Interview: The Cast of ‘What It Feels Like for a Girl’
What It Feels Like for a Girl, the latest show from BBC Three, may have been set in the early 2000s but it couldn’t be more timely. Released this past June, when transgender rights are under attack from both public servants and public figures alike, the series is an eye-opening, searing look at what it means to come of age in a world that seems determined to erase you. Based on the coming-of-age memoir of the same title from Paris Lees, What It Feels Like for a Girl centers on Byron, a teen in early‑2000s Nottinghamshire who embarks on a raw, unfiltered journey of self‑discovery. Portrayed by Ellis Howard, Byron grapples with gender dysphoria within a hostile home life marked by bullying. As they navigate societal rejection, they’re exploited by predatory figures before discovering a semblance of kinship among the rebellious Fallen Divas, a tight‑knit queer crew who embrace them at their most chaotic.
At once both haunting yet empowering, disturbing yet soulful, What It Feels Like for a Girl dispenses with the sentimentality and sanitization usually reserved for stories like these, embracing a fearless yet nuanced direction instead, culminating in what is most likely one of the most brutally honest portrayals of the trans and queer experience ever seen on screen thus far. The show is anchored by a powerful performance from Howard, who plays Byron with so much complexity and nuance, it practically bursts off the screen. In Howard’s more than capable hands, Byron feels like a real, dynamic person rather than a symbol or political statement. It’s a performance that resists simplification, allowing Byron’s rage, longing and moments of joy to coexist without apology.
“At first, I felt the real weight of responsibility,” says Howard of his approach to the role. “I love the book. Paris always tell the truth. The book always tells the truth in the most outrageous and complex way possible. And I think as an actor, the real job you have to do is meet it there. If she is going to be that raw and unrestrained and unflinching, you’ve got to go there. You’ve got to turn up to set every single day with as much complexity, trauma and triumph as you can muster, you know?”
While the book itself was adapted by Lees herself, Lees was also present on set every day, carefully observing and overseeing the process of bringing the book to life. Not only her book, but her personal story as well; What It Feels Like for a Girl is loosely based on Lees’ own coming-of-age in the early 2000s in Nottinghamshire. Did the cast and crew feel any pressure with Lees on set? “Obviously, it’s a big task,” says Lees. “But I felt so incredibly lucky that she chose me to take on [this role]. It was also kind of liberating [to have her on-set]. You’ve got one North Star, you’ve got one person who’s like, ‘That’s how I felt [during this moment],’ so it felt like a really efficient thing to be like, ‘Okay, maybe I am doing something which is working here. Maybe I am doing something that resonates.’ But I feel more than anything that Byron and Paris, they are so resilient to almost a mythic level. They are outrageous, subversive, naughty, cheeky and political. To embody someone like that every single day, it really inspired me to become the most liberated, gobby, outrageous version of myself too. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful.”
Byron’s journey is kickstarted, in a way, by their introduction to Max, their first boyfriend who introduces them to the concept of sex work. Max is played by the incredibly talented Calam Lynch, who’s delivered a number of standout supporting turns in titles such as Sweetpea and Bridgerton. Max is not the ideal boyfriend; despite his sweet nature and genuine love for Byron, he pushes them into situations they definitely should not be in, risking their life in the process. But thanks to Lynch’s performance, Max becomes a complex, fully-formed person who has much more to him than initially meets the eye. Max is not a good person, but he’s also a product of his environment, pushed into these situations himself thanks to a fractured relationship with his family.
“I think Max is a romantic,” says Lynch of the character. “I think he’s had a really difficult life, obviously, to be at the point he’s at. His relationship with his parents, we don’t see it. We know it’s not great. Coming out hasn’t been easy, but I think he’s an optimist. I think in Byron, he recognizes someone really special. And he’s right, because Byron is a really special character played by a very special person.”
Despite a turbulent introduction to the queer experience, further exacerbated by Byron’s introduction to fellow sex worker Liam (played by the excellent Jake Dunn – more on that later), Byron is saved, in a way, by the Fallen Divas, a group of trans and queer people who proudly and unabashedly embrace their identities, inspiring Byron to eventually do the same. Led by the rambunctious Lady Die, played by Laquarn Lewis, the unapologetic Sasha, played by Hannah Jones, and the glamorous Sticky Nikki, played by Alex Thomas-Smith, the Fallen Divas are the show’s beating heart, a chaotic, loving, fiercely protective found family who offer Byron the acceptance they have long been denied.
While the show certainly features a lot of dark and difficult moments, it also carries a lot of joy, particularly in the scenes involving the Fallen Divas. Were those scenes as fun to film as they were watching them? “Yeah! Oh my God! You should have been there, honestly,” confirms Lewis. “Waking up every day, knowing we had a scene with the Divas, clubbing and well, there’s some stuff that I can’t say because we’ll probably get into a little bit of trouble, but yeah, honestly it was a dream come true. The scenes, obviously, they’re already written, some of them are written in a really fun way, but we can just take it that little bit further because we love each other so much and we are just so similar, but in so many different ways that we get on like a house on fire. So that just helps us have fun in the moment.”
“Oh my god, if I could tell you the amount of fun we had on the sets,” agrees Jones. “Honestly, insane. Insane. We had the best time. We are genuinely the best of friends. All five of us are so, so close and we have so much love for each other. I say five of us very loosely because Jake [Dunn], who plays Liam, and Calam [Lynch], who plays Max, we all genuinely have such a really really good relationship. We genuinely formed such a strong bond. When we were filming, we all realized that we were doing something really important, you know? So I think because of that, we were like, ‘We have to band together.'”
While the show is undeniably entertaining, offering audiences sharp humor, vivid Y2K aesthetics, and bursts of surreal fantasy, it’s also an incredibly crucial piece of storytelling that doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities faced by trans youth. It also comes at a time when the livelihoods of trans people, both in and outside the UK, are being threatened, making it crucial viewing for anyone today. It’s a stark, painful fact that the cast is more than aware of.
“I never want to chaperone someone’s experience of the show,” says Howard when asked what they hope audiences take away from the show. “I think you can take away a lot of things from the series. Look, I think if we’re talking politics, I think it’s important to note that it’s set 20 years ago and therefore, I think what it definitely does is that it says that trans people have always existed and will continue to exist beyond this current political moment. I hope it provides some relief, some joy in this time whilst we protest, whilst we galvanize, unionize and donate, and take to the streets. I hope it also provides a really fun, joyous look at this rag tag gang who society ostracized and pushed to the fringes, but through community, managed to persevere in a really stylish, gorgeous and beautiful way. And so I hope it provides resilience for people who might not otherwise have their community, maybe they haven’t found the community, maybe they haven’t even found themselves yet. I hope the show is that for some little Byrons out there, and for some allies, and also for some parents of Byrons. I do think the show is like a diamond; if you hit it with a light, it can refract in so many different ways. And that’s why I hate to say it’s about this one thing because also it’s about queerness. It’s also tremendously about class, you know? It’s about who gets the luxury to be themselves.”
“I just hope that it opens a conversation for acceptance and our community,” says Thomas-Smith. “We’re not a threat to anybody, we’re all just trying to survive. So I hope that the real takeaway from our show is that we’re all human. We’re not different from anybody else, we just want to be loved.” As for what Lewis thinks audiences should take away from the show, it’s the power and courage to be themselves. “I always find that, especially with my character, for example, she encourages Byron to just really be their authentic self at all times,” says Lewis. “And I feel like that’s a key thing to life, because if you’re not your true self, you’re never gonna be happy. And I feel like you’ve gotta look after your happiness over anyone else’s happiness. I know it seems selfish, but at the end of the day, we’ve all got to be selfish sometimes, haven’t we?”
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL is now streaming on iPlayer.