Behind the Breakout: Bally Gill

When the Evening Standard touts you as one of their "rising stars of stage and screen", you know life is about to change. For Bally Gill, this very precipice has suddenly become very real, having recently been named one of the Standard's top picks for 2023.

2022 was somewhat of a bumper for the Coventry-born actor. If you didn't catch him in Sherwood, Slow Horses, or This Is Going to Hurt – to name but a few of his TV appearances – you might have spied him on the silver screen opposite national treasure Dame Judi Dench in Allelujah.

Here we speak to Bally about joining an esteemed lineage of Romeos, moving to Solihull, and the pros and cons of laser beam focus.

Thanks for coming to jam with us, fellow Brufordian! Can we start by talking about your experience of the first few years out of drama school?
Bally Gill: I came out all energy and passion and drive. You just want to make your mark. I did fairly well in the showcase offers situation and went and saw everyone. I ended up going with Jonathan Arun – who I'm still with now – because we had a like-minded view of what I wanted for my career. Which was, to be honest, actually more TV and film. But the world works differently, and I started to do plays.

I really enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, there were ups and downs, but that happens when you're going through those formative years of your early 20s. You're trying to discover who you are as a person, never mind as an artist. You're trying to figure out, "Who am I? What do I like? What don't I like? What are my tastes?"

You ended up starring in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2018 production of Romeo and Juliet for over a year, winning the Ian Charleson Award. How did you approach such a massive undertaking?
BG: Me getting Romeo was the accumulation of the two years before, being part of the company, part of the repertory, doing all of these different parts. I still auditioned for Romeo – three rounds of it – but I'd got really involved with the company for those two years. It felt like it was my home. I knew everyone's names. As big as that company is – one of the biggest companies in the world, never mind this country – it felt very personal to me. So I had a big support.

The pressure only kicked in when I did an interview on a local radio channel in Coventry, and they read out the list [of actors who've previously played Romeo at the RSC]. It was like, "Ian McKellen, David Tennant, Mark Rylance, and now you. Are you feeling nervous?" And I went, "I wasn't until you read out all those names!"

But I got that opportunity because of all the people that made the space for me, which I'll always be grateful for. Then it was my job to deliver on it.

I read you've traded London for a spot in the West Midlands. What motivated that move?
BG: I moved down to London because of Rose Bruford [College]. I lived pretty much everywhere in London, and I did that for about ten years. What prompted the move was lockdown, actually. My ex-partner and I broke up, and I moved back to Coventry, which is where I'm from. I stayed in the Midlands for a year and a bit then I got the place I'm in now, in Solihull, with my partner. We're in a nice village. We have green.

I'll be honest with you: when I was in London, I was miserable. In London, you're moving around constantly, you never settle anywhere to have a community... London feels like the biggest place in the world, but it can also be the loneliest. Now, I visit London and I like it. I'm a visitor, and I get to enjoy all the luxuries and niceness of it without having to hustle. The hustle wore me out.

Kind of on that, would you say you define "success" differently these days?
BG: Life is too short. I don't want anyone to ever feel upset that they put their life on hold for this industry. This industry is great – it's lovely, it's got beautiful people – but it's tough. You sacrifice a lot. You sacrifice your time, your energy, your relationships... I didn't go on holidays for probably ten years – between the ages of 15 to 25 – because I was so locked in. I was too laser beam focused. I think you need some of that to get going, but how much? It's a big question.

As I've gotten a bit older, I've gone, "I can't put my life on hold". At this stage in my life, I'm like, "No, this is really important". I've made loads of mistakes. You have to go through the mistakes to learn. But if you were to ask me if I'd do things differently? Yeah, I would have put myself first, rather than this industry first.

Mic-freaking-drop 🔥 Have you encountered any unexpected challenges or surprise joys since coming more into the public eye?
BG: I don't think I really am in the public eye. I don't get recognised. I don't get stopped on the street. And I like that. I've got so many friends [who get recognised], and it feels like you're constantly having to look over your shoulder. Don't get me wrong, if you've got enough courage to come over to me and ask for a picture, I think that's amazing. Like, thank you so much. But the whole "fame" thing isn't for me. There's a difference between being an artist, an actor, and being a public figure, or personality, or influencer. That's another full-time job.

But I've had people from drama schools come over to me like, "We saw your Romeo! We do that ['But, soft...'] speech the same way you do it!" That's incredible when you find something that resonates with people.

Big love to Bally for his time. You can follow Bally's journey over on Instagram and Twitter. Wave hello and let him know you're from the Dojo 👋

Thoughts / feedback / challenges for us? We'd genuinely love to hear.