Girl on Fire

From early classes at Liverpool’s Rare Studio to intense method acting training in New York, Mia Carragher’s journey has led her to one of theatre’s most demanding roles.

As she stars as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: On Stage, the young actress discusses discipline, confidence and making an iconic character her own.

Words | Lawrence Saunders

How did your interest in acting first develop, and when did you realise it was something you wanted to take seriously?

I was a dancer from a very young age, and then when I was around 11, I started taking classes at Rare Studio in Liverpool. Not long after, I did a play there called Brass Razoo with Ellis Howard (What It Feels Like for a Girl), Chloe English (G’wed) and Bex Smith (Coronation Street).

That was basically my introduction to acting. The play was about poverty in the UK, and we ended up going to the Houses of Parliament, where each of us performed a monologue from the piece.

From there, I carried on dancing, but around the age of 16 I had to make a decision about what I wanted to put more of my energy into. I auditioned for Tring Park School in Hertfordshire and chose the acting course, so that’s when acting became more serious for me.

How did you find life at the school, especially being away from home for the first time?

I was actually going to go when I was 14, but my mum and dad thought that was a bit too young. I went when it was the right time, and it was the best – I’d go back now if I could! It felt like we were all in High School Musical [laughs]. It was amazing.

I was the only Scouser there – the only one from up north, actually – so for the first two weeks people were laughing and nodding when I spoke. Everyone was so posh and nobody could understand me. I think my accent softened a bit after being there for a while.

You also spent time in New York training at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. What was that experience like, and how did it shape you as an actor?

I was 18 when I went, and I’d just left Tring. Looking back, I think I felt older than I actually was. I really had no fear, which is probably the thing that got me there. I’m so glad I went. Originally, I was only meant to do three months, but the training was intense – method acting. By the end of the three months, I felt like I’d only just started to get to grips with it; feeling comfortable speaking to people, and taking on what I was being taught.

I spoke to my mum and dad and ended up staying for another six months. It was really intense, but probably the best training I could have had. It was very formative for me as an actor.

The Hunger Games is your first major theatre, TV or film project. Were you already a fan of the series before the role came along?

I wasn’t a super fan but I’d seen the first two films. When I got the role, then I of course watched the entire series of films, and read the first book, which the show is based on.

How did you land the role of the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen?

I got an email about auditions for the show. They were in-person auditions, which I was happy about because nowadays everything is self-tape. I’ve booked a few roles where I’ve never even met anyone in person – it’s just been on Zoom or whatever.

The first round was movement, which I was excited for and confident about because of my dance background. They said I would be considered for Katniss, but for other roles as well. I did the movement call, then went to come home to Liverpool, and they rang me to say: ‘Don’t get on the train – we want you to come back in tomorrow and read for Katniss’.

So I read again the next day and then went back two weeks later to do a fight call, because the show features a lot of action. They then wanted me to do the scenes again, but have them recorded so they could send them to the higher-up people at Lionsgate.

How did you find out you’d got the part, and who was the first person you told?

It had been two weeks since my last audition and I’d heard that I was quite close, and then the director followed me on Instagram… I had a really weird feeling on the day I found out. I didn’t know what to do with myself so I went for a walk and that’s when my agent rang me to say I’d got it. I sprinted back home and FaceTimed my mum and dad. They were actually in Malta at the time, watching my brother [James] play for the Malta national football team, so it was quite a mad experience.

 

 

How did you feel about taking on such a big role so early in your career?

Initially, it was just excitement. I found out in March, but I didn’t start rehearsals until August, so there was this lovely period of time where I knew I had something coming next and could kind of enjoy myself. But when August came around, and I was moving to London, I was quite terrified!

Katniss is such an iconic character, and one who is so loved by fans of the franchise. How did you approach making the role your own on stage?

The script that we had is very different from the film. It takes a lot more from the first book, which is narrated by Katniss and that’s how it’s done on stage. Of course, I took a lot of inspiration from Jennifer Lawrence and her portrayal of Katniss but I couldn’t have played it like her because of the material we were given. I took advice from the writer and director, and just naturally I came up with my own version of the character.

It’s a very physical show – how demanding have the performances been, and do you have to look after yourself off stage?

It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I don’t think I knew how intense it was going to be – at the beginning there was so much excitement and adrenaline. But now, because we’re about eight months into the run and that adrenaline and excitement have kind of died down, it’s just an everyday thing – it’s my job – and it is so taxing, both physically and mentally.

We do eight shows a week – two acts, each just over an hour, so it’s nearly two and a half hours in total.

I get a lot of massages and physio, and I still go to the gym because I’ve got to keep my stamina and fitness up. Even when I’m not doing the show, or when I’m on holiday, I train most days so it’s not a shock to my body when I come back.

Reviews of the show have praised your ability to handle the physical demands of the production while still bringing a grounded emotional core to Katniss – how do you balance those two aspects in your performance?

I think that’s probably the hardest thing about it, because your body gets so used to the physicality of it – my fitness levels are high and I can cope with that – but I think the emotional parts are actually tougher, because I have those feelings basically every night, sometimes twice in a day, and sometimes your body doesn’t really know that you’re acting. So you really have to look after yourself and have some normality outside of the show.

It’s a tough one though, because you can’t do too much in between shows – you have to save a lot of energy to give the best possible performance. But even just meeting someone for lunch, or doing something completely separate from the show, like watching something funny on TV before I go to bed – anything that’s totally different – helps you switch off.

How much has the show evolved from the early rehearsals to now?

So much. At the beginning, the production team obviously had an idea of how they wanted it to go, but going from the rehearsal space to an actual massive theatre, it becomes a completely different show. The previews lasted about two or three weeks, and every night it was different – we’d come in, rehearse all day, and whatever we changed that day they’d say, ‘Okay, do that tonight’. Your brain is going 100 miles an hour.

The show ends with a big monologue from me, and one night they gave me a completely different monologue – a completely different direction and meaning behind it – and it was just: ‘Okay, learn that, you’re going to come in tomorrow, we’re going to space it, and that’s what you’re going to perform’. Sometimes I was performing stuff and I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was just doing it.

But over time everything settles in, and now when people come back who saw the early shows, they can’t believe how much slicker it is – everyone is so on it and so much more comfortable.

You were nominated for Best Professional Debut Performance at the WhatsOnStage Awards earlier this year – what did that recognition mean to you?

That was unbelievable. I was so excited that the show was recognised for something, and that I was the one representing it. I was over the moon, and even just being at that awards night, surrounded by such amazing people, was incredible.

Looking ahead, do you see yourself continuing in theatre for a while, or would you like to explore TV and film next?

Probably TV and film is where I’m headed at the minute. Auditions are now starting to pick up for after I finish in October, but to be honest I’m open to anything. I feel a lot more confident going into other rooms now that I’ve got this role behind me.

Mia Carragher appears as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: On Stage at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre until 25 October

Main Image © Johan Persson