Araloyin Oshunremi - The Parts You Haven’t Met Yet

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Araloyin Oshunremi and the Parts You Haven’t Met Yet

written LEMILE

Araloyin Oshunremi has spent the years since Top Boy making sure the role that introduced him does not become the one that defines him. At 22, that has already meant moving between sharply different registers: Heartstopper, Steve and, most recently, MOMO, Christian Ditter’s English-language adaptation of Michael Ende’s novel, in which Oshunremi plays Gino alongside Martin Freeman, Laura Haddock and Claes Bang.

For Oshunremi, that range begins with the idea that a character is never entirely foreign, he describes each role as a part of his own personality that has not yet been accessed, then builds outward from there through observation: speaking to people whose lives resemble the character’s, studying their mannerisms and mentality, and testing what can be carried into his own performance without losing its credibility.

Voice, perhaps more than anything else, reveals how long those characters stay with him. Accents are the habit he finds hardest to leave behind, and they now sit at the centre of two very different challenges: mastering an American register as he prepares for Los Angeles, and speaking in a Nigerian accent for BBC production WAHALA, something that connects the work directly to the way he speaks with his mother at home. The next phase of his career is opening outward, but its most interesting question may be how much of home travels with him.

Araloyin wears a shirt and shorts by VLISCO with a belt by HEREU STUDIO

LE MILE
Top Boy made people associate you with a very specific kind of realism; what did you have to do afterwards to avoid being placed in one lane?

Araloyin Oshunremi
I had to do roles completely different to Top boy after finishing top boy for example MoMo, heartstopper and Steve just to show my versatility. At the same time I’ve also made sure my fashion is completely outside the box and different from what people would expect showing range in my personality.

What did you understand about acting on Top Boy that no acting class could have taught you?

That each role or character you play is a part of you however you just haven’t unlocked it yet. So you’re never acting as someone else but instead unlocking another version of your personality you never knew you had.

When a role is far from your own life, what is the first practical thing you do to make it believable?

I do my research on people who have lived that role in real life, if some are close to home then I ask them questions just to understand how they would act in certain situations. I study them to see how their mannerisms are how their mentality is and then adopt that into my performance. But I also look within deep and see if I have any traits similar to the character.

What is the hardest habit to lose when you move from one character to the next?

The way the character talks for me is the hardest thing to lose only because your used to one accent for a long period of time that sometimes it sticks with you for a long time.

Araloyin wears a vest, trousers and belt by DOLCE & GABBANA with shoes by DIESEL

Araloyin wears a leather jacket, cream trousers and black-and-brown shoes by BERLUTI

Momo is a major shift in tone and scale; what felt unfamiliar about acting inside that kind of world?

Having to use my imagination to see things that wasn’t there but also having to have a young soul was quite hard for me. With Momo a lot of the world was fantasy and some of the things weren’t actually there in real life but got added in the edit so when acting I had to imagine it being there and genuinely believe it was there so the performance felt real and natural.

You are 22 and already moving between British TV, international film, and now Los Angeles; where do you feel most tested right now?

For me I feel more tested in LA I feel like it’s a whole different world of acting in America and as a Brit acting in America I feel like a lot of eyes are on us. But also having a good American accent so the audience don’t recognise we are a Brit is very important and hard to do but is needed.

When you work with actors who have much more experience, what do you watch most closely?

How they prepare for a role. The difference between experienced actors and new actors is the prep for a role. Experience actors are in character or in the mindset of the character a month before even entering rehearsals, they do their study on the character so that when they’re on set they don’t find it hard to get into character.

Araloyin wears floral knitwear, blue denim and boots by DIESEL

What kind of note from a director actually helps you?

When a director tells me to be free and explore on the next take. Being told that pushes me to think in a different way but also take risks that I wouldn’t usually on a normal take and usually the risky takes are the best ones for the scene.

With WAHALA coming next, what are you interested in showing that audiences have not yet seen from you?

Me playing a character in a Nigerian accent, being from Nigeria getting to play a Nigerian is one of my dreams and because I speak in that accent when I’m with my mum at home it feels surreal to see it on screen.

What do you want your move to Los Angeles to change, and what do you not want it to change?

I want my move to LA to push me in my acting but also make me learn new styles of acting. I want it to have a positive change on my mindset on how I approach roles and hopefully I’m able to adopt skills from some LA actors. And what i don’t want it to change is my london culture I feel like being from london is an amazing thing because of how diverse and multicultured we are.

Araloyin wears a jacket and vest by RALPH LAUREN

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talent ARALOYIN OSHUNREMI
photography JULIEN LENTIN
fashion WILOW DIALLO
hair SOLINE DE MEDEIROS
make up DIVINE M
casting director MARVIN LATOURNALD
casting MODELS LANE
fashion assistant WISSAL TOUMA

credits
all Images (c) LE MILE
and Julien Lentin