Your character - you own it. That's something you have to grab hold of on 'This Is England'. Your character is your character.

Michael Socha

Categorized in : You Own Your Character

Sometimes I like to go out; sometimes I like to chill and do nothing.

nothing go chill sometimes

You feel that your character is special. It's not your normal nine-to-five. You're not someone who goes home and lives a normal life.

you home character life

I should have lived through the '80s, not been born in it. My style is a mix of hip-hop and '80s casual.

hip-hop casual born style

I love my Nike Air Max trainers. They're big and bulky and spanking - I can't be doing with grubby trainers.

doing big air love

An accent like mine and a face like mine, I think a lot of the time it's easy for casting directors to just stick me in as a bad boy, but 'Being Human' took a risk on me - bless 'em - and I'm not that bad boy no more.

face me bad-boy time

I love watching people, guessing what they are going to do next. I'm no Derren Brown, but I love that people stuff. Maybe that's why I'm an actor.

watching next love people

I always get nervous when I watch what I'm in. Very self-critical.

watch get always nervous

The only things I could do were English, drama and history. I loved them subjects, but I hated everything else.

loved everything drama history

I was never on the side of the teachers at school. Even though I put all the work into getting the main role in the end-of-year musical when I was 11, they didn't give it me, even though they knew I should have had it. That sort of drove me into am dram and getting the main part in another production. And I did.

teachers me work school

To act for a living is a gift, and understanding you're a lucky bloke keeps your feet on the ground.

gift you understanding feet

The thing is, with 'This Is England', you're always thinking as yourself. You're acting on an instinct. You're acting on what you've heard, what you've been told, and what's happened beforehand.

yourself you always thinking

What I say about 'This Is England' is they're like my best friends back home. Normal, working-class, beautiful people who I'm creative with.

best home beautiful people

'Wonderland' was incredible, but 'Once Upon A Time,' I found it quite soul-destroying.

once quite found time

I find the fans really interesting and nice, and I'll go over and say hello.

find say go nice

I started in theatre; the first bit of drama I did was amateur dramatics, up until I was 19. Then the TV and film opportunities came along, but now I was just ready to come back.

opportunities back theatre drama

I suppose, back in the day, when I was on the stage, I had nothing to lose, and I did the accents.

lose nothing day back

Generally, nowadays, I'm using my own accent because casting directors want it; they like that.

own like my-own want

I like to go for auditions. I enjoy that aspect of this job until I actually need a job, and then that becomes a problem. The worst thing is to build yourself up for a role and not get it, so now I'm just taking every day as it comes and trying not to rely on anything.

yourself job day enjoy

I don't want to be doing a job where I'm not doing a job, just sitting around in my flat just bored.

doing job bored sitting

If I wanted to do something on stage, I wanted it to be something I could really get into and feel.

something feel get stage