On Interviewing Angourie Rice for The Big Issue

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Edition 762 of The Big Issue Australia — “New Romantics", Interview with Angourie Rice, p.30-31.

A few months ago, I published my first feature with The Big Issue — a conversation with poet Nikita Gill about mythology, girlhood and storytelling. Last month, I had the opportunity to publish a second feature with the magazine, this time interviewing Australian actor and writer Angourie Rice.

The piece centred around Finding Emily, a romantic comedy set in Manchester, but our conversation moved far beyond the film itself. We spoke about character building, psychology, writing, creativity, and the strange balancing act between intellect and emotion that sits at the heart of Emily’s story.

What struck me most was how much Angourie thinks about storytelling. Whether she was discussing acting, writing novels with her mother, or building a character through costume and music, everything came back to the same idea: how stories help us communicate things we can’t always articulate elsewhere.

As someone who works across writing, art and film criticism, I found that particularly interesting. Going into the interview, I expected to talk about filmmaking. Instead, we ended up discussing creative process, character, and the way artists build worlds from small details. Some of my favourite moments were hearing about the films that inspired Finding Emily, the playlists she created for the character, and the thought that went into making Emily feel like a real person rather than a rom-com archetype.

The experience itself was also a reminder of how much journalism is built on conversation. Every interview is different. Some feel highly structured; others unfold naturally into unexpected directions. Angourie’s openness made it easy to move between discussing the film, her upcoming novel, and broader questions about creativity.

Seeing the finished feature in print has been especially meaningful. It marks my second publication with The Big Issue, and another step in a writing practice that continues to evolve through interviews, criticism and cultural journalism.

Looking back, I realise both my features for the magazine have explored people working in very different fields, yet connected by a shared investment in storytelling. Whether through poetry, fiction or film, both conversations returned to the same question: how do we make sense of ourselves through narrative?

You can read the full feature in The Big Issue Edition #762 or via the article archive on my website.