David Jonsson is shapeshifting

David Jonsson has no idea where in the world he’s just come from. “I flew back from Japan… no, it was Italy!” he tells me, fumbling for the details of his recent travel activities. I can’t really blame him — he’s been on a back-to-back shooting schedule and living out of a suitcase for months on end, bouncing around the globe and working on a slew of impressive TV and film projects. Despite all this he’s made time to meet me on a bleak January morning.

“Before we start, where are you from? You have such a wonderful accent, man,” he says, complimenting my Yorkshire twang. “I mean, maybe I’ve been talking to reporters who just don’t sound like you for a minute.” He’s instantly disarming and clearly still the salt-of-the-earth east Londoner he was when he started out in his career.

Jonsson first entertained the idea of acting when expulsion from school led him along a path to the stage and screen. “Coming home after being expelled, my mom and brother were looking at me very disappointed — ‘What are you going to do with your life?’” he recounts. “I remember saying that I wanted to act and
they said, ‘Just go and do it. Be serious about it.’” His interest was piqued by performances he saw on stage, particularly Mark Strong’s turn as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in the West End in 2015. “I’m a theatre boy. I’ve seen wonderful things in theatre. I remember seeing Mark Strong and being blown away by that. By that point, it was also definitely watching my dad’s old films too, like Lady Sings the Blues, Malcolm X and
predominantly Denzel Washington [movies] — he was really making his mark on screen. That was super-inspiring to me.”

After graduating from Rada in 2016 and making his own stage debut at the Almeida Theatre in London (playing William Davison in the historical drama Mary Stuart), Jonsson landed his breakthrough role in the BBC/HBO financial drama Industry, which explores the lives of graduates working in investment banking — think Skins but with suits. The show, which also stars Marisa Abela, Myha’la and Ken Leung, recently picked up a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for best drama series. Despite its ongoing success, Jonsson decided to leave the cast after the second series, showing just how secure he is in his ability to challenge himself and how deep his desire to shapeshift is.

He followed up with a career-defining role in the rom-com Rye Lane, opposite Vivian Oparah, and further proved his acting chops with a much-lauded performance as Andy, a lovable yet terrifying corporate robot, in the sci-fi flick Alien: Romulus alongside the Golden Globe-nominee Cailee Spaeny. Indeed, a quick look over his filmography shows that he’s already tackled more genres than many veteran actors. What’s so notable about Jonsson’s shapeshifting prowess is that he looks so comfortable doing it all and succeeds in bringing something earnest to his portrayals.

This excerpt was taken from HUNGER Issue 34: Fight Back. Stay tuned for the full story.