LAUREN LYLE
Dress by Buerlangma
Shoes - Stylist Own
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Lauren Lyle appeared in 2014 in the critically acclaimed show The Crucible, directed by Yael Farber, at the Old Vic Theatre in the West End. Shortly after, she was cast in the BBC comedy Radges. Best actress known for her beautiful role as Masali MacKimmie Fraser in the television drama Outlander.
In early 2020, Lyle began hosting the podcast She's a Rec’. In each episode, she interviews a guest about the "albums, movies, books, and female heroines" that have had the most influence in their lives.
The following year, Lyle starred in the BBC crime series Vigil. She played Jade Antoniak, a peace protester and the girlfriend of Craig Burke, Martin Compston's character. The series, set on a ballistic missile submarine, received more than 10.2 million views in its first seven days, making it the BBC's most-watched show of the year. Lyle is soon to play the leading role of Detective Sergeant Karen Pirie in ITV's new crime thriller “Karen Pirie.”
Left:
Dress by Buerlangma
Shoes - Stylist Own
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Right:
Dress by PRITCH London
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
It is so epic to be the main character “Karen Pirie.” How does it feel to be the leading role?
It’s surreal. There’s being the lead, then on top of that there’s being the title of the show. I often walked around set whispering to our writer and fellow cast “I can’t believe what we are being allowed to make.” As a team we were like kids in a candy store. I’m so proud of the show and Karen as a character. I got a lot of creative control in sculpting a character, working closely with Gareth Bryn, our wonderful director, on experimenting with who she was. It’s a new show so he gave me license to try it all and our ideas in lots of different ways. There's a huge responsibility that comes with being number 1 on the call sheet. It felt like I was hosting a party the whole time, and despite how exhausted I was, just wanted everyone to have a good time.
Left:
Dress by Rowley Hesselballe London
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Right:
Dress by Zeynep Kartal
Ring by Thomas Sabo
From doing television, film, podcasts, and theatre, in which order would you rank them from being your favorite to your least experience?
I can’t pick a string on the bow. I began in theatre as an actor. I was lucky enough to do fringe all the way to the West End. After the run of a show, I would crave to do some screen, and now I’m doing so much film and television I'm craving theatre again. Nothing beats the buzz of an audience and an intense rehearsal process. Podcasting is a whole new and inspiring realm. I feel creatively in control with having my own podcast and cultivating a wide and exciting community. It can be so much work but having now built something special it’s incredibly rewarding. And a glorious excuse to speak to such compellin
What did you do during Covid?
My whole family moved in together so we felt like we ended up with a bit of a mini commune. Every night at 5 pm my dad would open the bar in the kitchen and most mornings my mum and I perfected our sourdough. I also launched my podcast “She’s a Rec,” which kept me busy and motivated me every day. I fell back in love with my hometown of Glasgow and ended up writing an essay on how special a place it is. What a mad time that was, I remember the cabin fever so viscerally. The intense hunger for a night out which, by the end of lockdown, had turned into being scared to go out ever again. I’m very glad to be hugging again and to see the back of zoom quizzes.
Left:
Dress by Safiyaa
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Right:
Dress by Zeynep Kartal
Shoes by Stylist Own
*No feathers used in dress
You started the podcast “She’s a Rec” in April 2020. What motivated you to do it?
I realized a lot of my artistic taste came from men so I wanted to broaden my range and elevate the voices of all those creatives not identifying as such. I was gaining a platform so it felt like a cool thing to use. I’m also a fiend for a recommendation on what to listen to, watch, and read. It’s been such a good excuse to get to connect and chat with incredible people from Olivia Cooke, who delved into what was to come for her with leading HBO’s “House of The Dragon” all the way to Bridget, a United Nations Bomb Disposal Expert, who described hat song she listened to immediately after evacuating a war zone. I was so nervous to launch the podcast, I wasn’t sure I was ready. But thankfully once lockdown began my teams told me to jump it turned out to be the perfect time. Everyone was looking for community and creativity, which I think the pod provided.
What did you learn from it?
I learned how much we all need the arts as an outlet to express ourselves. Even if you’re not a ‘creative’ most of us are creative in our own way. It really made me appreciate how different all our lives are and that there is so much going on all over the world that we often don’t consider in our day-to-day lives. It’s been an amazing way to gain perspective and manifest the idea that we never truly know what each individual is going through in each of our explosive little worlds. I’ve found it absolutely fascinating to gain insight into all the different paths of life my guests walk on. Community has come out on top as something we all want and should cherish.
Dress by Buerlangma
Shoes - Stylist Own
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Being an actress is really special, what made you decide to do it?
I feel compelled to create work and I feel full when I get to create and collaborate. I love the teamwork element of making something together and each part being necessary. I’m grateful to be able to make a living from it, and I really work towards doing good, quality work that means something to me or others. Outlander, for example, on a huge scale, means so much to so many, and it’s amazing to get to be a part of that. I’ve seen firsthand how much positivity the fandom has on its members. Karen Pirie is dark, funny, and relevant. She doesn’t shy away from important issues that we all should be discussing. On top of everything, getting to act makes me happy. And because of it I seem to gain a new skill with each job. At the moment it’s learning to drive a boat under pressure, which is surprisingly difficult.
When you wear the costumes from the film production how do you feel?
It really felt like a uniform. I was privileged to be a part of the entire process and began with references for our costume designer as I was really into the idea of sweater vests and a bum bag (which I now believe is gaining its own fan base?). I met a young police officer when we first started shooting by chance. She was guarding the cathedral where we were filming. She looked like me, was my height and build, and was in full uniform. She described it as being like armor, and I loved that idea for a modern age. That Karen has a persona she takes on and off for work. She wears what she does to try and level up with the men around her but in doing so actually just isolates herself. She becomes slightly accidentally cool and iconic with her popped collar and Carhartt.
Dress by Zeynep Kartal
Ring by Thomas Sabo
Your page on Instagram is artistic. How do you express that?
I love art, composition, and painting, I almost studied fine art at art school. I have gotten into curating aesthetics while renovating my apartment. I've gotten a number of different favorite artists from Hockney to Jack Vettriano. The Pompidou in Paris and The National Portrait Gallery in London are two of my favorites. Instagram can be a sordid place at times, but I do get inspiration from aesthetically pleasing accounts and I enjoy seeing how others express themselves. I’d love to do a Lucy Liu or Viggo Mortensen and show off my art one day, making it into a noteworthy side gig. Perhaps galleries are in the future.
Left:
Dress by PRITCH London
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
Right:
Dress by Safiyaa
Earrings by Giovanni Raspini
What are your plans for the future?
I’d like to:
learn to surf
turn my spare room into a painting room
write and direct my own feature film.
live abroad (maybe) and come and go for work
open a coffee shop where people can sit on a bench outside it in a suntrap.
My job can be all consuming so I’m learning to listen to what brings me the most genuine joy and follow that at the moment. I’d also like to master a perfect downward dog.
Social Media.
Instagram: @laurenlyle7 and @shesarec
TikTok: @thelaurenlyle
Twitter: @Llaurenlyle
Dress by Zeynep Kartal
Shoes by Stylist Own
*No feathers used in dress
CREW CREDITS:
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director: Mike Ruiz + @mikeruiz.one
Photographer: David Reiss
Talent: Lauren Lyle
Fashion Stylist: Emily Tighe
Hair & Makeup: Joe Pickering Taylor at Arch The Agency
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Associate Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview by Sienna Ropert, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
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