Gaby French The Welsh actress who went from playing rugby to performing on Broadway

Wales has given the world some of the most well-known and admired actors. Wales has seen great individuals from all around the country become household names, from Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins to Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Sheen, and it’s no different today, as one young actress from Cardiff has just won an award for her Broadway debut.

Welsh actor Gaby French is a familiar face to anyone who watched the hugely successful Netflix movie Enola Holmes or the very well-liked BBC series I May Destroy You during the pandemic.

Gaby, now 27 years old, attended Llanishen High School for her senior education after beginning her education at Lisvane Primary School in 1999. I truly don’t have any family outside, she continued, “all my family is here.” “Wales is where I spend a lot of time.”

After performing in the Tony-nominated drama “Hangmen,” in which she shared a stage with “Game of Thrones” actor Alfie Allen, Gaby is now back in her hometown. But Gaby’s passion in acting didn’t start until she was a senior in high school in Cardiff, diverging from her other pastimes.

“I really didn’t say that I was interested in anything else. None of my relatives enjoy drama or anything similar. After that, I attended high school, where we had drama classes, and I was confused. I’m having fun.

When Gaby was about 16 years old, she decided she wanted to pursue acting professionally and continued to take drama for GCSE.

It was largely up to me to conduct that study because I didn’t know many others who had chosen that path, according to Gaby. “I believe I overheard Michael Sheen discussing drama school on television and wondered what it was. I was unaware that it was a choice.

When Gaby was 18 years old, she started looking into drama schools before taking a gap year. While on her gap year, she performed in amateur dramatic productions throughout South Wales, playing roles such as Rizzo in Grease at Barry Memorial Hall and Madame Thenardier in Les Misérables at the Muni Arts Centre in Pontypridd.

“I kind of went more musical, because I didn’t know whether there were acting classes in Cardiff so when I left school on that gap year, I tended to do musical theatre classes – and then realised I cannot dance. I am a horrific dancer. So I thought let’s try the acting route and that ended up being the best thing for me,” she said.

She relocated to London when she was 19 to enrol in The Academy of Live & Recorded Arts, which has since shut down. It seemed a little bit impossible to begin because no one around me had done it and I didn’t really know how to do it, but I knew I had to do it and that I wanted to go there. I was certain that was how I should go, Gaby remarked.

As a result of landing the lead role in a play, Gaby ultimately decided to drop out of acting school early. Just one week after registering on the casting website Spotlight, Gaby received a call.

“We can’t find a Welsh girl to play this part. Will you come and audition?” read the email I received from Spotlight.

In the play “Scarlett,” which had its world premiere at both Theatr Clwyd in Mold and London’s Hampstead Theatre, Gaby was cast in the lead role. The job, according to Gaby, opened doors for her when she started her career.

It meant that I was able to find a wonderful agency with whom I am currently signed. Simply put, it opened up a lot of possibilities. My agency was able to arrange for industry professionals to come and watch me perform. Since I missed my showcase in my third year as a result, that served as my actual showcase.

After appearing in the play, Gaby received an invitation from a spectator to try out for a different part. Gaby received a job offer a month after she graduated from acting school.