Rakie Ayola desires to ‘wave the flag’ for Ely with Bafta Cymru win after tragedy
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elsh actress Rakie Ayola desires to “wave the flag” for her residence district of Ely in Cardiff when she is honoured with certainly one of Bafta Cymru’s highest honours.
The TV and stage star, who has appeared in exhibits like Black Mirror, Noughts + Crosses, Doctor Who and The Pact, might be given the Sian Phillips Award subsequent month.
The prize is offered to a Welsh particular person who has made vital contributions to movie and/or tv.
Ayola informed the PA news company the place she comes from is essential to her, including: “You won’t have to look very far to see the last time that Ely was talked about in the press and it was a tragic, tragic event which happened very close to where I grew up.
“So I want to wave the flag for that area of Cardiff because good people live there and awful things can happen to good people and wonderful things can happen to people from Ely.
“I can’t think of a poetic way to say that but I just… it’s really important to me that people know that I am from Ely in Cardiff.”
A police officer is being criminally investigated for harmful driving after following two youngsters in a van earlier than they died in an e-bike crash in Ely on May 22.
Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died after they crashed on a Sur-Ron bike minutes after CCTV captured them being adopted by the police van.
Tensions between locals and police on the scene led to a riot lasting a number of hours, throughout which period dozens of officers had been harm, property was broken and automobiles had been set alight.
Ayola, who received a finest supporting actress Bafta in 2021 for her function in BBC One drama Anthony, might be honoured on the Bafta Cymru Awards 2023 on the ICC Wales in Newport on Sunday October 15.
She stated of the award: “I still haven’t really taken it in. I’m still a bit dazed and confused by it. It’s… I’m very grateful and honoured but still haven’t really breathed it in.”
She added: “There’s something about knowing that your work is being talked about when you’re not in the room, that people are mindful of what you do, they respect what you do and you don’t have to be there for that to be consideration.
“Legacy is huge for me – the idea that we come from, and we go on to, and we take the hand of the people in front and we call the people behind.
“So the idea that my work lives on in the long line of things is massive to me. That’s a very, very big deal.”
Reflecting on her profession, Ayola stated one of many highlights was enjoying Hermione Granger within the West End manufacturing of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
She stated: “The thing that I love most about having been in that is the joy of the fans of that show, which is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. And they’re still friends, a lot of them, and they have followed me on some of the projects.
“They’ve sort of been to theatres all around the country and they are still incredibly loyal.
“So that was a high point because I’d never really experienced that kind of devotion to a piece before.”
The Sian Phillips Award is known as after Welsh star Dame Sian, 90, who was married to the late actor Peter O’Toole and has carried out in the whole lot from Ibsen to The Archers and an adaptation of John le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy reverse Sir Alec Guinness.
A number one stage and display star, she additionally appeared within the 1969 musical movie Goodbye, Mr Chips and is especially identified for her efficiency as Livia within the 1976 BBC tv collection I, Claudius.