

Tom: Yeah it’s weird. 

Jac: But we gotta accommodate the people, and for anyone out there be aware that we are speaking in our second language here. 

Tom: Go easy on any and all grammatical errors that might appear.

Jac: I suppose that’s a good segue into memories of growing up in Cardiff Wales and how that lead you into acting?  

Tom: Seamless Jac 

Jac: I’m a pro. 

Tom: Jac and I both grew up in Cardiff, Jacob’s dad is my uncle and our families are close so we’d spend a lot of time together. I think the thing with the arts in Wales, especially within the Welsh speaking community is that you’re exposed to so much of it at such a young age it’s completely normalized. The idea of trying to be a singer, a writer or actor for that matter didn’t feel that strange. 

Jac: Yeah I felt like everyone was encouraged, made to perform from such a young age. whether you wanted to or not. 

Tom: I don’t really remember deciding that this was what I wanted to do, I suppose I felt like I’d try it for a bit and then all of a sudden 14 years have passed and I’m still doing it. Kinda sneaks up on you.

Jac: As we’re in the world of acting, do you have a preference in terms of theatre, tv or film? 

Tom: You and I have had similar trajectories in terms of entry point into this industry.

Jac: Yes, we went to the same drama school and our background is in theatre then obviously we’ve now gone on to shoot on film and tv. 

Tom: Thing is you can’t study film acting in the same way you can on stage, you kinda learn on the fly and on set. 

Jac: I remember my first tv show I did and was terrified cause I felt so clueless but that’s the way you learn. 

Tom: Yeah same, just flying by the seat of my pants. Although I would say I still feel like that from time to time.

Jac: Do you prefer any medium of acting though?

Tom: No, that feels so changeable to me because it’s relative to either what I’ve just done or any other number of life factors. It always boils down to the material though, if the writing and the story is solid I’m on board. What I’m still figuring out, and what I suspect I’ll always be trying to crack is that thing of film and tv acting being ‘smaller’ than stage acting. I think smaller is misleading because in a lot of ways you have to be more authentic on film cause the camera doesn’t forgive anything but for me it’s not less big it’s more concentrated, contained. Know what I mean?

Jac: No, I would say your screen acting is massive. 

Tom: Haha, yeah well as I said, I’m still working it out. How did we get there? 

Jac: Well I’m sort of following these bullet points, this is funny.

Tom: What’s the next bullet point? I’m conscious you’ve got a Celtic game to go to. 

Jac: I love doing a pre match Q&A with you, I have a question for you Tom that I’ve come up with myself.

Tom: Shoot 

Jac: Have you ever campaigned for a role? And what would be your dream role?

Tom: I have gone after roles for sure, if I hear about a project that I’m excited about I will often do some digging and nudge my team to get me seen for it. I’ve definitely send unsolicited tapes off in the past. On the dream role thing, I don’t although I do think one of the best characters to play would be Abigail in the Crucible. I love that play.

Jac: I always like roles that require me to learn something, like a skill. 

Tom: Yeah they’re fun when you get to learn something obscure that you’d never otherwise learn, like crocheting.

Jac: Which brings us perfectly on to the next question. You tend to play complex characters, do you have a preference between playing goodies or baddies?

Tom: I mean baddies are more fun, they’re also generally speaking easier to play in my opinion. You’re looking for internal and external tension to play against always, that’s what I find interesting. The “good” moral characters are aligned in a way that makes that hard to find.

Jac: And also evil characters have better costumes.

Tom: And often mustaches

Jac: Most interesting places you’ve worked? 

Tom: Serbia in winter was pretty gnarly, what’s yours?

Jac: We shot season one of Rogue Heroes in Morocco in the height of summer, sandstorms and covid, that was mad! 

Tom: One of my favorite parts of this job is getting to know somewhere through local crews too, you get a specific insight into a place that way. 

Jac: How are you with auditions? Has your approach changed since you started? 

Tom: I think It changes project to project, sometimes material only really requires you to learn it and go off instinct. I like doing research though cause it feels like it keeps the spookiness at bay.

Jac: I remember my first audition I did at the royal court whilst I was still in drama school (I didn’t book it). Once I got the nerves out of the way, I have gotten good feedback from the director and casting director there, I booked the next audition I did. 

Tom: That’s a solid hit straight out the gate.

Jac: I mean I feel like that gave me a false sense of security on booking work. 

Jac: Another question, as cousins what’s one surprising thing we don’t know about each other?

Tom: Your dad is my dad. 

Jac: Damn 

Tom: Sorry, you’re finding out this way. Your go… 

Jac: I did it 

Tom: Ladies and gentlemen, we got him. 

Jac: Shall we wrap up on this one, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Tom: Dad’s favorite parting shot is “It’ll be alright in the end and if it’s not alright it’s not the end.” which I suppose could seem a bit passive but also somewhat comforting.

Jac: I remember you telling me when you did a play with Ben Whishaw, you’d asked him for advice and he said “Learn your lines and smell nice.”

Tom: Oh yeah, he does smell good. 

Jac: Thanks man 

Tom: You got it, Jac thanks for doing the q&a. 

Jac: Pleasure