From Winter Issue 64
Glass speaks to British actor Emma Laird about fearless filmmaking, overcoming insecurities and the meaning of success
Emma Laird is quirkiness personified. Not even a minute into our Zoom call, and the most important topic of the season already arises. “I just made the nicest soup about an hour ago and had it for lunch,” she begins. “It was delicious. Butternut squash with sage and rosemary, beef stock, onions and garlic. I also chopped up some old bread, fried it until it was crispy, and put it on top. It was so good.”
Photographer: Jack Chipper
In a very Nora Ephron-esque manner, Laird’s demeanour radiates a relaxed, almost whimsical energy, moving effortlessly from one anecdote to another, from one insight to the next. Conversation never falters; it constantly springs forward.
Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the 27-year-old first drew wider attention in 2021, when she secured her inaugural major television role as Iris in the Paramount+ crime drama Mayor of Kingstown. Since then, she has steadily expanded her presence on both the small and big screens. She appeared in The Crowded Room for Apple TV+ and made her feature film debut in Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice (2023).
Photographer: Jack Chipper
Laird is now set to appear in Fackham Hall, a British period comedy penned by Jimmy Carr and starring Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston, Ben Radcliffe and Tom Felton. The film follows the misadventures of a charming pickpocket who insinuates himself into an eminent British family, only to discover that he is, in fact, the rightful heir to the estate. What unfolds is an irreverent period romp, layered with sly humour, forbidden romance and one decidedly awkward corpse.
With Fackham Hall due out ahead of the holidays, Laird reflects on her time on set. What initially appears to be a straightforward parody is, she suggests, a more incisive commentary on contemporary screenwriting. Fackham Hall leans into its dark humour, a style of writing that has been largely absent since the era of Skins.
“What’s great about Fackham Hall, and [the show] is a ridiculous example, is that we still have films being made that aren’t afraid to make certain jokes or say certain things. There is so much bubble wrap around projects now. Scripts are written in writers’ rooms where everyone is conscious of who is watching, so they start accommodating that and dumbing things down. No one wants to say anything. We are living in a time where everyone is saying, ‘Oh no, no, we can’t do that,’ and it becomes really limiting,” she says.
Photographer: Jack Chipper
And in the absurd lies a kind of truth. Fackham Hall is unapologetic in a way that invites the audience to turn the mirror on themselves and admit that it might be acceptable to be a little less judgmental at times. “Everyone’s just fucking terrified of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing,” Laird echoes.
Falling from a modelling career into acting, she’s now finding her footing in what was something seemingly unstable previously. “I think I’ve had a few penny-drop moments for different reasons. When I got my first project, which was Mayor of Kingstown, I started with a real false sense of belief. I was thinking, ‘I’m going to be an actor, I’m amazing, I’m great’. Then I had my first day on that set, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I can do this. But after that job finished, I was hit with insecurity and fear about the next one. The show came out, and no one really saw it, and I’d thought my life was going to change exponentially. Nothing changed.”
Photographer: Jack Chipper
On a roll, she continues. “I feel settled now as an actor. I feel less of that fear. I actually crave months off at a time now, whereas before the idea of months off was horrifying. I finally feel grounded.”
Laird credits her peers for this new sense of steadiness, though her growing list of roles has also helped her find balance. It is, however, the sense of kinship on set that has allowed her to view her work from a different perspective. “A lot of these people you have to kiss, or you see them naked, or you see them acting right in front of you. I think that is such a vulnerable thing. It’s like reading your writing to a group of your friends. It is vulnerable to be brave and to make brave choices.
“It’s nice to get comfortable with those people so I can be brave in my performance. You know, I spent a lot of my career, like in Mayor of Kingstown, giving a quiet, internal performance, and I do not want to act like that anymore. That is not how I am in real life. I am not this quiet, small thing. I want to be brave on screen. And I think that takes trusting the people you work with and feeling comfortable enough to be messy, to make mistakes, and to be brave.”
Photographer: Jack Chipper
That idea of messiness lingers as Laird shifts from discussing her craft to reflecting on the role that unpolished, imperfect moments have played in shaping her. There is truth in those rough edges. Many of us think back to our teen years and remember their unruly charm, a time when social media amounted to a grainy digital snapshot and a visit to a friend’s house meant nothing more than being together.
Messy time, but meaningful. “There was something so cool, poetic, free and a bit dirty about the teenage years I lived,” Laird recalls. It is a feeling that cannot quite be recreated, yet she finds echoes of it in the film industry, where real connection and shared experience are increasingly valuable to her.
That search for authenticity brings her back to her early days on Mayor of Kingstown. “I always go back to Season One of Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner [who plays the lead role]. My memory is terrible, but I do remember this. I think there was a reason I was so stressed. I just wanted to get it right, and I couldn’t get to this emotional place or whatever it was on set.
Photographer: Jack Chipper
“Jeremy said something, and I think he knew I needed to hear it, or he could see it. He said, ‘It’s not about you. It’s not all about you’. And he didn’t mean it in a dickish way. He wasn’t saying, ‘Shut the fuck up, the show isn’t about you’. It wasn’t that. I think he meant that it is bigger than that. It is so easy to be the main character in your own life. When you look at a script or a scene as your contribution to something bigger and ask, ‘How am I serving the story?’ it helps your work so much, and it also takes the pressure off. It is not all about me. It’s about how I can be of service.”
That lesson in perspective, of caring for the larger story rather than only oneself, has shaped how Laird treats not just others but herself. “Sometimes you have to sit with the 15-year-old version of yourself and say, ‘Look at what we’ve done. This is amazing.’ You have to be proud of yourself and realise that everything is wonderful, and you do not need all the things you think you need. You can validate your own success right now.”
Photographer: Jack Chipper
But what does success mean for Laird? “I’ve been trying to redefine what success means to me. There are two different paths you can go down with that line of thinking. There is commercial success, where people know your name and you are a household name, and you can sell films to studios, and you can be the lead in a Disney film. That is one form of success. But there is another version.
“In both paths, I am a business as well as an artist. There is the business of Emma Laird, and that is a train I sometimes have to be on. But the actual craft of being an actor is about the things I make and how I feel. Picking up an acting book, learning and discovering a new way of working … that is a different version of success. Making a piece of art that feels satisfying and beautiful. And remembering that the art is the reason you do it is the important part.”
Photographer: Jack Chipper
Yet, the young actress stresses that success is hollow if it is not grounded in human connection. “I used to only text my mum when something was going on in my life or when I had a problem. Why not text my mum and ask how she is?” With quiet conviction, she closes on this note. “I think it is a beautiful way of living to wake up and think, ‘How can I make someone else’s life great today?’”
by Adina Ilie
Photographer: Jack Chipper
Stylist: Ignacio De Tiedra
Hair: Davide Barbieri using Leonor Greyl
Makeup: Alex Babsky using La Beauté LOUIS VUITTON
Manicurist: Christie Huseyin using OPI and HERLUM HAND CARE
Photography assistant: Michael Brunt
Styling assistant: Wonder Lisungi
Talent: Emma Laird
All clothing and shoes LOUIS VUITTON Cruise 2026, All jewellery LOUIS VUITTON Fine Jewellery, All makeup throughout La Beauté LOUIS VUITTON