Interview with Olive Gray
Interview with Olive Gray, who plays Jess Mensah in Dark Money.
Published: 2 July 2019
What do I make of the timing of the series? It's interesting having those conversations while doing a show that’s about those issues - like doing a play within a play within a play.
What does the phrase ‘dark money’ mean to you?
It's about the way that money can be used for evil. I think that a lot of the time when people don’t have money, or haven’t had a massive sum of money come to them, there’s a thought that it's the root of happiness, and as long as you have it you can be happy - that no matter what’s going wrong, so long as you have money it’s going to be okay.
That's questioned in this drama. In the end we realise that it isn’t the case, that money doesn’t fix things, and that sometimes it only highlights how bad things are.
Tell us about Jess
Jess is passionate about acting, it’s all she’s wanted her whole life. Initially she wanted that entire world, but because her brother maybe got more encouragement over the years, and had more success, she's tailored her goals so that they don’t cross over with his, because she doesn’t want to feel like she’s in competition with him.
The main place where she feels in competition lies within herself: she battles with comparing herself and she battles with feeling like she’s been given less opportunities. She’s passionate, but she’s now more passionate about theatre. She works really hard and she’s a very caring person who will fight for her family, because she’s very protective.
What do you make of the timing of the series?
It was always going to be interesting making something about the world we’re living in. Since this big wave of speaking out about this stuff, I feel like on every job I’ve had there’s been a thing of 'everyone needs to be more aware of not crossing those lines' and that's a massive step forward.
So it’s interesting having those conversations whilst doing a show about those issues - like doing a play within a play within a play.
