Rye Lane’s David Jonsson And Vivian Oparah On The Importance Of Portraying Black Love Stories
If you’ve had the likes of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and George Clooney and Julia Roberts written down on your list of favourite romcom couples, then prepare to add British actors David Jonsson And Vivian Oparah to that list.
The stars of BBC’s Industry and Sky’s upcoming series Then You Run, respectively, are the stars of Raine Allen-Miller’s latest film, Rye Lane, which sees two individuals on the back of separate break ups form a bond over an eventful day in south London. Set largely in Peckham, the film is essentially a love letter to the area, its people and culture.
‘We did a lot of coffee walks which I think was really special,’ recalls Jonsson on his time on set with the Oparah for six weeks during a recent game of Ask Me Anything with ELLE UK.
‘We spent a lot of time traipsing around [Peckham], it was quite meta and how the film goes. We went on a Goldilocks-esque adventure to find me the best chai latte and Peckham has some great ones,’ adds his co-star.
The plot reflects Allen-Miller’s desire to be a ‘correct representation’ of the Black experience. 'The truth of it is, being a person of colour is a hard experience. But there are also really good days, and this film is about one of those really good days. It’s so important to represent our experience correctly and not just show grit. We also goof out, we also get our hearts broken, eat Greggs on the bed and cry - we all have a 360 experience of the world, and it's important that that's shown,’ she recently told us.
On the importance of presenting a Black love story on screen, Jonsson nots: ‘One thing we love about this film is that it’s not taking away from any narratives that we’ve seen before, but it’s hopefully shining a new light on a place that we know and love, but also our experiences. It’s important that we continue to see us represented in ways that feel authentic and true.
‘In this case, it’s a Black love story and I don’t think either of us have considered ourselves as romantic leads in a way – we’re not romantic leads – but to see ourselves reflected back to us feels special to me and hopefully other people.’
Having both starred in TV and theatre, the actors agree that the two mediums of performance are ‘two different beasts’. ‘TV and theatre must be like what it’s like having two kids – you love them the same but very differently,’ explains Oparah, who describes herself as a ‘quiet bookish kid’ before receiving a standing ovation for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch in a Year Six school production and deciding to pursue an acting career.
‘Film and TV came quite late to me – reading loads, reading plays and poems,’ Jonsson says of his first foray into acting and his shared love of storytelling with Oparah.
Having recently walked the red carpet at the London-based premiere of Rye Lane and shown their film at Sundance Film Festival, the pair are revelling in the opportunity to celebrate creativity through fashion and champion British designers in particular.
‘What Ibrahim Kamara is doing with Off-White is incredible… I’d love to wear Off-White,’ says Oparah, adding: ‘I would’ve loved to have had the opportunity to have met Virgil Abloh, what he did with Louis Vuitton and how much he cared about the culture and its infrastructure.
‘I’m quite excited about Pharrell at Louis Vuitton, I think that’s just going to be really special,’ comments Jonsson, who credits Oswald Boetang, James Perse, Sunspel, and the late Vivienne Westwood for having transformed the industry.
Rye Lane is out now in cinemas nationwide.
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