“Time Allows Opportunities For Creativity And The Freedom To Try Things”: Laurie Davidson Is New In Town

Fresh off a stellar turn opposite Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke in the Critics Choice and Golden Globe-nominated thriller The Girlfriend, the British actor checks in with Man About Town from a sun-lit New York morning.

A mummy’s boy. An ultra-protective mother. An obsessive girlfriend. A jealous mother-in-law. An entire conveyor belt of caricatures parading the supposed blueprint of the “ideal” woman for your precious son. The stereotypes woven through Michelle Frances’ Prime Video psychological thriller The Girlfriend are practically inexhaustible. And yet, with the show’s runaway online chatter, critical praise and early double nod this awards season, there’s little need to convince you why it’s such a wildly compulsive watch.

The truth is, few narratives titillate the masses quite like a deliciously tangled domestic storm. And this one serves it generously. In the Robin Wright-helmed production – with Wright both starring and directing – House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke and The Road Trip breakout Laurie Davidson step into a pressure cooker of family loyalties and blurred boundaries. If you’ve somehow been off-grid these past few months and still haven’t dived into the show of the season, the plot orbits the two women who dominate Davidson’s Daniel: his mother Laura, a brilliant, hyper-accomplished art gallerist (Wright), and his smart, seductive new girlfriend Cherry (Cooke).

But beyond its archetypes, the series unspools a striking study of grief’s long tail, the class politics that infiltrate intimacy, the corrosive seduction of money, and the sobering reminder that love, on its own, rarely does the heavy lifting. At the heart of it all is Laurie Davidson – a quietly electric presence, and one of Britain’s most intriguing rising talents. Now, settling into a bright New York morning, he speaks with Man About Town about carving out this next chapter.

Laurie, hello! A very early good morning to you in New York. Thanks for chatting with us, we loved the show. For the ones who are yet to watch [The Girlfriend], give us a rundown of the story and how it found its way to you. 

The story revolves around these two very powerful, very formidable women who are fighting for love and to protect their stakes. And Daniel, my character, gets caught in the middle. The really unique thing about this show, which I think is going to be really satisfying for audiences to watch, is the dual-perspective format, which I’d never seen before. You watch the same scene twice, from two different viewpoints, which lets the audience decide who they believe. And that was really fun to play with, because it meant tweaking performances depending on whether we were in Cherry’s POV or Laura’s POV. 

With those shifting POVs, did you have to adjust your approach to Daniel from episode to episode?

The challenge was maintaining the integrity of the character. You can warp things slightly depending on who’s remembering the moment, but it still has to be believable for Daniel. So we played around with how far things could stretch before it felt false.

Daniel’s also someone who constantly defends the person who isn’t in the room. When you love two people deeply – in this case, his mother and Cherry – you’ll defend them to the end, even if you’ve just had a massive argument with them yourself. It’s hypocritical, but totally human. That was fun to explore.

And the show is a thriller, it’s got elements that you’re like, ‘what is this?’. It’s a crazy couple of months in the lives of these people. But because it’s rooted in real emotions, and trauma, and grief over Rose, the daughter and sister who died, it has a weight that keeps everything anchored in reality whilst playing these very dramatic, kind of Greek tragedy moments.

How was it working with Olivia and with Robin, who also directs?

I started with Robin in auditions and she just wanted to play, that never stopped. She’s brilliant at stripping away self-consciousness. I remember meeting her in Soho and thinking we were just having a coffee, and suddenly we’re improvising in the middle of a restaurant. She’s incredibly confident, so you just jump in with her.

Because she was acting and directing, she could guide scenes in real time, and adjust our performance as we’re going, and that was amazing.

And with Olivia, chemistry was very important for our dynamic. We have mutual friends and, funnily enough, ended up at karaoke together in Spain before filming. She chose “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by Celine Dion – a great choice, but believe it or not, at that time, I’d never heard it. So I was outside with Spotify learning it before we went in. And she crushed it, I just tried to look like I knew what I was doing [laughs]. That broke the ice beautifully. She’s fantastic to work with. Very collaborative, an amazing actor and an awesome person.

Were there parts of Daniel that were particularly challenging? And did you refer back to the book at any point?

We were told early on that the show would stray quite a lot from the book, so I decided not to read it. I’ve been caught out before getting attached to elements that never make it into the script, and I think it would have messed with my head a bit much.

In terms of challenges, Daniel’s relationship with his mum is… unusual. Many people will find it uncomfortable. Cherry certainly does. When you meet someone’s parents, your whole perception of them can shift. It’s a miracle she doesn’t run out the door. That dynamic is far from my own life – my girlfriend and mum would be united, tearing into me, not each other [laughs].

But I got some lovely things out of the role, like rock climbing for a big sequence. Always fun to leave with a new skill.

And you filmed partly in Spain?

Yes – mostly London, around St John’s Wood, and then a stretch around Marbella. We filmed on a yacht for a couple of days. Very tough job… That was kind of a pinch me moment, just sitting on a paddle board waiting for “action”, thinking, ‘How is this my life?’

If you could walk me through your creative upbringing, where did it all start for you?

It started with playing Fagin in Oliver Twist  in Year Six – legendary performance in the local community, apparently. I grew up in South London and did bits here and there at school. I tried Stagecoach but got frustrated because parts weren’t cast on merit. They gave out parts to everyone, you had to wait your turn. So I left. Ambitious ten-year-old!

Things picked up when I moved schools. I played a lot of sports, but I ended up entering a Shakespeare competition, did the dagger speech from Macbeth in front of all my rugby friends. My mum carved me a little dagger out of balsa wood. Bless my mum, a very supportive parent. I won, got a beautiful complete work of Shakespeare, and that pushed things along.

Then I joined a youth theatre company that took shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. That was massive for me, we were creatively involved, workshopping scenes, helping shape scripts. And performing for paying audiences, not parents who have to be there.

I spent four years trying to get into drama school and didn’t get in. I worked random jobs while all my mates went to uni. But I weirdly had blind faith that it would work out. Eventually I got into LAMDA for three years. While still there, I started auditioning and booked a job on Will, the Shakespeare TNT show, which was my first camera experience. I thought I’d be doing theatre forever, but for financial reasons I’m glad I’m not [laughs]. 

The last few years have been really lovely, lots of interesting roles, a mix of darker and lighter characters, which I hope to keep exploring, ideally in both TV and film.

What excites you about the future? Any bucket-list goals?

More film, definitely. TV is fantastic, but it moves fast. I’d love the time to explore a slow-burn character study with a great director and great material. Time allows opportunities for creativity and the freedom to try things. 

And is a return to theatre in the cards?

Absolutely. I think it’s when you move from screen to stage, and then back again, that you realise… maybe not for everyone, but for me it always feels slightly foreign. The skills and principles are the same, but in a different medium. And suddenly you’re a bit at sea. That first moment you step into a rehearsal room with the full script in your hand, nothing but an empty space, a fellow actor or two, and a director… it feels so bare. You feel so unprepared.

It’s the same reason table reads for film and TV are a nightmare [laughs]. You’re asked to deliver all this material at once, without any real chance to prepare. It’s like someone deciding, mid-table read, to get rid of the tables entirely and have everyone perform on their feet when none of you really knows your character yet.

So yes, it’s hard. But hard things are fun and challenging. So I love the idea of going between the two… or three.

Laurie, thank you so much. Such a pleasure speaking with you.

Thank you, Sofia. Lovely to see you again.