Actress, writer, and producer Janet Etuk has spent over a decade carving her space in theatre and film. Now, with SHOOBS, she brings a deeply personal coming-of-age story to the screen, set against the backdrop of a chaotic London house party. In this interview, Etuk shares the inspirations behind the film, the challenges of navigating the industry, and why she dreams of working with Yorgos Lanthimos.
Hi Janet, I hope you are well! First things first, can you tell us a little about Shoobs and how you came to developing it?
SHOOBS follows the life of 15-year-old Lisa, whose battling with the social norms placed upon her during a raucous south-london house party (also known as ‘shoobs’). Lisa is frequently visited by Lisa Snr who is determined to help navigate her love life as she battles with her feelings for her best friend, Jada.
I was given the opportunity to explore the world of SHOOBS by the brilliant Open Sky. Lisle Turner, director of SHOOBS and co-director of Open Sky, had set specific deadlines for developing the arc, the themes and most importantly the heart of the story. Having these milestones put into place gave me a clearer understanding of how to write the film and how to develop each section more concisely.
Your work is spread across the stage and the screen in both the cast and the crew – how do you find your preparations differ when preparing for different roles?
I find screen work to be quieter. It can be very nuanced because the camera can pick up even the most minute of details on an Actors face, their physicality and even in the tone of their voice. Less is usually more in my experience. I find that theatre is rarely like this, usually characters are larger than life or you’d have to keep a large audience engaged by finding different vocal qualities, different postures or movements that fit the world of the piece and the integrity of that character. I tend to keep these points in mind whilst rehearsing and learning lines, but I also remind myself that whether it be for screen or for stage, a good rule of thumb is to investigate the differences and the similarities a character might have in relation to myself. I’m usually able to play more after researching these points.
Do you have a preference for acting, writing or directing?
I love directing but rarely get the opportunity to do so! It’s also a tough question to answer because I’ve been acting professionally now for over fourteen years, so the preference is due to the many incredible experiences I’ve had spanning over this timeframe. My writing career has been the hardest one to manage. I find writing very empowering, especially when given the opportunity to showcase projects like SHOOBS, however, despite all the opportunities there are for new writers in the UK, there’s still very little funding schemes for writers who’d like to complete their projects and showcase their work to companies for potential programming.
Shoobs follows love, regret and sexuality in the setting of a teenage house-party. How much of your own experience growing up in South London influence the writing for this?
The inspiration came from old photographs and diaries I had growing up. My short-term memory is atrocious, but my long-term memory is always extremely vivid. I remember how ridiculous it was growing up in an environment that was against exploring one’s sexuality and I wanted to bring this to light in my writing. I also wanted to highlight themes of gender dysphoria and explore where and how it sits in the body for this character.
How much did the film develop, if at all, from the initial script to shooting?
I was constantly given the opportunity to fine tune ideas, propose other tactics and see how far I could push certain sections of the piece that meant the most to me. The whole experience was invaluable, and I’ve learnt a tremendous amount after working with Lisle. The biggest development came after we took time out to explore several locations in Brixton and see how we could recreate the house party. This, in my opinion was a major turning point for SHOOBS as so much of the story relied on the atmosphere of the house party and where/how it was situated. We were lucky to find the perfect location to bring this story to life.
What has it been like to work with the Open Sky team?
Incredible. I could list a million reasons to why I found Open Sky a joy to work with! I think one of the crucial points is that the Open Sky team have managed to recreate SHOOBS with such detail that it feels like an actual memory from my past. The layers of precision whilst bringing this specific era back to life is mind-blowing and handled with so much care and respect that it has allowed the heart of the piece to shine through.
If you could collaborate with anyone from the world of screen or stage, who would it be and why?
Yorgos Lanthimos. He directed the 2016 film ‘The Lobster’, 2018 film ‘The Favourite and 2024 film ‘Poor Things’ (these are to name a few) I’m obsessed with his work. The style he’s created taps into my inner clown, a darker side of my inner clown that hasn’t been exercised for TV or film just yet!
