From Penrith school plays to starring in a Netflix smash hit — meet Eden actor Lydia Fleming following her screen debut.
Having grown up in Greystoke, the former QEGS student played a main character in the recently released Netflix spy-thriller In From the Cold which has received positive reviews and even topped the streaming platform’s top 10 chart.
Lydia plays Becca, the daughter of Russian spy Anya Petrova, who is under cover as an over-protective but unassuming single-mother. Packed full of action and suspense, the role involved an American accent, learning to ice skate and filming in Madrid for five months.
When she auditioned for the role, Lydia had only been out of London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama for about six months and was auditioning for two or three plays, TV shows and films every week.
“It was so unexpected,” she said. “I never thought I’d get it. It’s a huge Netflix production and I’d never been in anything before. Also, every girl I know was going for the same part.”
What was more unexpected was the fact she was cast after just one audition. It is standard for actors to go through various rounds of auditions, be screen tested and check their chemistry with other actors but after just two or three days Lydia found out she had landed the part.
“It was totally crazy,” she said. All this stemmed from the resolute vision of writer Adam Glass. She said: “He has a really clear idea of the character and what he wanted from me. I’m so grateful to him for the trust he put in me.”
A few months later Lydia flew out to Madrid for filming but after just a week the news broke that Donald Trump had ordered the US borders to be closed due to COVID. With the majority of the cast and creative team being American, the production was mothballed and everyone was flown home within 24 hours.
Despite being told they would only be home for about six weeks, it eventually took a year before filming resumed. Again she praised Adam Glass for his reassurances, updates and confidence that the show would resume.
“In a way it was so much better for me,” said Lydia. “I was employed all the way through the pandemic which was great. All of my mates who are actors too had TV shows cancelled or plays cancelled really struggled.”
She also benefited from close contact with other cast members. For instance she would regularly make contact online with Margarita Levieva, who plays Lydia’s mother in the show, to try lines and catch up. The closeness afforded to them through this really helped Lydia with her performance when the pair were allowed back in front of the cameras.
Lydia said a film set is a stressful place where actors are expected to get shots right in a couple of takes and be ready to move on straight away with each second of the show costing an eye-watering amount. So the more comfortable actors are with each other, the more convincing the on-screen relationship.
“Basically, the less there to worry about, the better,” added Lydia.
One thing she did have to worry about however was the physical elements of production. The plot hinges upon her character’s ice skating exploits, but unlike Becca, Lydia is not a trained skater. To fix this, Netflix put Lydia through daily lessons with three other actors.
“I mean, to get paid to learn to ice skate, I kept pinching myself,” she said.
Lydia said that she had not learnt a new skill since she was a child and while she said she is active, the prospect of ice skating was a daunting one. Ultimately the hard work paid off and she is seen on screen performing adept figure skating routines.
Another potential hurdle was her accent. In the show Lydia’s character is American but she said she has always found accents easy. From a young age her father would do silly accents and then later at school she learned Spanish and French. In her final year at Guildhall she played several characters from the US.
The Spanish she learned came in handy in Madrid, although due to COVID she spent most of her time between the set and the hotel.
“It was frustrating being in Madrid but not being able to see anything, but cry me a river, right? What can I complain about really? Madrid is beautiful and the people were so nice and welcoming, there was a ‘come and share my city’ vibe.”
Lydia was keen to stress that the experience was only possible due to the school plays and the drama department at QEGS, Penrith – particularly teachers Dawn Coates and Sian McWilliams.
With all the funding cuts to the arts in recent years Lydia was keen to reinforce not just that there are jobs in the arts but that it is important for society as a whole and that people should support regional venues such as Theatre by the Lake as it was watching shows there that she learnt things about acting she still uses today.
“It all began at school,” she said. “Acting is a viable career path for people that grow up in Cumbria. It’s hard and can be cost a lot but it can be done.”
All episodes of In From the Cold are available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
