SHE’S conquered in the ring and shown flair on the dancefloor – now Nicola Adams has her sights set on lighting up Hollywood.
The two-time Olympic champion, 42, will make her big screen debut in dark drama The Gun on Second Street next year.
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She’s acting alongside Bruce Willis’s daughter Rumer, Poppy Delevingne and leading man Jack Kesy in a movie that shines a light on the gun crisis in the US.
Mum-of-one Nicola has been quietly studying at acting school for the past six years as she pursues a long-held dream.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, she says: “I just want to work with people that are just as hungry as I am.
“I’m not one of those people that just show up and just expect everything to be fine.
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“I put in the work, I put in the graft, just as I do as an athlete as well. I want to take it as far as I can in terms of how I grow as an actor, being able to experience different types of roles, playing different characters that really flex my abilities and my ability to be able to dig deep on the emotions that are needed for the more dark characters.”
When it comes to expressing those heavy moments in front of camera, she says: “It’s just about feeling those emotions yourself. I don’t work off of thinking about other things that make me sad to get there.
“It’s about being in the moment and actually being that character.”
As for the film itself, which goes into production this autumn, Nicola is remaining tight-lipped, though says she’s received some guidance from “a few well-known people”.
Before it hits screens, Nicola will also star in another project, series two of BBC kids show High Hoops, which is due out in November.
Having retired from the fighting game and waltzed away from the glitz and glamour of Strictly, Nicola is finally free to dedicate herself completely to acting.
“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” she says. “It’s just that I didn’t have time with everything else that I had going on.
“[Strictly] was good to be able to try something new. It’s something that I enjoy doing, always getting to try new things.”
One thing that isn’t on her radar is a return to the ring, with the former flyweight WBO World Champion insisting organisations like Misfits couldn’t offer her a big enough contract.
Off the film set, Nicola is keen to use her platform for good and has partnered with Health Equals to raise awareness of toxic air pollution in Britain.
Worryingly, new research shows that more than 25,000 schools in England, Scotland and Wales are in areas that breach World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines.
And some 12 million children live in areas where pollution breached WHO guidelines. As a result, they are at risk of serious, long-term health problems, from asthma and other lung conditions to increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
Nicola says: “That’s just mad to me that all these kids are affected and nothing’s being done about it. And these are kids that are going to be our lasting legacies, our future moving forward. And we’re already stunting their life expectancy from such a young age.
“As an athlete, clean air wasn’t just important — it was essential. You
train hard, eat right, do everything to be at your best, so the air you breathe should also be safe.
That’s why I’m happy to be supporting Health Equals in pushing government for change. Now, as a parent, I see the impact of polluted air more clearly than ever. I worry that my son may struggle with breathing issues, and it’s heartbreaking to think that whilst simply attending school, he’s at risk.
“I also work with young people across the country, and it shocks me how many of them are growing up in toxic environments they can’t escape. Clean air isn’t a luxury — it’s a basic right. No child should have their potential limited by the postcode they grow up in.”
Lives are being cut short by up to 16 years in parts of the UK. The air we breathe is part of the problem.
To be part of the solution, visit: www.healthequals.org.uk
Let’s #MakeHealthEqual
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