WITH AN OTHERWORLDLY AND MESMERISING LEAD TURN AS DANNY IN C4’S SOMEWHERE BOY, ALONGSIDE HIS TAKE ON COMPLEX TEENS IN THE TV DRAMAS DEADWATER FELL, SHETLAND AND GENERATION Z – ACCLAIMED YOUNG SCOTTISH ACTOR LEWIS GRIBBEN HAS HAD EVERYONE TALKING FOR A WHILE NOW.

AHEAD OF UPCOMING ROLES IN BLADE RUNNER 2099 (A TV SPIN-OFF OF THE ICONIC SCI-FI FILM), AND THE NEXT SEASON OF CULT ANTHOLOGY SERIES, BLACK MIRROR, WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE GLASGOW-NATIVE TO TALK IMAGINARY WORLDS, DREAMS OF PLAYING A BADDIE AND WHY HE’LL ALWAYS STAY GROUNDED.

Left Full look **Miu Miu**
Right Full look **Fendi**

Hi Lewis, you’re in Glasgow, is that still home for you? Aside from family and friends, what do you love most about it?

I love the prices, it’s cheaper than London! I like the culture; I think we’ve got a good art culture. I think the people are very grounded, and you need that. I think sometimes when you’re an ‘artist’ you can get carried away in your own grandiosity. In Glasgow, obviously we appreciate art, but we don’t keep going on and on about it like we don’t want to be too big for our boots, kind of thing. It’s a very nice place, with lovely hills, walks, castles. And yeah, we’ve just got a good sense of culture and art, and we’re quite funny!

Well, I read that when you were younger growing up there, you used to enjoy playing fantasy games and being in your own imaginary worlds, like all of us! Did you like storytelling, and do you think that’s where your love of acting began?

Yes, I really like storytelling, the idea of the infinite possibilities of all these worlds of video games, or stories or movies I read, watched, or played and I got enveloped in all of that. I think there’s a part of me that wanted to be a part of those imaginative worlds that are created through all forms of media. I think I had a sort of desperation to be a part of something that’s not the ordinary, which I think influenced my direction towards acting. I loved stories and how detailed and rich they could be, and I felt that I would love somehow to be a part of that, and acting was the way to do that.

Left Full look **Paul Smith**
Right Full look **Prada**

Were there performances on screen or in theatre you remember growing up that really moved you?

I’d say a performance that really moved me was ‘Boo’ in Monsters, Inc. She was such a sweet, innocent little child, and she evoked such a great emotional reaction out of me when I watched it at 7 or 8. I had never seen such vulnerability played so effectively like that in a film before, and it evoked a kind of longing for that friendship she had with ‘Sully’, and I felt really connected to that desire and longing for a friendship.

I also remember watching The Pianist at about 15, and how Adrien Brody’s character went through such devastation and loss, and the persecution of the holocaust and how he transforms throughout the course of the film. I found it so moving, and it's always stuck with me, and each time I think of a ‘memorable performance’ I think of that. Everything he did in that film really encapsulated for me what it is to be an actor.

So, how did you then get into theatre and drama, was there a teacher or parent who encouraged you; and once you began, what was it like being able to connect and relate to other kids like yourself who enjoyed playing pretend?

As I kid, I was very animated and active in the imaginary world, speaking in difference voices, and acting out different characters, but I wouldn’t really interact with other children in primary school. My Mum saw in me that I was imaginative but quite shy with other kids. So, she just decided that “well he likes to pretend so I’ll put him into theatre classes!”. I joined the youth theatre programme at the Citizen’s Theatre in Glasgow, and I just fell in love with it from there. My Mum thought it would be a good outlet for my shyness and to help me grow in confidence and connect with other kids who also had active imaginations, and it worked!

What I loved about connecting with the other kids, was that it was a gateway to opening up friendships for me and realising there were others who were also into the idea of pretend. Imagining these worlds, the idea of devising scenes and making our own stories and organising them into scripts with our teachers. I felt like I found a tribe I could belong to.

Left Full look **Paul Smith**
Right Full look **MM6**

Your breakout role as Danny in Somewhere Boy, was also the point we learned how that character helped you identify and bring authenticity to the part of someone feeling like they’re an outsider – you were diagnosed with Autism and Asperger’s and have spoken of how it can make you feel on the periphery. How have you navigated your diagnosis in terms of your life and career?

The thing with having Autism and Aspergers, is obviously sometimes it's tricky to fully identify something that’s foreign to you, or that you don’t fully understand in a character or in a world. When you are trying to give your own interpretations of these worlds, sometimes it’s a bit more difficult to get a full insight into how to play something you have never been before. But it does allow me to see the human elements of someone who is different or unusual. I think for most people, including myself, who have Autism and Aspergers, it gives you a uniqueness to something, it adds a sense of charm, or otherworldliness in ‘Danny’s’ case, and it can help make that feel grounded in our world. More abstract and ‘weirder’ characters don’t feel as difficult for me to gain an insight into, in how to play them or how they will be. I think it’s the characters who are more charming and rogue-ish, that take a lot more work for me to capture. What it does help me realise is that I can add that twist and give it more authenticity, and it adds an emotional clarity for roles that works quite well.

How was it moving onto Masters of the Air, after filming Somewhere Boy, playing a World War Two bomber pilot – going from something mentally so immersive into this historic drama with lots of imaginary blue screen on a giant soundstage?

It was a very weird transition, because I finished Somewhere Boy in October 2021 and I had spent 4.5 months doing that show, and prepping, keeping in the accent, and allowing myself to blend all the emotional vulnerabilities of my own life and lending them to the character. So, it was a bit of a draining process, and I didn’t really know who I was for a while after that part, and being a kind of weird mix of me and ‘Danny’ for a while.

Going into Masters of the Air, even though it was a small part, was fun and weird with this giant Apple show with an all-star cast! It was a part of the industry I hadn’t had the chance to see before and gave me a great insight into how those bigger sets are run. It was a great exercise in imagination, because I’m firing a German airplane that doesn’t exist, and it’s only on this big projected screen. The two projects couldn’t have been further apart but in a way, it took me out of the mourning I felt from Somewhere Boy and gave me something fun to do.

Well, you’ve now done horror, comedy, drama, history and next up is fantasy, with the epic Blade Runner 2099! What are you allowed to tell us about your character and what we can expect from the series?

Very little but being a part of Blade Runner is something I never expected to happen. It’s a mad, unreal, and very otherworldly experience that I think will be very entertaining for fans!

You’re also in the long-awaited next season of Black Mirror. Any teasers?

I can’t say too much, but getting to be a part of the series was incredible as I’ve been such a huge fan since the beginning and really wanted to be a part of it!

Jina Jay, the casting director had seen me originally for the first revival season, and then again in 2022 for season 6. I was gutted not to get the roles, so when the opportunity came around again in 2023, I was thrilled to get another chance to be a part of it. My character is quite like me, so I felt like I really understood him right away.

How did you feel on set for Black Mirror, and is it always different, again in the way you transform through the preparation and process?

Initially I was nervous as I am such a big fan of the show, and I didn’t want to mess it up and be crucified online, but I had to let that go and be the best version of myself I could give to the team I was working with. With my character, it's about exposing vulnerabilities, finding something that he cares for that he wants to keep at all costs. There are a lot of similarities to past characters, so it wasn’t very hard to draw from those and my own experiences.

In terms of your process with acting, is it instinctual, you’re finding your own flow, it’s not rigid? Do you make playlists, look for the scent of a person, read and research?

I try and keep it as instinctual as possible as I don’t want it to feel bogged down in research or too rigid. I want it to be as free flowing and, in the moment, as possible. I try to keep it as playful and authentic as humanly possible, within a scene, like when I was still a child, play acting. Sometimes I do write down objectives for a scene so as not to stray off course but mostly I try to give my own interpretation of the character.

What about next roles – what drives you when it comes to choosing parts?

I think for the next stage of my career; I would like to try and do things I haven’t done before. I am trying to actively look for parts that have a sense of danger to them, I’d like to play someone who is not a very nice person if I could. But at the same time, it comes down to the story and the script, and if the script is very interesting and grabs me, then I will want to do it. I’m trying to push myself to do roles that, even if I want to run away from them, I try to go for them to challenge myself. Ultimately, I would love to play someone who is just evil, and a bit shitty, something I haven’t seen me do yet.

Well, it’s a new year, 2025, there’s a lot of new energy. Do you feel that way? Who are you in this moment right now as opposed to one year ago today?

I am a spaceman going through the unknown realms of possibility. I’m having my weird artist moment of two crossroads and trying to pick the right one. I think there's an energy of having done nice bigger scale jobs in Blade Runner and Black Mirror, and I feel a bit more confident about hopefully doing it again one day. I’m not about trying to big myself up into getting the next big part, the next big thing that will make me more famous or make me more money. I think for me; it’s about picking something that artistically speaks to me regardless of role or size. A year ago, I never would’ve believed this could happen, my hope is that it will happen again, but I’m not going to put any time pressure on it. My process is to be an artist and grab what I get, be it ‘Soldier One’ or the face on the poster.