The Utopia and No Offence star on channelling her righteous younger self, how she shakes off heavy roles, and her alter ego DJ Dave
Born in Ammanford, south Wales, in 1987, Alexandra Roach began her career in the S4C soap Pobol y Cwm, before training at Rada in London. Her first major role was as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady in 2011, and she has gone on to star in TV dramas including Utopia, No Offence, Hunderby and Being Human; she is currently staring in Amazon Prime Video’s series Lazarus. She lives in Bristol with her husband and daughter.
This is me in my living room. I’m 12 years old and proudly holding a letter I’d written to the local town council. In it, I pleaded with them to do something radical for the sake of the youth of Ammanford: open a Claire’s Accessories.
At this age, I was trying to figure out who I was. I was searching for a way to express myself, and I thought if I could just get my hands on a diamante headband and a glittery hair clip then it would give me some kind of identity. The letter, which was published in the South Wales Guardian, ends: “Please read my letter because this is what we need, not five bakeries and three shoe shops.”
I often wonder what happened to this studious, righteous “campaigner” version of myself – or if she’s still buried in me, waiting. Claire’s never came, of course. But I love that the article ends with a quote from a spokesperson from the company thanking me for my enthusiasm, and pointing out that there is a branch just 15 miles away in Swansea.
