Olivia Grant Chats Netflix, Hip Hop & Indian Summers In Penang

The Indian Summers and Oxford graduate talks weight training, Netflix and 2 Chainz.

We filmed Indian Summers in Penang, Malaysia. It’s wild there! In my mind it sounded like it was going to be white sand, Pina Coladas and padding to set without shoes, but it’s quite built up now. We filmed there because it’s a UNESCO site so it’s got quite a lot of old colonial buildings.

We all drank 100 Plus when we were filming; it was a bit of a lifesaver really! there is something about being dehydrated which makes you feel awful so it was definitely a bit of a gods send out there in the heat.

My skin is very delicate and very, very white so I used a combination of products when I was filming in the sun. Hampton’s Serious Sunbathing suncream in factor 55 completely transformed my experience in the heat and I used Malvina Fraser’s serum at night. Those two basically saved my skin.

I use a lot of Charles Worthington products on my hair as well as a Kerastase spray called Aqua Oleum which makes it really silky and soft. I went on a bit of a spiritual adventure when I was in Asia.

I read The Power of Now by Eckhot Tol which everyone had told me I should read and started practicing meditation. I went to a place called the Yoga Barn near Ubud in Bali where I did ecstatic dance. There was no alcohol or drugs involved but at the end you would feel majorily high.

For the red carpet I love wearing quite feminine dresses; I love that highly embellished couture look. I love Marchesa, Julien Macdonald and Jenny Packham at the moment. I’m quite petite but curvy so I love designers that design for that. I’d love to wear Chanel but it still feels a little bit grown up for me! I see myself in my later 30s being able to pull off Chanel but we’ll have to wait and see!

I’ve recently bought a flat in East London which is a new adventure for me as I’ve always lived South West in the city. Someone told me I need to go to Whitechapel Gallery’s restaurant and I’m already a member of Shoreditch House which has a really nice rooftop.

I tend to get obsessed with one song and play that endlessly until I bore myself with it; the last one I listened to death was Disclosure’s Magnets with Lorde.

I hestitate to say it because I’m not quite sure if I’m cool enough to get away with it but I also have a secret penchant for quite heavy hip hop. I listen to 2 Chainz a lot and recently fell in love with this girl called Honey Cocaine and her song Gwola.

When I was in Malaysia I had a personal trainer which the cast teased me about! We did a lot of weight training which I’d recommend to anyone. It’s the best thing I’ve done; it doesn’t make you bulky. Cardio now seems like a complete waste of time to me.

I got into using the Sleep Cycle app on my phone recently. You put your phone face down by your bed and the app uses your microphone to work out your sleep pattern. It gives you a graph in the morning so it’s almost like you’ve done some work in your sleep!

I watched Amy Schumer in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck because I’m really excited about the new wave of female comics. I’m obsessed with her, I’ve literally watched everything on Youtube that relates to her. I’ve also been watching Aziz Ansari’s Master of None and The Unstoppable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix.

The new series of Indian Summers returns to Channel 4 soon.