Nicola Roy: 10 things that changed my life

1 My Mum’s life being saved by organ donation

MY Mum, Marilyn, was a very vivacious, glamorous, warm woman. When I was eight years old, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness called primary biliary cholangitis, which caused her liver to fail. I remember vividly being taken out of school one day and being told that a donor had arrived.

The transplant saved her life and she went on to have nine more years of very normal life. Then, unfortunately, she required another liver. Sadly, she passed away four months after the second transplant.

That was a horrific time, but I’m so thankful that organ donation exists, and that kind people think of others in the midst of their own pain.

2 Being a performer

MY Mum said that from the age of three, it was pretty obvious that I was a talker and I liked to perform.

She always made me feel that it didn’t matter that I came from a working-class background. For her, there were no boundaries in terms of what I could achieve.

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She knew I wanted to be an actor and she supported me in that, putting me into drama classes when I was wee.

3 Lyceum Youth Theatre

I WENT to see Christmas shows at the Lyceum when I was little. I remember thinking: “What is this?!

It’s so magical and incredible! Whatever it is, this is what I want to do.”

A little later, I became one of the first-ever members of the Lyceum Youth Theatre. I was in a class with older kids who would go on to have careers in acting, people like [Outlander star] Sam Heughan. To this day, there’s something very special about the Lyceum for me.

4 My introduction to the actor’s life

WHEN I was 17, I got a small part in a Lyceum production of The Taming Of The Shrew. I was performing alongside experienced actors like Jimmy Chisholm and Steven McNicoll. These were the days when actors still smoked in rehearsal rooms and a lot of partying went on. I thought: “This is the life for me!”

5 The support of Ian McKellen

AT the age of 18, I toured to Australia with the National Theatre [of Great Britain]. I had a tiny part in a play alongside Jim Broadbent. Sir Ian McKellen came to see it and we ended up hanging out with him for a couple of weeks.

I hadn’t been to drama school at this point. He took me aside and encouraged me to go into training to learn my craft and he offered to help put me through drama school. I have a lot to thank him for.

6 The great Scottish stage writers

MY first professional roles at the Lyceum were in John Byrne’s adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and the title role in Liz Lochhead’s Educating Agnes [her version of Molière’s The School For Wives]. These were two writers I had studied at school and had read about. When I met them, I was completely starstruck.

Since then, Liz, in particular, has become a very important person in my life and my career. I feel so lucky that I’ve had the chance to speak her words.

7 My friend Liz Lochhead

LIZ took me under her wing, believed in me and helped me find who I am as an actor. When I came out of drama school, I naively thought I’d be a classical actor. It was Liz, below right, and [theatre director] Tony Cownie who showed me that I had comic timing and that high-style comedy was my thing.

Liz also brought me to the Scots language, which is something I had probably been scared of and embarrassed by. Now I embrace it.

8 Scottish independence

TO be honest, prior to the referendum in 2014, I wasn’t very politically engaged. I quite literally studied for the referendum as if it was a school exam. I wanted to understand all the arguments.

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Then, it was like a light bulb switching on. I thought: “It’s normal for a country, like a person, to want to be independent, to govern themselves.” The other thing I realised was that the press don’t always tell the truth.

Through the referendum campaign, I became much more engaged with the world around me.

9 Becoming a podcaster

ON my podcast, The Cultural Coven, I interview people I have a connection to or have looked up to. I ask them to tell their stories and I set them silly creative challenges. It’s taken me to Bute House to interview Nicola Sturgeon, which was one of the best – and scariest – things I’ve ever done.

The podcast has led to other opportunities for me. For example, I was on Debate Night on BBC Scotland, where I made a splash when I took down a Tory, which was one of the proudest moments of my life. Soon, I’ll be interviewing Clare Balding at the Lyceum.

10 The passing of my fiancé Chris Stephen

MEETING, and then losing, Chris has, undoubtedly, been the most life-changing experience for me. He was a beautiful man. He made me feel loved in a way no-one else ever had. He was my soul mate and my best friend.

He proposed at a hotel on Roman ruins in Sorrento after we’d just been to Pompeii and climbed Mount Vesuvius together. It was a perfect day.

One year ago, nine days before our wedding, Chris died unexpectedly. He had a heart condition, but we weren’t aware of the severity.

My world fell off its axis that day. I struggle to articulate the depths of my grief. However, this horrific time has shown me some of the best of humanity. I have phenomenal friends and family. My sister Lianne and my Auntie Evelyn have been brilliant, and my pals Jenna, Michelle, Catriona, Laura and Lynn have been Trojans. I’ve also had incredible support from Chris’s friends and my Scottish theatre pals.

Nicola Roy will be interviewing Clare Balding at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh on February 26: www.lyceum.org.uk