The actress was 14 when she joined the influential Channel 4 drama, filming sex scenes and bonding with co-stars who became friends for life. Now she’s tackling AI in her stage debut
Kaya Scodelario fell in love with acting when she appeared in a school production of Oliver! aged ten, but hasn’t been on stage since. “I never felt like I belonged in [the theatre] world,” the Brazilian-English actress says. “I didn’t have the privilege of growing up reading the classics. My mum worked two jobs and didn’t have time to teach me about Shakespeare.”
Scodelario didn’t have the time, either: she landed a big television role at the age of 14, playing the ripped-tights queen bee Effy in five seasons of the influential Channel 4 teenage drama Skins…..
Now, though, the 32-year-old Londoner has found the play for her: East Is South, a story about artificial intelligence by Beau Willimon, the man behind House of Cards, the Netflix drama starring Kevin Spacey. Her character is Lena, a former Mennonite and gifted scientist who is grappling with the consequences of Logos, the software her company has created….