Intro

I’m a Bafta and Golden Globe nominee. In 2023 I will have been acting for forty years. Im very grateful to many people who have helped me along the way and still do to this day. First of all to my parents, Margaret and Charles Tyson. They both came from working class backgrounds and went on to acheive careers that Im proud of. My mother was amongst the first people to be social workers. She was a pioneer. My father trained in England at Lincolns Inn to be a barrister. Born and rasied in Trinidad and Tobago, my father went to school with no shoes on to go on to become a teacher and then trained in law. I am super proud of my Caribbean and Irish ancestry. Growing up in Liverpool, I was surrounded by Irish culture, the river Mersey and the hills of North Wales. The multi culturalism of Toxteth was vibrant and in 1981 the area erupted with the riots. I wasnt allowed out during the riots, but I know why they happend. At times, I along with other black children were escorted to and from teen discos by the police for our safety. I remember a couple of lads dancing with baseball bats in their hands. Just in case.

But there was so much more to my childhood and youth than tensions in the area. There were trips to the convent of the Good Shepard in Woolton where my great aunt Bessie had been a nun.This convent had an outdoor swimming pool, was in beautiful grounds and had lots of interesting people to talk with. It had also been a feature in my family for years. They kindly housed us when mum arrived back from the Caribbean. They also had a home for delinquent girls. The word seems out of date now. They also prayed for my mother when she was doing her exams during World War Two. She passed!!The life of the convent was a thriving community.

In the summer mum and I were always on a Mersey Ferry to the Wirral. On Saturdays there was shopping in town at St Johns Market. There were annual holidays in North Wales. Watching jousting at Abergele castle, mum teaching me to swim at Rhyl outdoor baths. Staying at Aunty Peggy,s caravan in Lyons holiday camp( The camp is still there). Watching the clowns put on an outdoor show on a patch of grass between the caravans. All these bring happy memories to me. Im so grateful to have them. It was whilst on holiday and watching a circus show in Rhyl’s theatre that the spotlight landed on me. I was around seven and I climbed the stairs to the stage and was greeted so warmly by the clown. I felt so special. He asked me my name and handed me a gold choclate coin. I remember the warmth of the spotlight and not feeling any fear whilst looking out at a sea of faces in the dark. If the theatre is a friendly inclusive place, then people will want to return and perhaps even choose work in theatre as a career.

Back to acting. I did not train in a drama school. My training was on a years government training scheme, called a YOP scheme. (Youth opportunity )I also attended The Everyman Youth Theatre in Liverpool’s Hope street. There, the great Roger Hill encouraged us to aim high. He looked me in the eye and told me I was going to be a success. Nobody had ever said that before. I attened four nights a week and the doors were open to everybody. There werent any auditions. So we had the feeling that theatre was ours too. We all had a stake in it. There was a lot of improvising. I think Liverpudlians are great at improvising. People are always chatting, at bus stops in shops. I grew up in a place where it was normal to speak with strangers,. In fact nobody felt like a stranger. How different today!

From the youth theatre, I went on to perform in The Everyman Theatre. Director Glen Walford, gave me my first break and agent Maureen Vincent saw me and took me on at Peters Fraser and Dunlop. Im no longer with PFD but I thank all there who helped me in my early career. Im indebted to them.

From the Everyman I went on to do a season at The Royal Shakespeare Company. At eighteen I was the second youngest actor in the company. It was my first time away from home. Whislt in the play Golden Girls by Louise Paige, director Neil Jordan saw me and began interviewing me for Mona Lisa. Bob Hoskins was the person who I learned emotional acting from. Whislt doing Mona Lisa I realised what Id signed up for as an actress. Acting meant that I needed to commit to emotional pain. That was an awakening for me. I will be forever grateful to the late Bob Hoskins for what he taught me. It was for Mona Lisa that I was nominated for a Bafta and Golden Globe.

Background

After filming Mona Lisa, I met Wes Craven and did a film in Haiti called the Serpeant and The Rainbow. That was amazing being on Caribbean soil and seeing Statues to famous Haitien black people from history. Toussaint Louverture, King Henri Christoph. A statue of an enslaved person emancipated and one to an indigenous Indian. Id never seen statues like this in England. It was 1987. Id been married for three years and had always wanted children and a year later I gave birth to a son, Jack. Id always wanted children and I knew it was going to be a challenge juggling a career with motherhood. But I had seen my mother work and raise me and felt Id had a great role model.