⁠AMAKA OKAFOR TALKS THE PARTY, TRUSTING HER INSTINCTS AND THE CAREER SHE’S STILL BUILDING

Amaka Okafor is a British actor whose recent roles have taken her from The Responder and Bodies to Netflix’s Black Rabbit and ITV’s Secret Service.

Now she stars as Amina in The Party, Sarah Solemani’s adaptation of Elizabeth Day’s novel, playing a woman who discovers a secret powerful people would rather keep buried.

We caught up with Amaka to talk about stepping into Amina’s power, who gets believed when truth and privilege collide, trusting her instincts when choosing roles and why she sees her career less as a sudden breakthrough and more as a “gathering tide”.

Please introduce yourself …
My name is Amaka Okafor, I am a Scorpio and a very proud Brummie, who has lived all over the country growing up.

The last time we spoke I asked you to describe your life in one word or a sentence and you said “juicy“. What is it today?
Today I would say: ‘Life is doing that thing where brilliance sits along side real difficulty.

Why are we here?
Great question. I feel like I learn the truth about why we are here more and more, as time passes. And my character in The Party is definitely about ‘The Truth’!

Where does Amina fits into all the drama…
Amina has discovered a very deep secret that could blow several people’s lives open. It’s a secret that has kept powerful, rich people at the top….

⁠There’s journalism, politics, wealth, class and privilege all tangled together in The Party. What did playing Amina make you think about who gets to control a story and more importantly, who gets believed?
Being a black woman, I am painfully aware of who gets listened to and believed verses who doesn’t. Playing Amina was actually really fun, as is gave me the opportunity to play out the fantasy of telling people about themselves. So often I just don’t have the energy or will to go there in real life.

Martin and Ben spend so much of the series trying to manage Amina, distract her or stop her story coming out. How much fun was it playing the person everybody wishes would just go away?
This was a wicked challenge. I really wanted her to be charming and grounded, despite all the fear and aggro surrounding her presence. She needed to be able to penetrate any kind of arena, without drawing too much attention, but whilst gathering useful information. You gotta be pleasant to be around to do all that, or you won’t manage it.

Without giving too much away, Amina gets very close to the secret at the centre of everything. Did you know the full story from the beginning, or were you discovering things through the scripts as Amina was?
I discovered it as i read it all for the 1st time.

Sarah Solemani adapted the series from Elizabeth Day’s novel. When you’re playing a character in an adaptation, do you go back to the book and build from what’s there, or do you prefer to treat the script as your version of the character?
If the character feels full and real from the script, I go with what’s there. If I’m left wanting, I’ll go for help from the book. Sarah Solemani is a real genius and did not leave me wanting. Everything I needed was in the script.

Last time we spoke, you told me you’d become much better at listening to the instinct that tells you, ‘No, don’t do this one.’ So what did the instinct say when The Party came along?
In The Party, I have a big, long scene. You think it’s one thing at first, but as it progresses, the scene becomes something completely different. You don’t get long scenes like that in telly anymore, and it is an amazing one. I wanted to play this part from the quality of that scene alone. Anything else I got to do in the show was a bonus.

Last time we also talked about how your characters seem to really “go through it”. Amina is slightly different because this time she’s the one asking the questions and applying some of the pressure. Was that quite nice for a change?
Yes!!! It was wonderful having the power but also being nuanced and tender with that power.

When we spoke last year, Black Rabbit was taking you into another new space. A year later, what feels different for you? Are you getting closer to the kinds of roles and stories you always imagined yourself doing, or has the ambition changed as the opportunities have got bigger?
I actually feel it makes more sense to look at my career as a whole when I’m thinking about trajectory. It’s all of the jobs over the years, that have brought me to where I am. For me, it’s less of an immediate change when a big gig happens. It kind of feels like a gathering tide. Each job adds to what I’m building and people watch things in their own time too, often a few years after release dates! So I’m sure Black Rabbit has changed things, just as the other jobs continue to change things for me as I carry on building.

GETTING TO KNOW …

If not this, then what? 
A professional Lacrosse player

What’s made you sad, mad, & glad this week? 
Sad and Mad – how a very close member of my family is on the receiving end of racism in the health care system. Glad – I went to my 1st fancy do with my relatively new boyfriend, and he danced all night with me. I’ve never had a partner do that.

What are you watching?
 I just finished Widows Bay and LOVED it. Starting Pierre now.

What are you reading?
 Drive your Plough Over The Bones Of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

The last film you watched?
 Avengers Endgame Encore (my daughter is obsessed)

The last play you saw?
 Orestia at The Bridge

The last live music event? Jill Scott in Brixton (trancendent)

What’s currently on your playlist? Hustler by Kano. So annoying you can’t play it on Spotify but YouTube music has it.

Which podcast are you listening to? The Missing Sister BBC iPlayer

What’s on your bucket list?
 Building a house in the country exactly how I want it.

Where’s your happy place? The countryside, but also in hugs

Celebrate someone else … 
I just met the journalist Seren Jones at the BAFTA Cymru Awards ceremony and I’m now going through her back catalogue. She’s brilliant. She tells stories about culture and identity.

Celebrate yourself … I’m juggling my arse off with mother hood being my main priority. My daughter is growing fast and is the absolute apple of my eye. My main challenge is to be aware of my own inherited (unhelpful) stuff, and not allow it to affect her or our dynamic. I’m getting somewhere with that, and i’m proud of that.

What’s next?
 The Party comes out on 11th Oct, AND The Only Suspect comes out on ITV in January!! Im so excited about both.

Where can we find you? On Instagram i am @sallyamaka

Where can we watch you at work? Bodies and Black Rabbit are both on Netflix. The Party, Secret Service and The Only Suspect are on ITV. The Responder is on BBC. Greatest Days is on amazon. Those are the main ones I’m dead proud of.

The Party continues tonight on ITV1 at 9pm. All episodes are available to stream on ITVX now.