Naomi Ackie

The East Londoner’s acting career has suddenly become one high-speed adventure.

- Sulagna Misra

Shooting arrows offthe back of a galloping orbak is not where Naomi Ackie imagined she’d be within a decade of graduating from London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. “For many different reasons, I thought my journey into filmmaking would be a slow burn,” says the newcomer to the Star Wars franchise and still-untitled Game of Thrones prequel. “Partly because I’d never seen characters that looked like me in [blockbusters] growing up. But suddenly, in the span of a year, I’m in two of them.” Over the phone from Ireland, where she’s filming the GoT pilot, Ackie admits she’s only just now catching her breath. “It’s like, ‘Okay, all good, I’m still alive.’ ”