Some actors struggle for years to get a foot in the door. But for the British actress Jodie Whittaker success seems to have come with relative ease. Shortly after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2005, Whittaker was nominated for Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards for her debut role in Roger Michell's Venus, in which she plays a youngster who captures the imagination of an older actor played by Peter O'Toole.
And she hasn't looked back since. "I have always been an idiot and an attention seeker and needed a job that didn't sack you for those two things," she says of becoming an actress. "I went to drama school because I thought I wasn't very good. It was the best decision I ever made. I went backpacking, finished school, did a year travelling. I was certain that I wanted to do drama school and was prepared for however long it took to get in. I was very rational. I was patient and I was aware that this was for the rest of my life."
All experience is good experience for an aspiring actress. Whittaker's year travelling came in handy for her most recent film White Wedding, a race-relations/romantic comedy, which is this year's official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar from South Africa, where it was a box office sensation. In the film, Whittaker plays an English girl who decides to travel around South Africa after reaching a relationship impasse. "At the time, I wasn't hugely aware of South African cinema, a lot of which draws on the tremendous atrocities that happened there only 15 years ago and the terrible poverty," she says. "This is a film which is absolutely a celebration of South Africa and South Africans and looks at all of the presumptions we have about it in a humorous way."
In her first scene, Whittaker looks like a deer caught in the headlights, but upon closer inspection is a classically pretty English-rose type. Most importantly, though, she hits all the right notes in her performances. "I have no idea why people like what I do," she says. "In terms of ambition, I have always wanted to challenge myself and enjoy my job. I'm sure there are loads of jobs people have hated me on."
Her highest-profile film to date has been the British boarding school drama, St Trinian's and its sequel. And she seems to have enough of the schoolgirl rebel in her to match the movie. "I'm 27 and I still mess around with my mates," she says. "On holiday we pretend to be different people. I have never grown up." Her other film work includes the Nazi drama Good, alongside Viggo Mortensen, Nick Moran's The Kid, and the Ireland-set Perrier's Bounty with Jim Broadbent, Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.
In Britain she is such a regular on television that The Independent joked in a recent profile that viewers were likely to see more of Whittaker over the holidays than they were going to hear about the financial crisis. Indeed. She could be seen alongside Judi Dench and Imelda Staunton in the BBC drama Cranford, in the banking drama Wired, playing the role of Izzy Huett in a BBC adaptation of Tess of the D' Urbervilles, and in Channel Four's The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall, which is based on a true story of a British photography student fatally wounded in Gaza in 2003 by the Israeli Defense Forces. Hurndall was filmed for six weeks in Jordan, partly inside Palestinian refuge camps.
"It was very emotional. Instead of living in a little bubble in London, worrying if you are going to get another acting job you see that people in the world are working with things you can't even get your head around," she says. Still, Whittaker doesn't seem to need too much of a nudge to keep things in perspective. "I just want to do good work and I don't want to miss any stages out," she says. "I want to experience everything along the way and I want to do this for the rest of my life. I really love acting. I can't be more profound about it."
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The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Zodi%20%26%20Tehu%3A%20Princes%20Of%20The%20Desert
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.