I used to wait tables for the stars... now I’ve got to taste the big time
Elva Trill has done her apprenticeship, first as a waitress, and then as the feisty Charlene on Red Rock. Now she is making a name for herself on the big screen and is ready to take on her first action role
WHEN El v a Trill moved to London, s he e nvi s - aged landing a role in a big movie or treading the boards in the West End. What she didn’t foresee was grinding out a living in a Michelinstarred restaurant serving avant garde cuisine to celebrities, hiding her dreams and aspirations behind a laminated taster menu.
The cobbled streets of London were not paved with golden acting opportunities and Elva was amazed to discover her big break was waiting for her at home in Ireland.
‘I went to London a few years ago to try and get a break and moving there was tough,’ she says. ‘It’s expensive and it’s tough to get any break especially if you don’t have an agent. I thought it would be this romantic idea — you know, like if you lived in Texas and got off the bus in LA and ended up starring in Million Dollar Baby.
‘But I found it so hard. In order to survive I got a job in a restaurant in Knightsbridge waiting tables. It was mad, all the high-profile people who would come in and I would be looking at them with their wonderful careers – the people who ran the restaurant had to keep an eye on me in case I went over to talk to them. I was there for six or seven months before I got offered a job back in Ireland and I decided to come home.’
With her waif- l i ke stature and impish features it would be easy to stereotype Elva as perfect for frivolous high-energy roles or high school musical parts.
The truth couldn’t be further from the truth. In TV3 soap, Red Rock, Elva managed to push the bar out by playing Charlene Waters, a duplicitous and manipulative sociopath who shocked the general public and announced her arrival to an Irish audience.
‘Red Rock was great for women,’ she says. ‘Of course, for the first episode that I was in, you assume that [Charlene] is just a damsel in distress. But as the show comes on she is incredibly strong and it was nice to play someone who evolves as a character. It looks like she is using her feminine wiles to manipulate the Gardaí to get what she wants and then you get to see the drive and ambition of the character, which is really cool.
‘I don’t know any woman who can’t go from charming and then turn her head like [a scene from] The Exorcist a minute later. We all have it within us to be different characters and we all have different degrees of personalities – it is just that in a soap they are exaggerated.’
Success was quick to follow for the 24-year- old and within months of wrapping on Red Rock she had landed a role alongside Bond girl actress Alison Doody in Brother. Alison and Elva play a mother/daughter duo in the film, which was moved to Irish shores at the last minute, having been due to film on location in Canada.
‘They came to Dublin to cast it and then filmed it in Cork – that was really lucky because they weren’t actually supposed to film here so I wouldn’t have had anything to do with it. I don’t know exactly why they came here but they ended up casting a load of roles in Ireland, including Alison and the incredible Udo Kier, the German actor. I was really nervous to meet him because he is such an amazing actor. But he was so flamboyant and friendly and it was like I knew him for years.’
As a rookie on set, Elva admits that she felt intimidated performing alongside screen legends like Doody and Kier, who is best known for his roles in My Own Private Idaho and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. But she also admits that she was confident enough in the character to not let her insecurities impact on her acting.
IDON’T think I will ever feel like I am on a par with the likes of Alison,’ she admits. ‘ The characters co- exist together on screen but I would never put myself on an equal keel with the likes of Udo. Honestly when I walked on set Alison was statuesque, tall and elegant but totally cool and completely comfortable. She wore these beautiful clothes and, to be honest, it was a bit intimidating at first just to say hello.
‘But as I got to know her, I realised that she is extremely warm and friendly but had a wicked side where you could have unreal craic as well. I am shy when it comes to meeting big names. I would be afraid that they would say to me, “If you could just act better...”, and then walk away.’
Brother won’t be the only highprofile movie that Elva will be starring in next year. Over the summer she spent a week on the set of Jim Sheridan’s new movie The Secret Scripture, an adaptation of the best-
selling Sebastian Barry novel. Again, Elva found herself mingling with glitterati like Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, Jack Reynor and Aidan Turner. In order to keep director Jim Sheridan happy, Elva agreed to have her long hair chopped on set – a big ask for any jobbing actor.
‘They asked me on set and I said OK, because it would help to get into the character,’ she reveals. ‘It was a bit extreme – my hair was really long and they cut it below my shoulder, so for me that was fairly short. I’m counting the days until it’s below my collar bone again. But it was class to be on the set with Jim.
‘I really have a feeling that my stuff will end up on the cutting room floor but I was on set for five days and it was unreal. All these big names were so cool and the nicest crew and cast ever. I was actually flabbergasted at how quiet and reserved these people are. But they were super laidback and chilled and it was a really lovely experience. Jim is the funniest and loveliest man on the planet. So hopefully I haven’t chopped off my hair for nothing.’
Elva has clocked up several TV roles on programmes including the hit BBC period drama Ripper Street. She also recently wrapped filming on RTÉ’s 1916 drama Rebellion alongside a host of Irish stars including Love/Hate’s Charlie Murphy – another actress the Ballymote woman looks up to.
‘Even though we have wrapped on it, I just feel proud to be a part of it. I play Miss Quinn – she wants to play with the big boys. She is strong and interesting and wants to put on the gear and get out there and fight. I’ve been lucky to get roles where the women are strong.
‘It’s a big undertaking for RTÉ and I imagine that it is going to be incredible. I met Charlie Murphy for the first time on set and I cannot say enough about her – she was so supportive and sweet. She really bowled me over with her talent. We shared a scene together and I got to watch her perform as well as be in the scene – she just has this presence and talent.’
The young screen star will walk her first official international red carpet in London’s Leicester Square next month when she attends the premiere of horror film Cherry Tree, which she also has a role in. After that she has signed up to appear in an Irish action film — in which she plans to do all her own stunts.
‘I’ve signed on to do a film that is called Into the Red,’ she reveals. ‘I have a few other things that I can’t talk about because I haven’t signed anything and I would be silly to talk about it. But it is going to be an action movie, which is going to be a first for me. I will be playing a very strong character called Helena – she’s very cool and is going to kick some butt. I definitely want to train for this and do my own stunts. I have discussed it with the directors and they are looking for my measurements to get me a body double but I just want to do the Tom Cruise thing and do them all myself.
‘However, there are some really impressive stunts planned so I may not be able to do it. We are going to film in Dublin and it should be interesting. I don’t know how many Irish action films there are but I’m sure there aren’t many and this is going to push the boat out.’
For now, Elva is content to base herself in Dublin, where she can see her long-term boyfriend James and plan for the future.
‘When it comes to big roles in Vikings or Game Of Thrones I can only imagine that there is a route to get there but that it involves tiny steps. There are good roles in them for women and hopefully those parts can keep coming around.
‘That’s why having an agent is so important because they can guide you. For me, I take the acting thing as one foot in front of the other.’