“I think every actor would love to have find a character where they can full immerse themselves,” says Jay Lycurgo. “Because once you have that, you’re gonna strike gold.”
Thankfully for the fast-rising British actor, it’s happened to him in near quick succession, with two roles that have offered him “the playground to find the truth in what these characters are.” And struck gold Lycurgo has.
Netflix’s drama “Steve,” which premiered in Toronto, saw him tackle the raw emotional complexities of the upbeat yet troubled Shy, a lost young man at a last-chance reform school.
Lycurgo’s first major film performance captured people’s attention almost immediately. He won the British Independent Film Award for best supporting actor there was widespread disappointment when he wasn’t recognised by BAFTA for the Rising Star category.
Not that he needed it. Eight months on and, after a brief trip to world of “Peaky Blinders” for “The Immortal Man” movie spin-on, he’s back with something very “Steve”-y in Clio Barnard’s “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning.” The film follows a group of close friends who grew up on a working class estate in Birmingham and are now trying to survive adulthood as they battle demons old and new. Lycurgo plays Ollie, the “comic relief” who helps bind the group (which also includes Joe Cole, Anthony Boyle, Lola Petticrew and Daryl McCormack) together, but someone also struggling with drug addiction.
