ROSIE DAY’S INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON

BY: CLARA SEELY-KATZ

Rosie Day handles challenging topics surrounding teenage girlhood and teenage mental health struggles with compassion and wisdom that are evident in her writing where she is able to eloquently convey her thoughts. Although she is one of those talented people with a hand in various creative pursuits, her story and personality genuinely shine in her writing. If Day's previous writings are any indication of what is to come, her new book Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon is sure to impress.

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A book like Day's specifically created to help teenage girls (and boys) feel seen and heard couldn't come at a better time. Mental health struggles rampant amongst teenage girls pre-pandemic were exacerbated by the stress and isolation caused by COVID-19.

 

Read on to learn more about how Day wrote a book during the pandemic, how she got her start in the realm of acting, and what teenage mental health means to her/how she is giving back.

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How has your experience during the pandemic been, and has it changed any of your priorities or your creative path?

I guess I was quite lucky because I was at home with my five kittens at the time. They were all these tiny, little, fluffy things when it started, so that was a real bonus for me —being at home and having them entertain my partner and me at the time. And because the entertainment industry sort of shut down for about nine months, that time spent waiting to get back to filming was kind of how the creation of my book came about. Since I suddenly had this time, I spent most of it working on writing, which was a shift. The way everybody thought about our priorities in terms of what actually matters in life was disrupted with the pandemic, including me. And you know, I've always been very work-focused, but I honestly really enjoyed the fact that we all just had to stay at home; that didn't seem to bother me at all. I didn't have to worry about work, as I often do as an actor, since there was no work because everything had shut down. And so, I would say it definitely changed the way my brain approached the industry a bit.

How did you first become an actress?

I became an actress by accident. It's still an accident. I don't know how I'm still here. My sister was a big dancer, and she got a job on a BBC TV series, and they needed a little sister for her, so I came along. I was probably five, and all I remember is I liked the idea that I got to miss school. I don't think I knew what acting was. I ended up getting cast alongside her, and after that, we kept getting cast together for a while. And then she stopped acting, and I just kind of continued in one 'big long mistake'. So, it wasn't really a childhood dream of mine or anything. It was just something that I got into. I wanted to be an Olympic trampolinist. That was my childhood dream.

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Because you came to acting from a nontraditional background, do you think that has affected your acting style and how you approach the industry?

Yeah, absolutely. I was just a kid, and kids tend to get cast because they're very natural actors; they're not thinking about technique. I spent a lot of time not really understanding what acting was about. When I was thirteen, I realized that 'oh, this is actually quite interesting, maybe I could do this as a career.' I was lucky to have worked alongside some really great actors as a child, and I watched them and learned from them. I absorbed everything that they were doing on set and used that to become a better actress. I feel very privileged that that was my acting education, rather than the traditional drama school route. I feel like I learned a lot.

And as you've just mentioned, there is a level of natural talent that comes with acting when you're a little kid. But I want to ask you, do you think that it applies to writing, do you think that any part of writing is natural talent?

I think it must be because I'm rubbish at punctuation and grammar, but I love writing, and I like telling stories, and I seem to be quite good at that side of things. In any area of creativity, some people are naturally brilliant at it and have that raw talent. And you can teach people to do a multitude of things, but I think some people have got it within them, which is something that can be seen.

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For you, what is the hardest part of the writing process?

I do have days where I sit down, and nothing comes out. I end up just staring at a blank screen. That's definitely the most challenging thing, I think, for me. Also, I can't write in my house, I have to go somewhere (usually a coffee shop) because I can't sit in a quiet room and write. I think it reminds me of school too much, so actually, I like to go somewhere quite noisy to write. But there are definitely days where I just can't do it. And I think, 'oh, well, I'll try again tomorrow.'

Your book coming out is called Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, and you also wrote a play of the same name before the creation of this book. Can you tell me about them both and how they are linked?

So it started with the play. We did the preview run just before the pandemic, but we literally closed about three days before the first show because of lockdown. So the show has been delayed until this winter. The whole thing (the play and book) sort of came about because I have always played a lot of teenage girls. I've played them for probably over ten years at this point. The writing for those parts is often not great, and they're often written by older fifty-year-old white men who've never been a teenage girl. I got quite frustrated by that, especially since teenage girls aren't often the lead; it's not often their story. So, I thought, wouldn't it be cool to write a play that actually does show a teenage girl's real-life experience. So I did. Then, it was through chance that I ended up having a meeting with WME, who said they wanted to turn it into a book and, essentially, a movement to empower girls because that was the whole onus behind it. So, that's exactly what we did. And I find it sort of all happened very organically, and it was all so lovely. Honestly, it seems slightly like a dream. And until I get the first copy in my hands, I don't think it will genuinely feel real to me.

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Can you tell me more about what inspired you to write this book?

When I was a teenage girl, I often found that I felt really overlooked and not heard. Despite living through various things and even getting older, I'd be on set, and teenage boys would be getting more respect than I would have been, and they were being listened to more than I was. I found that really difficult. Currently, I'm an ambassador for a charity called Stem4, and we go into schools and talk to teenagers about mental health. It's never been more challenging than right now to be a teenage girl. A statistic that I read from an extensive study of teenagers a few years ago showed almost a quarter of teenage girls self-harm. And that was before this pandemic. Hearing a quarter of a group of people is doing something is alarming, and it feels as if nobody seems to be talking about it or caring about it. And so I guess the whole idea was figuring out how to help, to figure out what I could do to shine a light on teenage girls. The book's goal is to be very empowering, and it has all sorts of advice in it. Basically, I am passing down a toolkit of what I've learned growing up as a woman. Also, the book has some fantastic contributors who tell their stories, what they've learned, and their advice. I really wanted to help because when I was that age, I didn't have anything until I was introduced to Caitlin Moran's writing when I was fourteen, which really changed my life. If my writing just helps one teenage girl, then it's done its job. That's what I said from the get-go, if just one girl finds comfort in my book, then it would have been worth it.

That's a good motto. When you were younger, did you ever suffer from mental health issues or anything of that kind?

I didn't, but I grew up with my sister, who did, and it was tough to be in a household where I had a sibling suffering from a mental health issue. That is actually how I got involved with Stem4. When I go into schools, my focus is what it's like to be in a family where someone else is struggling with mental health.

Can you tell me more about Stem4 and how you got involved?

I got involved with them on Twitter. I have a brilliant best friend who was tweeting about them, so I followed their Twitter, and they followed me back, and we started messaging. This was probably about nine years ago now. Around that time, I met them, and I shared my story. Stem4 was formed in memory of a young girl who died of anorexia, and that was related to my sister's mental health struggles, so we talked about that, and then they invited me to be an ambassador. I've been working with them since they were quite small, and now they've grown so much, and they're doing such amazing things for teenage mental health in the UK. I'm very proud to be a part of it.

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If you could give your teenage self one piece of advice. What do you think that would be?

Gosh, I wrote all about this in my book. The gist of it is don't make yourself so small. I was always afraid to take up much room. I didn't want to say the wrong thing, and I was so conscious of being alive. I would tell myself, 'no, you have as much a right as everybody else to take up space.’

And do you want to write more books like this in the future? Or are you hoping to write more plays/go down a more creative writing route?

I've currently got a couple of film projects going, some screenplay projects in pre-production and development. That's probably the next thing, I would say, for me. But also, I would love to do a sequel to Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon because this book is focused more on ages eleven to around sixteen, and I would love to write for girls ages sixteen to twenty-one as well; I think that would be really fun. Also, I believe there are some really great topics to get into regarding those years. So I would love to write a sequel to it, if possible. Who knows?

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Do you like working behind the scenes and writing more than acting?

They are two such different worlds. I love the idea of creating a film and having it come from my imagination. That's really cool when you create something based on a story that you made up. That never gets old to me. And in terms of acting, I can't remember my life before acting, which is bizarre, but for me, it's just this constant thing that I've always done. I feel most like myself on the set or in the rehearsal room. So I love both.

What did your journey from actress to author look like?

It's always been about stories for me. My stories are usually about interesting women. Some struggles need to be told; those are my starting points for all of my projects. And because I'm an actor, a lot of what I do is at the request of other people, or just waiting for the phone to ring. I think I began writing to regain some control and have the ability to tell my own story. I've spent so long showing other people's lives that it's nice to do it myself, especially as a young woman in this industry. I think it's essential to have more women's voices in all aspects of the industry. There is nothing I really dislike about writing, except I really do dislike showing people my drafts. When I have to hand my writing to somebody and then wait for them to read it, that is my least favorite part.

If you had to pick a book or make up a book title to encapsulate you/your life, what would it be and why?

My brain immediately goes to The Bell Jar, but my god, that's so depressing. Ever since I was sixteen, I have related to that book so much for some reason. I think it formed who I am today. So I would say The Bell Jar but without the more negative aspects.