Laura Whitmore: 'Siobhán McSweeney said I'd have the best time at the Everyman'

Irish Examiner

17 hours ago

There can be a lot of snobbery around the acting world, Laura Whitmore tells me, with a drama school pedigree considered de rigueur in certain circles.
Considering the 40-year-old Bray native's credentials include a stint at RADA, a 2022 West End debut, and various film and TV roles, it's fair to say she's earned her acting chops, but her impressive CV still doesn't dampen the disdain from some quarters.
'I'll still get, oh yeah, but you're a presenter. You presented a reality television show. How can you do that?' she says, meaning acting, which was the craft she actually pursued first, getting down to the last eight for a role in Channel 4 series Totally Frank when she was 18. (She didn't get the part, much to the relief of her mother who wanted her daughter to see out her journalism degree at DCU.)
Whitmore knows her worth, though, and has no truck with haters or misplaced snobbery. 'You just have to listen to your own voice, do what's right for you, create your own path and be authentic.'
Being authentic has certainly worked for the former MTV presenter who, having got that gig ahead of 3,000 other applicants back in 2008, has since forged an impressive multi-hyphenate career across the worlds of TV, radio, podcasting, journalism, and entrepreneurship.
She's consistently been drawn back to acting, though, starring in three plays in the last 12 months alone, and getting rave reviews for her performances.
Laura Whitmore in The Girl on the Train
'I get such joy from it, which sounds weird because sometimes it's quite dark, some of the places you have to go. But, really, I'm really enjoying this,' she says, referencing her role in the stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins's 2015 bestselling thriller The Girl On The Train. Whitmore plays the 'flawed' titular girl, Rachel Watson, and in addition to loving the fact that the role requires her to be 'me at my least glamorous' — 'it's probably the least amount of time I've ever had to spend in hair and makeup, in that there is no hair and makeup' — Rachel's faults are what drew her to the role in the first instance. 'She's not this perfect protagonist who does everything right. She makes a lot of mistakes. But at the heart of this, there is a woman who is rebuilding her life.'
Whitmore loved the fact that the story is written 'by a woman about a woman' and found the strong themes of alcoholism, domestic abuse, and coercive control that run through the narrative, 'relatable'.
'I think that's what I was drawn to, the human side of it. Rachel is very human and every single character in this play is flawed. There's no good guy and bad guy. Some are worse than others, but everyone has these traits that don't make them perfect, which is all of us really, isn't it?'
Laura Whitmore attends the BRIT Awards after party at Claridge's on March 1, 2025 in London, England.
To the casual onlooker, Whitmore herself might well come across as perfect. There's something of a head girl vibe about her, a sense that she's got her 'i's dotted and 't's crossed; that she charted her course for success early on and hasn't deviated.
She's made her own luck and created her own opportunities, though, and is as far removed from the modern day 'nepo baby' phenomenon as it's possible to get.
She's a grafter — 'If I'm given an opportunity, I will work my ass off to the best of my ability,' she tells me — and attributes her work ethic to the influence of her mother
Carmel. In Whitmore's 2021 bestselling self-help book, No One Can Change Your Life Except for You, she also credits her mum with giving her 'the knowledge that having a child AND working is possible'.
Having had her daughter, Stevie Ré, with Scottish comedian husband Iain Stirling in March 2021 (the trio live in North London), she's now well versed in the working mum juggle, and while she's making it work, with mum Carmel getting a shout out — 'every now and then, my mother comes over from Ireland and helps us out and saves the day' — Whitmore doesn't sugar-coat the downsides that come with her chosen career.'I remember working in Australia where I was on a different time zone, so you couldn't even talk to your family when you came up off set because they were asleep. It's hard. You have to really love it.'
She's always had a clear delineation between her work and personal lives (although there has been crossover; Sterling narrates Love Island, the reality TV show Whitmore presented for three series, and the two have a podcast together, Murder they Wrote), but she's made it clear from early on in her working life that certain topics are off-limits, and that extends to her social media.
'I've got friends who show everything online and give all of themselves online and they're able for it. I just don't think I'm emotionally able to do that. I need boundaries. I know what I can cope with and what I can't cope with. Having boundaries helps.'
When it comes to live theatre, Whitmore says it's the immersive nature that drews her to it.
'When I watch a film these days, I'm terrible. I'll be on my phone, scrolling, going, 'I know her'. Then my husband will say 'put down your phone and watch', because I'm, 'oh, I've missed a bit'. When you're in a theatre, you're not allowed to have your phone out, you have to be part of it and you have to be present.'
Laura Whitmore attending the BAFTA TV Awards 2024
Whitmore says she hasn't been to Cork city 'in years' — although she did recently visit Skibbereen and Stevie Ré's godmother is Corkonian — but is looking forward to exploring when the production arrives Leeside later this month.
'Siobhán McSweeney was like, 'I hear you're coming to the Everyman. You are going to have the best time, they're so lovely down there. I'm so happy you're doing it'.' Cork is the only city in which Girl On The Train has an 8pm curtain up, she notes. 'Everywhere else is 7.30pm. I was like, 'that's so Cork. They just love the night!''
At this point in the run, the character of Rachel is 'in her bones' she says, but she's had to learn to leave her behind when she comes off stage. 'I found that was one thing I've had to learn, even from presenting. I've been doing quite a few documentary series recently, and I found that hard because I was bringing it home. I was lucky to speak to psychologists about that. The one thing they always say to me is you can't bring it with you, you have to be able to park it. You have to be able to, not forget about it, but be able to, again, have boundaries. It's the same with a character, when you're taking on a role who has been through a lot of trauma, you have to be able to step away and be Laura. Otherwise, it would be very difficult. I drink a lot of fake wine on stage. Sometimes I need a real glass afterwards.'
The chameleon-like ease with which she switches between her various work hats is impressive, and she's her own best cheerleader.
Laura Whitmore: 'The presenting makes me better at acting.'
'People like to put you in boxes and go, 'You're this or you're this',' she says. 'I think it's okay to constantly evolve and grow. The presenting makes me better at acting sometimes. And the acting makes me better at presenting. I'm doing a documentary series that's coming out in September and I touch on real-life subject matter that's quite dark, but actually the character of Rachel's quite dark. So some of the stuff I've learned from talking to families doing that series has helped me with the role of Rachel. It all links together in a weird way.'
She's embracing it all and enjoying it too.
'It doesn't seem like a fun role, but I feel it's quite cathartic. And it's challenging and it's a bit scary. I quite like that.' She pauses and then adds: 'I don't think I want a boring life. I don't think I have a boring life.' Far from it.
The Girl on the Train comes to The Everyman August 19-23 at 8pm; matinee, Saturday, August 23 at 2pm. Tickets from everymancork.com
The play is at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from August 26 to 30, bordgaisenergy.ie