Jemma Moore
#ACTOR
Jemma Moore, London | Photography - Buki Koshoni
Born in Hong Kong and raised on a farm in Shropshire, Jemma Moore, 28, grew up wanting to be a cheese taster or a journalist. Jemma studied acting at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and beat out thousands of applicants in 2017 to win a one-year talent deal and $25,000 prize from ABC.
Today, her credits include a leading role in Tony Giglio’s Doom: Annihilation for Universal (now on Netflix and Amazon); Rose Lin in the second season of Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators on BBC ONE, as well as featured roles in Wonder Woman, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, and Zawe Ashton’s The Place We Go To Hide. Jemma also produced the award-winning short film All Of Me, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, and she currently co-hosts Hobby Cast, a chatty podcast dedicated to championing quirky past times.
What does the word freedom mean to you, as a woman and as an artist?
Freedom comes from empowering people, giving people choices, autonomy, and allowing people the scope to do what they wish in life.
As an actor, we have reached this new moment where content can be created on our phones and in our homes. And what I have realised is that it’s not about money or big-budget projects. It’s about looking around and seeing the choices I have and electing to be creative with what I have. Creativity is almost like a solution to restrictions.
How can we encourage women of all ages to live a life of creative and professional freedom?
When I was about seven years old, I remember being in a school production of The Wind in the Willows. I was the washerwoman, and I had to say my lines without much flare. On the night of the performance, I improvised. I don’t know why exactly, it just came to me. Back at school the next day, I was really badly bullied for it. But one of my teachers came up to me and said, “Be brave, make bold choices and never change, Jemma.”
“Freedom comes from empowering people, giving people choices, autonomy, and allowing people the scope to do what they wish in life.”
- JEMMA MOORE
What advice would you give to any young women trying to break into acting?
I once heard someone say that acting is being in the right place at the right time. But I think it's being in the right place all the time. You're constantly on this rollercoaster of ups and downs and yeses and nos. You might have had two big yeses at the start of your career, and then you have no, no, no, no, no, no, no, for years. But if you gave up, you might miss that one yes that then brings you back up to a place where you are working, or better yet, choosing what you're doing and who you're working with. As long as you stick with what feels good in your gut, you're always going to be on the right path.
How do you express freedom in your daily life and profession?
In my early 20s, I was only going up for very limited Asian roles. And those parts were either overly sexualised the nerdy sidekick, or I had to be a master in some form of kung fu. I can fight, but more martial arts and kickboxing. I always felt that agents pitted me against other actresses. On countless occasions, I was told not to write to a particular agent because “They already had an East Asian or Southeast Asian actress on their books.”
That's why I started producing. I had tried so hard to fit into a world and an industry that had certain rules and that expected me to behave in certain ways. I'm really glad I rebelled against that. Now, it finally feels like the rest of the world is catching up.
In what way does great fashion and design support your goals of self-expression and individuality?
I love how with fashion, before you even open your mouth, you can convey aspects of yourself. It’s like cinema—a visual expression of yourself andnd when I’m filming, it’s the first moment where I get into character. It’s almost like we melt into each other. I put on my costume and that’s the first layer.
