インタビュー | ハンナ・ジョン・ケイメン | Schön! Magazine

Years before stepping onto Marvel sets, Hannah John-Kamen was dipping into dressing up boxes and putting on plays after primary school. “I couldn’t switch my brain off from creating,” she said, leaving her hometown at eighteen for drama school in The Big Smoke. From a young age, Hannah’s path has been marked by a relentless curiosity for stories in every form, known for roles that stretch from the West End stage to Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’, to her electrifying turn and return as Ghost in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest, ‘Thunderbolts*’.

In conversation with Schön!, John-Kamen reflects on the humanity that lives inside even the most superhuman characters, the magnetic pull of a good script, the set and crew being a character in and of itself, and the joy of fearlessly leaning into your creativity.

Hannah, you moved to London at 18 and have since been a part of household-name movies and TV shows. What drew you into acting?

I actually can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to do this. I was born with this very, very creative mind. I couldn’t switch my brain off from creating, making stories, storytelling, dressing up, singing, acting, and dancing. Even when I was a child, I remember that after school, you’d invite a friend round, I’d go straight to the dressing-up box and write a script. It was probably absolutely ridiculous, but it was something like, “You’re a pony, I’m this, this is a farm.” Then, when their parents came to pick them up, I’d charge £1.50 for tickets to watch our extravaganzas. I just can’t remember not wanting to perform and create.

I don’t think I can do anything else, nor want to. I grew up with incredible movies, and we’re a very movie-oriented family, so I grew up with so many beautiful genres. I used to be fascinated with going to see musicals, plays, all these things. In sixth form, all my friends would be driving off for lunch while I went to the baccarat room with my drama teacher and would go through speeches at my lunchtime for drama school. There was no other option in my mind to do this and get to London and be around people who are like-minded and bohemian like me.

It’s so nice that you stuck with it.

That’s the one thing I can guarantee: the fire in my belly for what I do, the fun, and I just feel so lucky. Every set I’m on, every stage I’m on, every rehearsal process, even just kind of sitting alone with my thoughts and writing stories, producing, and ideas coming from the most stupid things. I’ll just actually write a whole thing from it. If I ever lost this, it’d be devastating. It’s something I’ll always have.

You’ve done a mix of theatre, TV, and even voice work for ‘Dark Souls’. How did those beginnings influence the way you approach roles today?

I think after drama school, those three years, your repertoire is just so expansive, you know? We’re doing so many different things. We’re all guilty of this; I think we all came in because we just didn’t know what we were doing. We were like, “Oh my god, we’re just so lucky to be here,” because it’s so hard to get into drama school.

I think we limited ourselves, and I would pigeonhole myself a bit. “Okay, I think this is what I’ll do. I think I’m good at this. You’re good at this,” you know. I’m guilty of that. But then, we’re still kind of thrown into the deep end of all these different characters and different roles, just thinking, “Oh my god, I don’t think I could ever play that.” To be honest, we’re jumping into the deep end, into the abyss, and coming out the other end and going, “I think that was the most fun, scariest, tantalising moment of my life.” And that’s every role that I take.

Is that still happening now?

I’m definitely maturing in this other way where I’m now producing, so I’m storytelling in my way. Within the roles that I take and scripts I read, I’m trying to push more boundaries. What do I crave? Where am I now? It’s a very present mind of where I’m at, what I want to do, and what I want to get my hands on. At the end of the day, the roles that I’ve taken — Marvel, Spielberg, ‘Black Mirror’ — it’s just been insane. I’ve been extremely lucky to have the most incredible scripts and characters come my way, and obviously returning characters — as Ghost in the Marvel Universe. It’s an absolute honour when you get asked to come back and play roles.

Whenever you play a character, whether they are human or superhuman, you have to play the reality and the maturity. The Ghost that I played then is not the Ghost I’m playing now because time has moved, changed, and shifted. With each movie, it’s so important to always have an objective, a change, a realisation to add something that moves your character forward. I love playing things within the cinematic universe. I’ve done sci-fi. I’ve done dystopian, like ‘Brave New World’. I love playing reality, but I also love playing in the other different universes.

With all these different genres, is there one that feels closest to home for you, or is it more about chasing that new feeling every time?

Definitely, it’s been beautiful putting on the Marvel suits. The symmetry with all these different, major outer world movies and series — ‘Brave New World’, ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Killjoy’, Marvel — they all have humanistic themes. It’s about the politics, the mental health, and there’s a love story. The themes of a movie or storytelling will always remain what they are, and the world you’re living in is just the world that you’re living in to tell it. For me, it’s a good character and a good script.

I couldn’t agree more. ‘Thunderbolts*’ was written incredibly, like in high-stakes moments when things are being blown up, but then someone says something very real and human.

I think it’s that thing. Even though I’m a ghost and I can go through walls, and we’ve all got our different superhuman strengths. We all can feel depression and we can all cry. We’re all feeling a sense of feeling stuck and not good enough and insecure, chasing something that’s not real. It’s just very juxtaposing when you see this superhero visual of these characters, but actually the humanistic feelings and emotions that they’re feeling. That’s what I love. I love Shakespeare. It all comes from that; it’s all raw emotion. This is the beauty of this career: scripts, all these different characters, scenes, and directors. The directors I’ve worked with have that eye as well. I always say the whole mood and atmosphere of a movie is a character in itself.

That’s interesting. What makes you say that?

What the audience is going to see is the lens through which that director is giving you to look and view. It’s those binoculars, and that is down to the camera move. The editing is down to the director’s direction in his eye. It’s down to DOP’s lighting. It’s down to the costume team and the makeup team. So that whole crew is a character in itself. It’s not just us. That’s why I love the whole team whenever I do any series or movie, or even a play. Everybody is part of it, and that’s the beauty of it.

The group formed the Thunderbolts without ever wanting to or expecting that to happen, but they ended up having each other. What does that mean for you?

With Ghost especially, she felt like a ghost; she’s very much alone. At the beginning of the movie, she’s on her own; she doesn’t have her family anymore. She doesn’t rely on anybody but herself, and that’s got her through to where she is today. That’s what keeps her tough, and that’s what keeps her strong in survival. But what that has done is push everybody away who can get close to her.

In this movie, they’re all forced to be together and they’re forced to get themselves out of the situations that they have been in. It’s being forced together – the thing that was supposed to kill them was the thing that saved them in the end. They’ve created this beautiful, really messed-up family that gets each other. The whole message, I think, is that you don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to go through anything alone. No matter what, there’ll always be someone who will get you. I think that was Ghost’s journey in the movie.

Amidst these heavy scenes within scripts you’ve had, is there anything light or unexpected that happens off camera to balance it all out?

Oh, yeah! I’ve been working with Spielberg — the Mr. Spielberg himself. He’s such a character, and his films are almost characters of their own. You know instantly when you’re watching a Spielberg movie—the music, the magic, the essence — it’s that Spielberg touch. On ‘Ready Player One,’ I played F’Nale Zandor, this extremely tough, no-nonsense boss. But off camera, Steven and I would be singing show tunes — “Singin’ in the Rain”, even “A Bushel and a Peck.” We’d be behind the monitors, laughing and singing together. Those moments were just wonderful.

And then on ‘Thunderbolts’, it really felt like a family. On screen, especially early on, we were supposed to be at each other’s throats, trying to kill one another. But off camera, we were constantly howling with laughter, and even the crew joined in. You spend such long hours together in this industry, really diving into your characters, so having that camaraderie — a beautiful bunch of teammates and fellow weirdos — was an absolute honour.

The way you put it with Spielberg and the cast and crew of ‘Thunderbolts*’, you’ve got your own little scenes behind there as well that I wish were filmed.

Totally. That’s the thing — those behind-the-scenes moments are magic. Whenever we do press tours for these films, you can really see it. The vibe on a press tour often reflects how the movie went. For ‘Ready Player One’, I was paired with Ben Mendelsohn, and what an absolute gentleman he is. I walked into that film already a huge fan of his, and came out an even bigger one.

I’ve had the honour of working with some of the funniest, most generous people. Of course, you always respect the art and the process — especially for those scenes that require real focus and stillness — but when you’ve got a group like ‘Thunderbolts*’, it’s just laughter and love. You could see it on our press tour; it was so evident. Jake, our director, deserves a lot of credit; he was incredibly attentive to all of us as actors, to our characters’ needs, while also orchestrating this massive film and crew. That kind of dedication is inspiring.

Speaking of your fellow cast of ‘Thunderbolts*’, if you could swap lives with any of the characters, who would it be, and what’s the first thing you’d do with their superhuman strengths?

I’d be Bob, the Sentry. He’s the most powerful of them all. I’ve said before, I’d only want to do it for a day, though, because with great power comes great responsibility — it’s a lot to carry. But for one day? I’d absolutely have some fun. I’d probably go out into the desert somewhere and just test the limits, see what I could do with all that power. It would be hilarious.

Limitless in the desert sounds like a plan to me. Looking ahead, are there any roles or genres you haven’t tackled yet that you’d like to try?

I would love to do a period piece — something that takes me back in time. I haven’t had that opportunity yet. I’m always drawn to projects that challenge me, that push me into the deep end, and stepping into history would definitely do that. I’d love to play an incredible, complex figure—someone who left a mark on history. I’ve always been fascinated by both history and mythology, so whether it’s historical or biographical, going back in time would be a dream.

You know, when I was prepping for your interview, I don’t know why, but I thought you were in ‘Bridgerton’, too.

[Laughs] Oh my goodness! I’d love that — romance, a bit of drama — it would be lovely.

Yes! And if there was any advice you could give to young performers breaking into acting, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid of your own creativity. You are limitless. Like we said about being limitless in the desert — there’s no such thing as a “limit.” Believe in yourself, stay strong, and lean into your creativity, even when it feels scary. In fact, especially when it feels scary — that’s the moment to dive deeper, to take the leap. Trust me, you’re stronger than you think.

‘Thunderbolts*’ is streaming now on Disney+.



photography. Annie Noble
fashion. Harriet Nicolson @ Stella Creative Artists
talent. Hannah John-Kamer
casting. Emma Fleming
hair. Narad Kutowaroo @ Carol Hayes Management using UNITE Hair
make up. Maria Asadi + Roopa Solanky
set design. Po Lin
lighting tech. Harriet Turney
digi op. Guy Gunstone
retouch. Marina Karaskevich
production. Clara La Rosa
fashion assistant. Stella Dickson
location. Home House, The Front Parlour + Eating Room
interview. Rhea Labo

 

Years before stepping onto Marvel sets, Hannah John-Kamen was dipping into dressing up boxes and putting on plays after primary school. “I couldn’t switch my brain off from creating,” she said, leaving her hometown at eighteen for drama school in The Big Smoke. From a young age, Hannah’s path has been marked by a relentless curiosity for stories in every form, known for roles that stretch from the West End stage to Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’, to her electrifying turn and return as Ghost in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest, ‘Thunderbolts*’.

In conversation with Schön!, John-Kamen reflects on the humanity that lives inside even the most superhuman characters, the magnetic pull of a good script, the set and crew being a character in and of itself, and the joy of fearlessly leaning into your creativity.

Hannah, you moved to London at 18 and have since been a part of household-name movies and TV shows. What drew you into acting?

I actually can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to do this. I was born with this very, very creative mind. I couldn’t switch my brain off from creating, making stories, storytelling, dressing up, singing, acting, and dancing. Even when I was a child, I remember that after school, you’d invite a friend round, I’d go straight to the dressing-up box and write a script. It was probably absolutely ridiculous, but it was something like, “You’re a pony, I’m this, this is a farm.” Then, when their parents came to pick them up, I’d charge £1.50 for tickets to watch our extravaganzas. I just can’t remember not wanting to perform and create.

I don’t think I can do anything else, nor want to. I grew up with incredible movies, and we’re a very movie-oriented family, so I grew up with so many beautiful genres. I used to be fascinated with going to see musicals, plays, all these things. In sixth form, all my friends would be driving off for lunch while I went to the baccarat room with my drama teacher and would go through speeches at my lunchtime for drama school. There was no other option in my mind to do this and get to London and be around people who are like-minded and bohemian like me.

It’s so nice that you stuck with it.

That’s the one thing I can guarantee: the fire in my belly for what I do, the fun, and I just feel so lucky. Every set I’m on, every stage I’m on, every rehearsal process, even just kind of sitting alone with my thoughts and writing stories, producing, and ideas coming from the most stupid things. I’ll just actually write a whole thing from it. If I ever lost this, it’d be devastating. It’s something I’ll always have.

You’ve done a mix of theatre, TV, and even voice work for ‘Dark Souls’. How did those beginnings influence the way you approach roles today?

I think after drama school, those three years, your repertoire is just so expansive, you know? We’re doing so many different things. We’re all guilty of this; I think we all came in because we just didn’t know what we were doing. We were like, “Oh my god, we’re just so lucky to be here,” because it’s so hard to get into drama school.

I think we limited ourselves, and I would pigeonhole myself a bit. “Okay, I think this is what I’ll do. I think I’m good at this. You’re good at this,” you know. I’m guilty of that. But then, we’re still kind of thrown into the deep end of all these different characters and different roles, just thinking, “Oh my god, I don’t think I could ever play that.” To be honest, we’re jumping into the deep end, into the abyss, and coming out the other end and going, “I think that was the most fun, scariest, tantalising moment of my life.” And that’s every role that I take.

Is that still happening now?

I’m definitely maturing in this other way where I’m now producing, so I’m storytelling in my way. Within the roles that I take and scripts I read, I’m trying to push more boundaries. What do I crave? Where am I now? It’s a very present mind of where I’m at, what I want to do, and what I want to get my hands on. At the end of the day, the roles that I’ve taken — Marvel, Spielberg, ‘Black Mirror’ — it’s just been insane. I’ve been extremely lucky to have the most incredible scripts and characters come my way, and obviously returning characters — as Ghost in the Marvel Universe. It’s an absolute honour when you get asked to come back and play roles.

Whenever you play a character, whether they are human or superhuman, you have to play the reality and the maturity. The Ghost that I played then is not the Ghost I’m playing now because time has moved, changed, and shifted. With each movie, it’s so important to always have an objective, a change, a realisation to add something that moves your character forward. I love playing things within the cinematic universe. I’ve done sci-fi. I’ve done dystopian, like ‘Brave New World’. I love playing reality, but I also love playing in the other different universes.

With all these different genres, is there one that feels closest to home for you, or is it more about chasing that new feeling every time?

Definitely, it’s been beautiful putting on the Marvel suits. The symmetry with all these different, major outer world movies and series — ‘Brave New World’, ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Killjoy’, Marvel — they all have humanistic themes. It’s about the politics, the mental health, and there’s a love story. The themes of a movie or storytelling will always remain what they are, and the world you’re living in is just the world that you’re living in to tell it. For me, it’s a good character and a good script.

I couldn’t agree more. ‘Thunderbolts*’ was written incredibly, like in high-stakes moments when things are being blown up, but then someone says something very real and human.

I think it’s that thing. Even though I’m a ghost and I can go through walls, and we’ve all got our different superhuman strengths. We all can feel depression and we can all cry. We’re all feeling a sense of feeling stuck and not good enough and insecure, chasing something that’s not real. It’s just very juxtaposing when you see this superhero visual of these characters, but actually the humanistic feelings and emotions that they’re feeling. That’s what I love. I love Shakespeare. It all comes from that; it’s all raw emotion. This is the beauty of this career: scripts, all these different characters, scenes, and directors. The directors I’ve worked with have that eye as well. I always say the whole mood and atmosphere of a movie is a character in itself.

That’s interesting. What makes you say that?

What the audience is going to see is the lens through which that director is giving you to look and view. It’s those binoculars, and that is down to the camera move. The editing is down to the director’s direction in his eye. It’s down to DOP’s lighting. It’s down to the costume team and the makeup team. So that whole crew is a character in itself. It’s not just us. That’s why I love the whole team whenever I do any series or movie, or even a play. Everybody is part of it, and that’s the beauty of it.

The group formed the Thunderbolts without ever wanting to or expecting that to happen, but they ended up having each other. What does that mean for you?

With Ghost especially, she felt like a ghost; she’s very much alone. At the beginning of the movie, she’s on her own; she doesn’t have her family anymore. She doesn’t rely on anybody but herself, and that’s got her through to where she is today. That’s what keeps her tough, and that’s what keeps her strong in survival. But what that has done is push everybody away who can get close to her.

In this movie, they’re all forced to be together and they’re forced to get themselves out of the situations that they have been in. It’s being forced together – the thing that was supposed to kill them was the thing that saved them in the end. They’ve created this beautiful, really messed-up family that gets each other. The whole message, I think, is that you don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to go through anything alone. No matter what, there’ll always be someone who will get you. I think that was Ghost’s journey in the movie.

Amidst these heavy scenes within scripts you’ve had, is there anything light or unexpected that happens off camera to balance it all out?

Oh, yeah! I’ve been working with Spielberg — the Mr. Spielberg himself. He’s such a character, and his films are almost characters of their own. You know instantly when you’re watching a Spielberg movie—the music, the magic, the essence — it’s that Spielberg touch. On ‘Ready Player One,’ I played F’Nale Zandor, this extremely tough, no-nonsense boss. But off camera, Steven and I would be singing show tunes — “Singin’ in the Rain”, even “A Bushel and a Peck.” We’d be behind the monitors, laughing and singing together. Those moments were just wonderful.

And then on ‘Thunderbolts’, it really felt like a family. On screen, especially early on, we were supposed to be at each other’s throats, trying to kill one another. But off camera, we were constantly howling with laughter, and even the crew joined in. You spend such long hours together in this industry, really diving into your characters, so having that camaraderie — a beautiful bunch of teammates and fellow weirdos — was an absolute honour.

The way you put it with Spielberg and the cast and crew of ‘Thunderbolts*’, you’ve got your own little scenes behind there as well that I wish were filmed.

Totally. That’s the thing — those behind-the-scenes moments are magic. Whenever we do press tours for these films, you can really see it. The vibe on a press tour often reflects how the movie went. For ‘Ready Player One’, I was paired with Ben Mendelsohn, and what an absolute gentleman he is. I walked into that film already a huge fan of his, and came out an even bigger one.

I’ve had the honour of working with some of the funniest, most generous people. Of course, you always respect the art and the process — especially for those scenes that require real focus and stillness — but when you’ve got a group like ‘Thunderbolts*’, it’s just laughter and love. You could see it on our press tour; it was so evident. Jake, our director, deserves a lot of credit; he was incredibly attentive to all of us as actors, to our characters’ needs, while also orchestrating this massive film and crew. That kind of dedication is inspiring.

Speaking of your fellow cast of ‘Thunderbolts*’, if you could swap lives with any of the characters, who would it be, and what’s the first thing you’d do with their superhuman strengths?

I’d be Bob, the Sentry. He’s the most powerful of them all. I’ve said before, I’d only want to do it for a day, though, because with great power comes great responsibility — it’s a lot to carry. But for one day? I’d absolutely have some fun. I’d probably go out into the desert somewhere and just test the limits, see what I could do with all that power. It would be hilarious.

Limitless in the desert sounds like a plan to me. Looking ahead, are there any roles or genres you haven’t tackled yet that you’d like to try?

I would love to do a period piece — something that takes me back in time. I haven’t had that opportunity yet. I’m always drawn to projects that challenge me, that push me into the deep end, and stepping into history would definitely do that. I’d love to play an incredible, complex figure—someone who left a mark on history. I’ve always been fascinated by both history and mythology, so whether it’s historical or biographical, going back in time would be a dream.

You know, when I was prepping for your interview, I don’t know why, but I thought you were in ‘Bridgerton’, too.

[Laughs] Oh my goodness! I’d love that — romance, a bit of drama — it would be lovely.

Yes! And if there was any advice you could give to young performers breaking into acting, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid of your own creativity. You are limitless. Like we said about being limitless in the desert — there’s no such thing as a “limit.” Believe in yourself, stay strong, and lean into your creativity, even when it feels scary. In fact, especially when it feels scary — that’s the moment to dive deeper, to take the leap. Trust me, you’re stronger than you think.

‘Thunderbolts*’ is streaming now on Disney+.



photography. Annie Noble
fashion. Harriet Nicolson @ Stella Creative Artists
talent. Hannah John-Kamer
casting. Emma Fleming
hair. Narad Kutowaroo @ Carol Hayes Management using UNITE Hair
make up. Maria Asadi + Roopa Solanky
set design. Po Lin
lighting tech. Harriet Turney
digi op. Guy Gunstone
retouch. Marina Karaskevich
production. Clara La Rosa
fashion assistant. Stella Dickson
location. Home House, The Front Parlour + Eating Room
interview. Rhea Labo