Lolly Adefope is already in Portland filming season three of Hulu’s hit series Shrill when we connect for a quick chat on Zoom.
The British actress-comedian has had a bit of a break having wrapped BBC’s Ghosts earlier this year—the sitcom is available in the U.S. on HBO Max—which follows a couple haunted by ghosts in a country home. (Think Downton Abbey meets What We Do in the Shadows.) And, Adefope has yet to begin filming the third season of the TBS anthology comedy series, Miracle Workers.
“There was a point when I was doing loads of shows that weren’t getting a series two and I was like, ‘One day, I’ll be in a show that comes back,’” Adefope laughs.
The actress is as warm and nice as some of the characters she plays—like Ghosts’s Kitty, the spirit of a friendly and excitable but naive Georgian noblewoman.
“I think I relate to Kitty the most because I don’t really feel like I’m having to play a part, other than physically putting on this huge costume. I don’t feel like I’m having to shift too much from my normal personality, which is kind of quite positive.”
Kitty is the opposite of Adefope’s Rosie, a bored angel and overworked assistant to God in Miracle Workers, but the two roles do touch on ideas about the afterlife. And, while the comedian doesn’t really believe in ghosts, it’s the BBC/HBO Max series that has kind of changed her perception of spirits.
“I think with Ghosts it’s slightly affected my image of what ghosts would be. Before I didn’t really think about it that much. If I had, it probably would be these tortured souls who are stuck in between the beyond or whatever. Now, I think it probably is more likely that ghosts are just fairly normal people because they all lived a life that was probably quite banal. They’re just kind of traveling around. If they’ve been here for years, they’re probably quite bored.”
Season two of Ghosts finished filming just as cities all over the world went into lockdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the dark side of things, the moment gave Adefope a bit of time to take a break.
“This was before we knew how scary and how much of a big deal it was. I think I kind of just embraced it in terms of not having to do anything, making cookies, painting a bit, and just doing wholesome things. Then when it started to go on a longer, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to do nothing.’ I’m very happy about doing that. I’m fine to just chill out for a bit.”
The actress admits that she’s also been “slowly developing” a television show but hasn’t had the opportunity to dive into it yet, instead using her time on sets to learn as much as she can from filming. But, overall, the year has been a bit of a learning experience.
“I’ve learned to adapt to a situation, to make the best of it. If there is a world in which I’m writing, I can still paint and write and do creative things. I think sometimes as an actor your career and life are kind of dependent on other people’s decisions, what other people tell you, what time other people tell you to get up in the morning, what lines people tell you to say. So it’s nice to know that when I’m not acting, I can be in control and create things, even if it’s not necessarily linked to my career.”
To check out, Adefope’s comedy, see below: