by Henry Giardina

After appearing in Lisa Azuelos’ English-language remake of LOL (Laughing Out Loud), British actor Douglas Booth dove headfirst into a couple of classics. First, the 19-year-old starred as Pip in Brian Kirk’s television adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, and then, in a role that will make him an instant teen idol, he’s currently shooting the male lead in Carlo Carlei’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, opposite Hailee Steinfeld. We spoke to Booth about the pressures of playing the iconic star-crossed lover, why playing a gay character doesn’t scare him (he’s already done it), and our kind of depressing future.

Did you have a proper childhood or were you auditioning from a super young age?

I fell in love with acting from a very young age, but I didn’t do my first film until I was sixteen. But I had a very normal upbringing and I was very lucky. I was born into a middle-class family, and I never really wanted for anything and was lucky in that sense. I had parents that brought me up very well and always supported me in what I wanted to do. I can imagine it being quite hard if your parents don’t support you at all, and have no interest in your wanting to be an actor, or if they really wanted me to be an actor and they were pushing me.

That’s definitely rare. Usually when somebody says they want to be an actor at a young age their parents are like, shit, instant poverty.

Exactly. And my sister is studying to be an artist—so they have two complete paupers on their hands.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Greenwich in London. I lived in Greenwich in Blackheath until I was about 10, and then I moved about forty-five minutes out of London to a town called Sevenoaks in the country.

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