Nykiya Adams makes her feature film debut inBird, the new film from acclaimed director Andrea Arnold (Big Little Lies, American Honey). Adams stars as Bailey, a twelve-year-old girl living in Kent, England, with her father, Bug (Barry Keoghan,Saltburn). Feeling ignored and with a dearth of positive role models, Bailey finds unlikely companionship in a mysterious newcomer to town, the eponymous Bird, played by Franz Rogowski. Shot in an engaging low-fi style,Birdis grounded in the reality of its characters and thegrimy beauty of its urban setting, but with a surreal, romanticized touch that intensifies as the film takes some truly unexpected turns.
Newcomer Nykiya Adams had never performed in a movie beforeshe was discovered forBird, out this week, and the movie can only work because of her deft talents. As the main point-of-view character for the entire film, she is the center of nearly every scene, with the action rotating around her and the other characters contextualized through her perspective. While ringers like Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski certainly do their part, the movie succeeds because of her empathetic view of the world around her, a world that’s dirty and dangerous, but nevertheless full of whimsy and wonder.
Bird Review: Newcomer Nykiya Adams Delivers A Stunning Performance In Harrowing Drama
In Bird, any attempt to dissect real world concerns from a preteen perspective is clouded by poor directional choices.
ScreenRantinterviewed Nykiya Adams onher work onBirdand her burgeoning career as an actor. She spoke about being scouted for the role at her school and bringing several of her friends to the audition (except unlucky Betsy, who was too sick to attend), as well as collaborating with director Andrea Arnold to make her performance as natural as possible. She also shared her love of the sport of rugby and how that meant bad news when it came time to get physical against her co-star, Barry Keoghan.
Nykiya Adams Reveals How She Was Cast In Bird
“My sister was recommended at first, because she’s the best actor I’ve ever seen.”
Screen Rant: I watched the movie, I loved it. And then I learned, this is your first movie. You could have fooled me! I was blown away by your performance. Did you have to, like, go to acting boot camp or something? Or was it just like, are you a natural? Tell me a little bit about being on the set for the first time.
Nykiya Adams: It was crazy because it’s such a big difference, like, from being treated like a normal person to being treated, like, very highly. It was just crazy. But I don’t think I’m a natural. Because me and my sister, like, I think I get everything from my sister because she’s just so wonderful. And she’s good at everything. You name it, she’s good at everything! So I think she’s just passed it down to me. I think I just kind of perfectly took it from her.
The story is you just got picked out at school. Tell me how you got discovered.
Nykiya Adams: Basically, my sister was recommended at first, because she’s the best actor I’ve ever seen. But they were like, oh, she’s too old. So they’re like, oh, okay, we’ve got a little sister. Because I was exaggerating. Everything I’ve done in drama, I exaggerated. So they were like, yeah, she’s got a sister, Nykiya. So while they’re looking for me, there was something going on in my school. And I just walk through the crowd. And everyone just moved out of my way.
Then Lucy sees me, she goes, “Are you Nykiya?” I’m like, “Yeah.” And she goes, oh, “Do you want to do this workshop on Thursday?” I’m like, “Hmm, yeah, why not? Gets me out of lesson.” I was always out of lesson. I was in year eight. And then they were like, “Do you want to bring a couple of friends as well?” Because there’s only, like, drama people doing it. I was like, “Oh, yeah, might as well.” I grabbed my friends, Scarlett, Sally, Brooke, and Betsy. Betsy was ill when we did it, so she didn’t get a chance. …It was quite funny. All of us were just laughing the whole time.
That’s pretty cool. And then you actually got cast, and you’re on set hanging with Barry and Franz. Were you like, “Take it easy, I’m new at this?” Or were you ready to jump in and just play?
Nykiya Adams: I was just ready to jump in it! Because you only live once, so if we get it wrong, just do it again. We’ve got multiple tries anyway, so I thought I’d just dust myself off and try again. But Barry and Franz were so patient, they were lovely to work with.
Bird’s Nykiya Adams May Have Gotten Carried Away When Beating up Barry Keoghan
That’s incredible, that’s such a great attitude to have. Having seen the movie, I know that you’ll be cast in many more movies. Were you always a performer?
Nykiya Adams: No. I was always performing in sports, yeah. But I was never performing in drama. I only done one drama thing, but it wasn’t a big role. It was literally just cooking. I was the cook from Matilda. So, I literally just walked in and walked out. I did it so I could get the whole day off of school. So, it was good!
This movie has such a wonderful blend of realism and whimsy. It’s so, so beautiful. Working with the director, Andrea, how scholarly were you in approaching the themes and story? Or did she just want you to be raw and be yourself in it?
Nykiya Adams: For the majority of the film, I was just raw and being myself. But in certain scenes, the softer scenes, I had to be more like Bailey… I’m generally not a soft person. If you get to know me, I start being nasty, and I start to taunt you. [Laughs] I wouldn’t give affection if I barely know you.
While working with Andrea and developing this character, how much of yourself did you get to put into it? Versus how much was, “This is the script, these are the words, hit your mark, get the shots.”
Nykiya Adams: None of it really! It was just all improvised. Well, not “improvised,” but most of the time it was just me talking. Like, in the fight scenes, it was more me. I could relate, because I’m a very physical person, so I just used my rugby skills, and, you know, we had to do a couple of takes, because I kept on beating up Barry.
I’m American, but I know better than to pick a fight with a rugby player. Do you want to be in more movies, or do you want to pursue sports? The world is your oyster, what do you want to do with it?
Nykiya Adams: I think I might stick to acting, because at the end of the day, it’s more of a waiting game. I can just do sport in between, and stay fit, get my jobs. That’s it, life’s sorted out.
Learn More About Bird (2024)
The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Fish Tank), BIRD is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalized life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan, Saltburn) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend, north Kent.
Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey’s fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski, Passages), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold’s latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.
Bird
Cast
Bird follows 12-year-old Bailey, who lives with her single father Bug and brother Hunter in North Kent. As her father pays little attention to her, Bailey, on the brink of adolescence, seeks adventure and connection beyond her challenging home life.
