Watching my first play was like finding Narnia, says Olivier nominee

A Welsh actress credits theatre for changing her life as she celebrates being nominated at one of the world's most prestigious stage awards.

Rosie Sheehy was "completely bowled over" after getting her second Olivier Award nomination in two years for her performance in Guess How Much I Love You?, written by Luke Norris.

However, the Port Talbot-born actress said she believed theatre was "inaccessible to some communities, and it really shouldn't be".

Speaking to BBC Wales, Shehey described how watching a play for the first time was like "I'd found Narnia", and her life is richer as a result.

At 16 years old, Sheehy had never seen a play, but watching Waiting for Godot at Swansea's Volcano Theatre inspired Sheehy's passion for acting.

She said: "The only way I can describe it was it was like as if I'd found Narnia.

"I'd opened a cupboard door and suddenly my mind was expanded and my imagination was kind of unleashed to this language."

Despite being "late" at realising her passion, Sheehy joined a local theatre company before being accepted to study at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.

"I sort of fell in love with it very quickly and then pursued it really quickly as well," she said.

In Guess How Much I Love You, Sheehy stars opposite Bafta Best Actor winner Rob Aramayo as a couple expecting their first child, and receive devastating news at their 20-week scan.

Performing eight shows a week, the actress says such an emotional performance "does take it's toll".

"You're telling it as as truthfully as possible and giving it the story that the credit and the weight that it's due and that's a responsibility which I really don't take lightly," she said.

"The older I get, the more I kind of take that kind of care more seriously, I think, that you have to look after myself, you know, and my own mind, body, and soul."

Her critically acclaimed performance is what earned Sheehy her second Olivier nomination, something she's in "a state of shock" at.

"I really, really didn't think I'd ever be nominated again in my life.

"Last year I was kind of like, OK, we've done that though, we'll do that.

"So to be nominated again was really mind-blowing".

The actress said she performed as "organically me" with her Port Talbot accent.

Growing up in the same town as actor and Welsh National Theatre founder Michael Sheen, Sheehy wants more working class young people to have access to the theatre.

She said: "I understand that it's so inaccessible to some communities and it really shouldn't be because it can change lives.

"That sounds so flippant to say, but it changed my life, and my life is so much richer because of it.

"I'm really, really passionate about working-class actors and creatives being allowed and having access to this industry, especially theatre that can feel closed."

Sheehy has also started learning Welsh, after getting "jealous" when hearing other students at Rada speak the language.

"It's so sad to my now that I grew up in an area that [Welsh] just wasn't pushed," she said.

"It's been a long time coming and something I'll continue to do I think for the rest of my life.

"There's more fantastic writing now, especially on screen, coming through with bilingual parts and I think I get an audition like that I think: 'Right, come on, let's nail it'."

Her next project will take her from stage to screen, as she begins filming on period film The Custom Of The Country with Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeny and One Day's Leo Woodall.

"I'm very proud of it and what I'm doing, I feel very lucky to be a part of it," Sheehy said.

The Olivier Awards, presented by Nick Mohammed, take place at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 12 April.