Kit Young lives in a fantasy world – at least on screen. The actor made his name in Netflix's hit series Shadow and Bone alongside Ben Barns and Freddy Carter.
More recently? A leading role in The School for Good and Evil, directed by Square Mile cover star – and all-round legend – Paul Feig.
"I’ve done a lot of fantasy things for a while now and I’m always the guy with some type of weapon," notes Young. "So I’d like to do a real story maybe a guy with just a phone in today’s world."
Crucially, the actor will hope for a broad variety of roles to choose from. "As a person of colour you often get put in the funny friend category or the quirky something or other. I think as much as that can be great with certain roles, it limits possibilities."
Give that man a romantic lead. And a phone.
Life
What upcoming projects are you most excited about?
The School for Good and Evil, mainly, because it has just dropped on Netflix. I really want people to enjoy this film, it’s a lot of fun, it was a lot of fun to make and I was just surprised they wanted me involved at all to be honest, so I’m really really excited to be part of it.
What is my proudest professional accomplishment?
I mean, there’s a show I’m in called Shadow and Bone on Netflix that is my first level of extreme exposure, or some level of exposure, as an actor.
The a role that I play, Jasper, is kind of a jackpot when it comes to characters and I’m just glad that we get to do a Season 2 and I get to keep finding out more about my character because I’ll probably be quite sad when I don’t get to play him anymore.
He is charismatic, he is skilled, he’s a very snappy dresser but he’s incredibly vulnerable too and in a big fancy show like that I think it’s important to have people you can relate to.
If I could change one thing about my career what would it be?
I think there’s a pigeon holing that happens and it happens in various different ways. There’s a lot of positive movement to break a lot of that down these days but it is still quite tricky to get out of a box once you’ve been put in it.
As a person of colour you often get put in the funny friend category or the quirky something or other. I think as much as that can be great with certain roles it limits possibilities. So I would change that perhaps.
What do I hope to achieve that I haven’t yet?
I would love to do a true story I would love to do a biopic. I’ve done a lot of fantasy things for a while now and I’m always the guy with some type of weapon.
So I’d like to do a real story maybe a guy with just a phone in today’s world. Or even a period thing but a true story is something I’m very interested in doing next.
Outside of my family who is/was my biggest inspiration?
Well I do this for my family, you have to have people you do this for otherwise you burn out and there’s no sense of longevity.
So I do it for my family, I do it for my mum who I think is probably my biggest inspiration, and my father and my two younger sisters. Everything I do is really for them.
Tell us something nobody knows about you?
Gosh that’s quite hard, maybe some people know this but I don’t really like cake, not much of a birthday cake guy. I’m always very awkward to buy for. It’s not my favourite thing. Unpopular opinion!
Style
What’s my favourite item of clothing and what does it mean to me?
I’ve always been a jacket guy, I love a good jacket, I love a good leather jacket, I love a good blazer. I kind of can’t go anywhere without jackets because I want extra pockets!
There’s a specific kind of leather jacket that I’ve had from a play I did a long time ago, a brown leather jacket, a little bit Indiana Jones-ish. And I barely even wear it because I like to keep it safe and intact.
I was very lucky that they let me keep it at the end of the show. So that is probably my favourite item of clothing: my Indiana jones brown leather jacket.
What is my favourite accessory and what does it mean to me?
I’ve had a few things that I have had and either lost or whatever, but I wear these two rings on my index finger and my middle finger of my right hand. They are very special to me.
The one on my middle finger is like a black mood ring and they kind of go well together. And the one on the right is a gold ring that has 1-12 in roman numerals on it, it kind of feels like it's 12 hours in the day so that is particularly important to me I kind of feel naked if I don’t have my two rings.
They’re special to me because they’re finds I found them, and I can’t even tell you where one is from but they hold a special place in my heart because they are quintessentially mine I guess. Yeah, I don’t quite feel right without them.
What items do I take on holiday and why?
You’ve got to take a good pair of shorts, if you’re going somewhere warm, which I would pick most of the time because I live in rainy London, England.
Take a good pair of shorts, pack lots of T-shirts but the main thing I always have to take with me if my sunglasses. I have quite sensitive eyes I can’t really go anywhere, even on a cloudy day without my sunglasses.
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Is there an item that you threw away or lost that you really miss?
Ohhhh there’s loads, I’ve moved house a lot or moved round a lot, as I think most people in my generation in their 20s have done, paying rent everywhere. And I always lose things on the way!
When I end up breaking something that’s often quite sad – if it’s a prop from a film or something that meant a lot to me, yeah I’m always missing those things.
But I’m a big fan of hats, I like a good fedora and there was one that I had a few years ago that I have since lost. And I’m still trying to find to. It’s probably somewhere in my house!
What’s never on your shopping list?
My shopping list largely consists of food items: Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats, whatever it is for you. But I think the next thing on my shopping list is probably to restock the fridge with ice. That’s very very boring but I need some ice.
But if we're talking about clothing items? I’m a big fan for a pair of boots. I think I need a new pair of black boots
What would I buy if money was no object?
Perhaps a house I think, perhaps a house. Yes, I haven’t yet bought my own place that I own so that’s kind of the dream. So, saving up to do that.
I’m not tied to a certain location someone where in the United Kingdom but yes that's probably what I would buy.
Thank you very much for letting me participate it’s been an absolute pleasure; I hope that what I’ve said is somewhat interesting to you. Alright, bye for now!
The School for Good and Evil is out now on Netflix
