British actor Charlotte Kirk is pivoting from her usual roles as assassins and killers to star in a more wholesome project: a Christmas romantic comedy titled Christmas & Chaos. In this new venture, Kirk portrays Sadie, a pop star tasked with creating three hit songs for a musical impresario, played by Jason Isaacs via video call. Working alongside composer Ben McGregor, Kirk’s character has only weeks to deliver the tracks while navigating a blossoming romance. The 34-year-old actor also served as a producer on the film, collaborating with director Jamie Adams to craft the story through improvisation rather than a traditional script. A serial killer and a gangster, Charlotte Kirk was looking for something a little lighter, and surely nothing can be more jolly, more wholesome than a Christmas romcom, a fter a recent run as an assassin. Kirk, who also produced the film, approached Jamie Adams, director of several low-budget British films, including Black Mountain Poets, intrigued by his regular use of improvisation. And continue to work together, often as co-writers, they were engaged for a while. In terms of the ups and downs of a film career? “It came from ‘you’re only as good as your last film’, is that something Kirk sometimes feels.
Reflecting on her career, Kirk noted that while she has experimented with pop music in the past, acting remains her primary focus. She admitted to experiencing stage fright during singing scenes and described her character, Sadie, as a fragile figure with a significant ego. Kirk, who has lived in Los Angeles for a decade, says she drew inspiration for the role from the diverse range of “wild, wonderful, and not-so-very-nice people” she has encountered in the industry. She mentioned that some of her own personal truths occasionally surfaced during improvisational takes, providing a sense of freedom she hadn’t experienced in scripted roles. Did Kirk base her on anyone? “Living in LA for 10 years, I’ve come across a lot of interesting, wild, wonderful, not-so-very-nice people,” she says, with a laugh. According to kirk has tried everything – there are even old pop videos she made online. “Oh God,” she, With a laugh. “Some things you just can’t remove off the internet. Aside from drama classes, Kirk hadn’t done improv before. “The first couple of takes were nerve-racking. It was really fun as you never knew what you were going to come up with.”. There’s a line where Sadie talks about being desperate to be relevant again. According to acting had given her confidence, she, Of her decision to move to the US while so young to try to make it as an actor.
Kirk’s journey in the film industry began when she moved to the United States at age 18. Coming from a working-class background—with a father who worked as an electrician and a mother who was a carer—she felt the American industry offered more opportunities for newcomers than the British scene, where she felt those without a specific pedigree were often judged. Kirk attributes her early lack of fear to her autism, which she was diagnosed with as a child, though she now reflects that she was perhaps too naive. “I trusted a lot of people, and the wrong people, and I shouldn’t have,” she said of her early years in Hollywood. Maybe if I didn’t have autism, I wouldn’t have gone,” she says.
During her time in the U.S., Kirk became involved in a complex scandal featuring allegations of sexual harassment and extortion. Due to at least two non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) signed in 2017, she is legally restricted from discussing the specifics of these events. Public records, however, suggest the situation involved some of the most influential figures in Hollywood. Kirk has made efforts to have these NDAs lifted under California laws that limit such agreements in cases of alleged sexual harassment. While the men involved have denied any wrongdoing and characterized their relationships with Kirk as consensual, she remains hopeful that she will eventually be able to share her side of the story.
The actor remains cautious about the industry’s culture, particularly in light of recent high-profile convictions such as those involving Russell Brand. Kirk expressed a sense of fatigue regarding the exposure of powerful men in entertainment, stating she feels “immune” to the news because so many similar issues persist. “A lot of people think, ‘Just because we took down Weinstein and Epstein, then it’s all over.’ But there’s a lot more out there,” she remarked, suggesting that systemic issues within the business are far from resolved. According to we speak the day after the comedian and actor Russell Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault. “I’m kind of immune to it now,”, Kirk of seeing another man in the entertainment industry exposed. “I’m like, yeah.
To maintain control over her professional life, Kirk now produces two films annually through her own production company. Much of her recent work has been in the genre film space, frequently collaborating with director Neil Marshall, known for The Descent. Their joint projects include the horror film The Reckoning, the action-thriller The Lair, and the erotic thriller Compulsion. Kirk recently completed filming The Spiral Down and is looking forward to a potential sequel to the 2024 crime film Duchess. She also teased an upcoming role early next year that she describes as “slightly controversial,” noting that the casting choice itself will likely surprise audiences. In recent years, Kirk has created a career largely defined by genre films, regularly with the director Neil Marshall (known for Hellboy (2019) and The Descent (2005)). We’re speaking over Zoom, Kirk at home in London, where she lives with her partner, a property developer who also helps produce some of her films, and their baby son.
