During Nykiya Adams’ callback for Bird, she spotted a woman lurking in the back of the room. “I didn’t know Andrea [Arnold] was the director of the film, so I thought she was an acting coach,” she says. “She was hiding in plain sight.” It wasn’t until Arnold introduced herself to Adams and her mother that she discovered she was auditioning for the filmmaker behind Fish Tank and American Honey. “Me and my mum were, like, starstruck when we went home.”
It was supposed to be just another day at school for the 14 year old. Casting director Lucy Pardee had dropped by Adams’ class and invited her to an acting workshop after lunch – which, by her account, was just a series of basic questions. But after that second round, observed by Arnold, it turned out she was on her way to being the British director’s next teen-girl protagonist, following in the footsteps of Katie Jarvis and Sasha Lane before her.
Adams is the centre of Arnold’s lyrical drama Bird as Bailey, a young girl coming into her identity in Kent, who is caught between her fraying relationship with her father (Barry Keoghan) and a burgeoning friendship with the mysterious, skirt-wearing figure who brightens her life: the titular figure of Bird, played by Franz Rogowski. It’s a remarkable acting debut for Adams, and the teenage star is more than a match for Arnold’s storied lineage of naturalistic discoveries.
When we meet – in an office boardroom, where she sits at the head of the table dressed in an all-black double denim ensemble – her mother sits to the side, watching proudly. The first in a long day of interviews, Adams’ mind soon drifts to the football game that her press duties have taken her away from.
“My hobbies? Going out, playing sports, annoying my sister”
That might be because, in all honesty, Adams is not really a film person (reminder: she’s 14). Her interests include, as she puts it, “going out, playing sports, annoying my sister.” When she was eight she took up kickboxing, dabbled in basketball and rugby, then later switched to football. Back home in Basildon, her bedroom wall is lined with posters of her idols, Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean. (“In ‘Bad Religion’, when he hits that note… it’s just so perfect!”) The real performer of the family is Adams’ older sister, but she was just outside the age range for the part. “She wasn’t jealous,” says Adams. “But she was shocked that I actually got it!”
Occupying the father role offscreen as well as on, Keoghan developed a paternal friendship with Adams that put her at ease through the rush of movie sets and red carpets. “I remember [it was the scene where] I was cutting my hair off, and I was upset because my hair was quite long,” she recalls. “And he was like, ‘it’s just hair.’” Apparently the actor picked up a pair of scissors and started giving himself a trim of his own. “The makeup people were like, ‘No, no, no, continuity!’” Adams remembers. “I was just sitting there laughing.” Her mother can attest to his generosity: “Barry is very supportive every time we go to a film festival – very, very caring.”
Adams is so new to the world of cinema, that when she was set to head to the Côte d’Azur for the film’s premiere, she had to ask her teacher what the Cannes Film Festival was: “They were like, ‘Oh my god, you’re going to be a movie star!’” Right now, the actor is leadig an exhilarating double life, attending school as normal and jet-setting off to red carpets on occasion – and she intends to keep going. “Well, if I’m living this lifestyle…” she jokes, popping the collar of her jacket. “I like it a lot.”
Credits
Writer: Iana Murray
Photography: Jackson Bowley