Interview with Skins stars Kathryn Prescott and Lily Loveless

'I think my boyfriend looks like La Roux!' Kathryn Prescott jokes. 'But he gets annoyed when I tell him that.' It's 8am and we're in a glittery hotel suite in central London, waiting for Kat's co-star Lily Loveless.

While we're waiting we're flicking through a copy of DIVA's December issue, checking out the Hot 100 list in which Kat and Lily ranked 43 and 47 respectively. 'Yes!' Kat says triumphantly, spotting another familiar celebrity face on the list. 'We beat Alexa Chung!'

When Loveless arrives, having stopped off at a nearby Whole Foods to pick up lunch and call for directions ('It seems like whenever we speak on the phone Lily's in Whole Foods,' Kat says) we make our way to the screening room downstairs where hair and make-up are waiting to work on our cover stars. Over the sound of the builders' intermittent drilling next door and regular bursts of noise from hairstylist Marcia's hair dryer, we settle in for a chat.

Despite their tender years - Loveless is 19, Prescott 18 - both actresses are already well on their way to stardom, thanks to their roles on Channel 4's Skins, a popular youth-driven drama which follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol. With last-series viewing figures of 1.2 million (plus a further 270,000 viewing online) it's one of channel's greatest recent home-grown successes. Kat and Lily are undoubtedly an important ingredient in this success; one of the most compelling plot lines of last year's third series was the developing romance between Lily's Naomi Campbell and Kat's Emily Fitch, known to fans as 'Naomily'.

'Mainstream television doesn't tell many stories about young girls coming out,' Kat points out, when I ask what she makes of Naomily's popularity. 'The reason I like the Naomi and Emily storyline is because after a few episodes it stops being about the fact that they're two girls and it just starts being about their relationship, which has the same issues and problems as any other relationship. There's more to it than the fact that they're two girls. I like that.'

 

'It's so well-written,' Lily adds. 'Some of our scenes were written [in collaboration] by a girl my age who was probably writing about her own experiences. From the feedback I've had the story feels very realistic. That's the most important thing: that people relate to it and
don't just think they are sitting there watching a lesbian fantasy written by an old man.'

Speaking of lesbian fantasies, can Kat expand on her Hot 100 comment that 'If I'm honest, I've always secretly preferred women to men'?

'I know what she meant!' Lily interjects.

'I know this sounds sexist but I would be far more complimented if a woman put me in a thing like that than if a men's magazine ever did,' Kat explains. 'I've always preferred feminine people.'

When pressed to define their sexuality, both women explain that they prefer not to label themselves. 'We're still young,' Lily reminds me. They will tell me that they both currently have boyfriends: Kat is seeing Oli, 25, and Lily is dating Ben, 20. Both are members of the Skins crew they met on the set.

The unwillingness to adopt labels crops up again when I ask Lily to define Naomi, who more than Emily appeared to struggle with her same-sex attraction in the third series. Is Naomi gay or bi or unsure?

Lily pauses, seriously considering the question. 'I think she's probably bi,' she says finally. 'But I also don't think it's that important. Now that she's come to terms with the fact that she likes girls, it's more about the fact that she likes who she likes, whether they are a boy or a girl. So maybe she's bi or maybe you can't put a title on her. I don't think she'd want the title, she's more like, "If I like someone, I like someone".'

Both seem slightly bemused when asked if they, their agents or family ever questioned the wisdom of taking on characters with a same-sex storyline. Were they ever worried it might have negative career repercussions? 'It's literally never been an issue,' Kat says. 'I think teenagers now are very accepting of gays and lesbians,' she comments later, 'even more so than when I was younger. I think when you hear someone say something homophobic it really ages them. It sounds old fashioned. It's usually someone from past generations
that aren't really up with the times.'

 

Does she think Skins, which has depicted teens engaged in drug and alcohol use, and also contains a fair bit of recklessness, sex and violence, offers viewers an accurate representation of British youth today?

'Well, it's written by young people so I think it's more accurate than almost all other shows about teenagers. Shows not written by teenagers might not understand it as well as someone who's living through that at the moment. But it's exaggerated for the sake of comedy.'

The conversation soon returns to sexuality, and I'm not surprised to hear that both Kat and Lily have out gay friends. 'I have a few,' Kat says. 'I used to hang out with this big group of friends and half were gay or bisexual.'

'I have loads of gay friends,' says Lily, adding, 'My best friend is bisexual.'

They're not sure what proportion of their fan base is lesbian. 'They never tell you if they're gay or not', Lily says of the female fans who write to her, with a hint of disappointment in her voice. They are happy to accept my suggestion, however, supported anecdotally and by DIVA and afterellen.com's most recent poll results, that they have a loyal lesbian fan-base.

'Secretly, I think we have the best fan-base out of all the characters,' Kat says.

'We weren't the most important characters originally,' Lily notes. 'I think it's because of the fans that the writers and producers have thought oh, these characters are actually more important than we thought. So we owe our fans a huge thank you for that because we
felt early on that we were just a bit on the side, but now we have major roles.'

So what can they tell us about this coming season, then? Not a lot, as it turns out. All I'm able to prise out of them is that Emily will go 'off the rails' a bit, and leave home, and that we'll see a different, more sympathetic side to her twin Katie, played by Kat's sister Megan.
Someone murmurs something to the effect that Naomi wants to prove to Emily how much she cares, but it's all very vague and cryptic and hush-hush. The frenetic teaser on the C4 site isn't giving much away either, but is, importantly, generating a lot of speculation among fans in advance of the season premiere later this month.

When we move on to talk about the future, it's clear that both Kat and Lily have reached a crossroads of sorts. Although Skins 4 is yet to air, for Kat and Lily the filming is done and their contracts are over. A generational show, Skins sheds its young cast every two years.

 

How was their final day on set?

'Emotional!' Lily says.

'So sad!' Kat explains. 'Though there was only me, Lily and Lisa [Backwell, who plays Pandora Moon] actually filming, so it wasn't as sad as last year.'

'Yes, it was!' Lily interjects.

'Well, yeah it was,' Kat says. 'It was sadder because we were actually finishing for good.'

At the end of their last take, Lily says, the producer and line producer brought in flowers. 'They said, "That's a wrap for Lily and Kat" and we both burst into tears.'

Would they like to have stayed on for another year?

'I think it was good that we left when we left,' Lily says pragmatically. Kat agrees. 'If we got offered more and more work on the same series it would be difficult to go, and we might get stuck in the same roles and get typecast. So I think that it's quite good that they've kicked us out.'

 

Would they play gay characters again?

'It depends what kind of role,' Kat explains. 'I would, definitely, but not if she was similar to Emily, just because I would be scared of being typecast. I definitely would play a gay character again though. It's been really cool, the reaction we've got from people. Lily and I
have had people come up to us sometimes, telling us that we helped them, that our storyline inspired them to come out to their friends and family and stuff. That's really cool because family and friends are the people you should be able to be most honest with, and if you can't that's horrible. So that's really cool that we got to do that.'

And what's next? 'I'm doing some acting classes,' Lily says. 'I'll probably work to pay for them. And I'm still going to, like, audition. As far as acting jobs go, you can't really plan anything because you don't really know what's going to come up.'

 

How about Kat? 'I'm on my gap year now, and then I've got a place to study psychology at Westminster Uni,' she says. 'But if acting takes off then I might put off uni for a bit. I want to be a counsellor if I'm not an actor,' she adds.

 

As we wind up the interview, I mention that work has also begun on an American version of the show. Set in Baltimore, it will start with the first generation, pre-Naomily. How do they feel about other actresses eventually playing Emily and Naomi?

'It's wrong!' Lily says, only (I think) half-joking.

'I don't know if they're going to have the same names,' Kat says. 'I hope they're not because that would be weird.'

What can they say about rumours there will be a Skins movie? 

 

'It's 50-50,' Lily says. 'They're definitely thinking about it,' Kat pipes up. 'I don't think anything's final.' They'd both like to be in it, though, if it goes ahead. 'Yeah, I'd like to play Naomi again,' Lily says, a little wistfully.

Here's hoping.

 

 

 

 

READERS' QUESTIONS

What are the main differences between Naomi and Emily in series three and in series four?
ROXY

Lily: I think they're more similar this year. Emily's come out of her shell, and, well, Naomi's always been out of her shell and just does what she wants. She didn't care what anyone thought and I think Emily's become much more like that in season 4.
Kat: Yeah, they've both come out of their shells a bit, Naomi about the whole gay thing and Emily just generally. She used to be really shy and let people walk over her and she's really not like that anymore. I think they're both happier, and more at ease with themselves.

 

I heard the lake scene in episode six of series three was cut because Kat went into hypothermic shock. What was supposed to happen?

P, FRANCE

Lily: There was meant to be a scene which was kind of flirty and they came close to a kiss but then Emily swam away. I think it was more a scene to show off the scenery because it was such a beautiful place, so cutting it didn't really have an impact on the story.

 

 

Do you find it harder to do comedy or romantic scenes?

LOUISE

Lily: Comedy probably, because the more times you do it, the less funny it is.
Kat: Yeah. Your timing goes after a while. You do it right the first couple of times and then you've heard it so many times... It just ends up sounding a bit bad.

 

 

Was it really emotional to film your last scenes together?

JESS

 

Lily: What was our last scene together, Kat?
Kat: It was you being, oh no, hang on, I can't say! (Both laugh.)
Lily: The thing was, I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing, I didn't think about the fact that it was our last day together. It was quite a heavy scene for me, so I had to really get into it. I wasn't really thinking about Lily's problems, I had to just be in Naomi.
Kat: Yeah, I only realised after we'd done it that, oh, that was our last scene together.

 

 

What would you like to think your characters will be doing five years after Skins 4 ends?

JESS

Lily: Married!

Kat: Married, yeah, and travelling the world.
Lily: Travelling the world together, setting up orphanages, 'cos that's what they want to do.

 

 

If you were able to be any fictional character, who would you like to be?

KITZIA, MEXICO

 

Lily: Jessica Rabbit! (Laughs.) No, I'm joking. Maybe Marge Simpson. (Imitates Marge's trademark disapproving noise.)
Kat: Yeah, but she's married to Homer.
Lily: But Homer's so sweet and nice. He might be fat and ugly but he's sweet.
Kat: (Thinks.) Probably Francine, the wife on American Dad. Or the daughter, because she's so dozy.
Lily: Or Stewie from Family Guy.

 

 

Would you get a tattoo? KITZIA, MEXICO

 

Lily: I've got a tattoo. It's on my foot, I'll show you.(She shows me.) It's a lily flower with my family's names going down the stalk. I got it when I was 16, which was probably a big mistake. I said to my mum, I was like, 'Mum, I'm going to get a tattoo,' and she didn't really believe me, she was like 'Whatever,' and then I came home and I was like '[untranscribable noise]'. The only reason she let me off lightly was because it had her name on it. She thought it was so sweet.
Kat: I don't have any tattoos. I probably wouldn't get one. I think they look really cool but I would change my mind about it. I know I would. I'm so changeable.
Lily: I'm dreading that, but at least it's only on my foot.
Kat: But your name is Lily. If my name was like Daisy or something I might get a daisy, but because my name is Kathryn it's not like -
Lily: You could get a cat!
Kat: What, just a cat? On my face? (Both laugh.) No, I just wouldn't trust myself to get something I'd like enough.

 

 

Do you believe in aliens? KITZIA, MEXICO

 

Lily: That's really random. (Both laugh.)
Kat: I think there most definitely is because there are so many thousands and thousands of other planets.
Lily: Yeah, there's got to be some other form of... thing... living organism somewhere.
Kat: Yeah, when scientists say that life isn't possible without water and air and there's not that on other planets, they're just talking about human life and all the life that they already know exists. There might be some other kind that doesn't need that.

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT MILES & KONRAD WYREBEK

 

 

 

This article first appeared in DIVA magazine, February 2010