Our host Vick Hope is joined by British actress Corinna Brown on this episode of Bookshelfie where they discuss the importance of representation within the arts, stunt acting, imposter syndrome and of course, all things Heartstopper!
Corinna is best known for her role as series regular Tara Jones in Heartstopper, the multi-award-winning, BAFTA nominated Neftlix adaptation of Alice Osman’s LGBTQ+ graphic novels which rose to the top ten most-watched English series on Netflix within two days of the first season’s release. She has worked across film, television and theatre, including making her television debut in the BBC Three film My Murder with John Boyega.
Listen to the full episode here and read on to see Corinna’s top five most influential books written by women.
“I first read Shiver when I was around 13/14. One of my friends at school was reading it, and at first I didn’t get the werewolfy fantasy hype and then I read that. I remember it being winter, and I remember being in my bed and I literally was sat there for ages. I think I got through it in a week because it was so gripping…I was obsessed!”
“I think this book was my first experience of a story set within a racial divide. I think for me, it’s seeing the roles reversed – whilst it was the same issues, there was also a sense of empowerment. And then obviously I got obsessed with Malorie Blackman, and started to see everything else she’d written, and that she was a strong black woman, published world-wide and I think that for me was like, ‘yeah!’”
“[What appealed to me about Zélie’s world] was her strength and determination. Because in the book she has to save her village, essentially, and save the world! The sense of her gumption, and her drive, and the power to push through – I love that.”
“I loved Milk & Honey because it shows you beauty in everything – in the pain – and it really does go through a process of healing, accepting. I found this book at uni – it was recommended by one of my friends. I think it was at a time that I myself was like, ‘I don’t know how to deal with all of these things that I’m feeling’ – you lose friends, you lose loved ones, things like that. So, I think at that time, it spoke to me.”
“I was obsessed with this play – I wrote my dissertation on it! … When I read it, it was the first time I thought that we can use technology and screens in theatre, and it blew my mind. Obviously now we’ve had Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard where he incorporates screens – but that was my introduction to using TV and theatre in the same thing, and using what we’ve got – GIFs, social commentary. I just thought it was just brilliant.”
