We recently connected with Bibi Lucille and have shared our conversation below.

Bibi, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Taking a risk is vital to almost any ambitious career. If you’re entering an industry that is competitive, you have to be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone and move against the crowd. It’s also important to weigh up your options and the risk factor for each; in pursuing a creative career you are risking instability, but in pursuing a more secure job, you are risking feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled.

For me, the risk of being unhappy in a job was far greater than the risk of financial instability. Time is a currency in itself, so it’s important to be aware of how much of your time you’re offering in exchange for money. How much is your time worth? I would argue that your twenties are the years to take all the risks you possibly can and be very precious with how you spend your time.

Personal risks that come to mind are usually ones that I felt alienated me; such as deciding not to go to university and stay in my home town and pursue acting when all my friends were creating new lives and friends for themselves in different cities. I have taken a lot of financial risks – taking a show to Edinburgh (which is criminally expensive), and as of late, applying for a US visa (which has truly bled my pockets dry). Despite finding myself in my overdraft and tackling a little bit of credit card debt here and there, I know that whilst I’m in my twenties with no dependants or insane bills to pay, now is the time do all these things. Roll the dice. The bill for regret will be far greater than whatever cash I’m splurging on my career now. Treat yourself as a business; the more you invest in yourself and building your career, the greater the return later on.

Bibi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So, my name is Bibi Lucille and I’m an actor and writer from London. With acting, it was one of those strange cases where I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to pursue it. I’ve clearly been vying for attention my whole life. I did weekend drama classes for many, many years and started audition around the age of fifteen. Although my sixth form was pretty unsupportive and threatened to kick me out if I kept missing school for auditions – so I was only able to really pursue it when I left at nineteen. I knew university wasn’t for me because a) it’s expensive and b) I knew it would be a repeat of school where I’d just feel trapped and desperate to go and chase a ‘dream’. I started working in call centre to just store a bit of cash away – plus it was flexible for auditions. I bagged a role in the west end with a lead role in Noel Coward’s ‘This was a man’. From there, I performed comedy theatre for years and years. I did tours, all the fringes… you name it. It was so much fun but unfortunately, theatre pay isn’t amazing (if there even is a profit after breaking even). So, I went into film and TV. I performed in Popstar!TV’s ‘Purgatory’ and Amazon Prime’s ‘Trust’. A favourite gig of mine was the web-series ‘I am Sophie’. The concept (written and directed by Tom Ransom) was incredible and the series gained a cult following (which was SO fun). The series kept us all busy through lockdown too – although screen work started to really dry up (and theatre was barely clinging on by a thread). That’s when the writing started. My cousin and fellow director (Anastasia Bunce) developed a one woman show with me called ‘Meat Cute’ that we took around London over 2021 and then to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. It was like opening up a whole new world of creativity. Writing was never something I had the confidence to pursue, but when the show took off, I felt this whole new lease of life. ‘Meat Cute’, without a doubt, became the project I was most proud of. So, I’ve continued to pour my efforts into writing; I wrote a new show called ‘Forgive Me, Father’ which debuted at The Etcetera Theatre in Camden, then went on to write a pilot with my best friend (Bella Glanville) that’s been in development with Window Zebra Productions.

This year, a huge aim of mine is to really get these TV projects off the ground. To keep pitching the pilot until Bella and I are blue in the face and to find a home on screen for ‘Meat Cute’.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

For any creative, resilience is key. It’s the thing that’s going to get you through the greatest set-backs and is going to help you push through the inevitable self-doubt.

A moment of resilience that really sticks in my mind was when I was auditioning for a role in a film that I really, REALLY wanted. There were four stages in the audition process; I cancelled everything I had on that week, hired an acting coach and threw everything I had into those auditions. I got to the fourth round and really thought I had the role in the bag. A few weeks like, I was on set and received an email from the producer – my heart was racing as I opened it up to an email that said, ‘unfortunately, we have decided to go in a different direction this time.’ My heart broke. I had to hold back tears for the rest of the job and when I finally left the building, I burst into tears. After feeling sorry for myself for a couple of minutes, I told myself that I would allow myself to grieve the loss of this job for five minutes. Five whole minutes, and then I’m done. So I fully let myself feel the rejection and disappointment. Then by the time I had walked to the tube station, I decided that that was it – I was going to just let it go and carry on.

In any creative career, the rejection is going to be the worst part. You’re going to wonder if you even have any talent or anything to offer the industry. Having the gift of resilience is the key to any kind of success – and it’s the thing that’s going to keep digging you out of those pits of disappointment. Run headfirst into rejection – even seek rejection – because the more exposure you have to it, the stronger that resilience will grow.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Something that really drives me is my inner angry feminist and my passion for animal rights and the environment. I know I sound like a real martyr with that trio but it is what it is. My first play, ‘Meat Cute’ is a comedy that follows the story of a woman who attempts to turn all her dates vegan as a form of activism. (Of course, a lot of the time, it goes horribly wrong).

The story was so important to me because it really highlights the horrors of being an activist – of caring deeply for something in an apathetic society. The pursuit of changing the world is an exhausting one, and one that feels incredibly unrewarding. I wanted to give a voice to those people who are desperate to do good in the world and fight for a cause, letting them know that they are seen, heard and important. Because if we don’t have the martyrs of the world, what state will we be left in?

I think feminism is my roman empire. I think for a lot of women, it is, whether it’s conscious or not. So much of our thoughts are consumed with the very act of being a woman; societal pressures, dating, whether we want to be a mother or not, weight, dealing with being a woman in business… it’s a curse that follows us everywhere. I truly feel that the more we talk about it and create rich, interesting characters for women in film and on stage, the closer we can get to just being human rather than focusing on the art of navigating the world as a woman.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8477320/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bibi_lucille
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/bibi_lucille

Image Credits
Emily Holloway Roj Whitlock Chiara Fulgoni Andy Brown