“I always felt like I was perfect for her,” admits Leisa Gwenllian of the title character in Effi O Blaenau, adapted from Gary Owen’s 2015 play Iphigenia In Splott; Gwenllian had used the original monologue for her Oxford School of Drama audition (she graduated in 2024). “It’s in the Welsh language, and it’s also my own north Wales. There are so many reasons why this project was special to me.”
Her full-gamut performance as Effi, from swaggering insouciance to dead-end despair, has earned raves since Effi O Blaenau premiered at Glasgow Film Festival in March, going on to set a UK/Ireland box office record for a Welsh-language film (£236,000/$320,000 at press time for MetFilm’s theatrical release).
A choir girl and eisteddfod cultural festival competitor, Gwenllian landed her first professional role aged 10 on CBBC show Rocket’s Island. Living away from home and being immersed in on-set life, Gwenllian’s future was sealed: “Once I clocked that people can really do this and get paid for it, I was just like, ‘Absolutely, this is what I’m going to do.’” S4C soap Rownd A Rownd further established a work ethic through her teens, and more TV roles followed.
Celyn Jones’ period comedy-drama Madfabulous marked her first film gig (“I remember it feeling like a big moment, working with successful actors”), before landing Effi O Blaenau. Up next is S4C/ITV co-production Santa Maria, a class divide themed comedy-drama series — “Once again, I’m playing a pregnant working class woman, so that’s clearly my thing” — and she is also set for a major role in a new BBC series, yet to be announced.
Effi O Blaenau director Marc Evans compares working with Gwenllian to directing Matthew Rhys on 1997 breakthrough feature House Of America. “It’s obviously a nice thing to hear, but it’s also a lot of pressure,” says Gwenllian. “I get a bit embarrassed, like, ‘That’s not true.’ The papers have been saying I’m the next Catherine Zeta-Jones or something, and I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, they have no idea.’ I’m just me.”
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