The Ridge star Lauren Lyle: 'It's mindboggling that war and genocide became so normalised'

Lauren Lyle has been showing her range this year. She began the year in Netflix’s Toxic Town alongside Jodie Whittaker, before appearing as June McCusker in the BBC’s sensitively filmed Lockerbie drama The Bombing of Pan Am 103, returning to the title role in popular ITV detective drama Karen Pirie and, more recently, playing a complex character dealing with addiction and the aftermath of her sister’s murder in The Ridge.  

“But this year I actually got a summer at home in London, whereas last year, I was filming Karen Pirie, The Bombing of Pan Am 103 and Outlander [yes, Marsali is back in 2026!] at the same time. So I was able to really find my roots in my community, which has been wonderful. And I could say yes when my friend asked if I wanted to go last minute to Ibiza on holiday and be more spontaneous.”  

After such a busy year, is she planning a restful Christmas? Not a bit of it.  

“I’m about to start rehearsals for Most Favoured at Soho Theatre, so I’m in the midst of learning it all to try to make sure I’m not going to have those dreams where you’re naked on stage because you don’t know your lines. 

“It’s by David Ireland, who wrote The Fifth Step – which Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden just did in the West End. Jack told me it was a no-brainer as his writing is so great. It doesn’t open until 11 December, when everyone is winding down before Christmas, but I have wanted this most of my career, so I’m trying to embrace it.  

“Then I’ll drive up to Scotland for a week, with my little cat in the car, which she will hate. She tries to maul her way out of her carrier so I end up letting her roam around the car. I don’t know whether that is legal or not, but people do it with dogs. So maybe that’s my big issue – equal rights for cats!” 

What have been your personal standout moments of 2025?  

I’ve loved the variety of roles. In Karen Pirie I’m often told to rein it in a bit and keep it real, while with The Ridge I was told to absolutely go for it, make it freakier. The Bombing of Pan Am 103 and Toxic Town were real stories so we had to be really respectful to the people it represents, and with my play it’s nice to exercise my funny bones.  

What do you know about yourself now that you didn’t this time last year?  

I like my alone time. I would be considered a massive extrovert to everyone that knows me, but there’s a side to me that just needs to be on my own sometimes. So I’ve got really into meditating and journaling to get my thoughts out. I have found it very cathartic.  

What have been your cultural highlights of the year? 

Amy Poehler’s Good Hang is my favourite podcast. I love Amy Poehler anyway and find her so natural as a conversationalist. She gets interesting guests and makes me laugh, which is what I want in a podcast. I also got really into swimming in London Lidos – it’s something I’d never tapped into until this summer, despite living here for 13 years.  

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What music spoke to you this year? 

I went to Primavera in Barcelona and had the most unbelievable experience. Seeing Charli XCX was amazing and Confidence Man have become a real cultural thing. They’ve become really big among my generation. I loved seeing them.  

So are you Team Charli XCX or Team Taylor? 

Both! Because I also saw Taylor Swift a year or two ago in Scotland –  Outlander got tickets for us and we all went, which was a very cool experience.  

Do you remember where you were when you heard Taylor Swift was engaged? 

I remember seeing it on my phone and thinking, good for her. She’s had quite a normal dating history, it’s just that we hear all about it because she is so famous.   

Are you worried about AI taking your job? 

I’m burying my head in the sand a wee bit about it. And I don’t want to be left behind, so I feel like I need to learn more about AI. because it’s not going anywhere. I do think we have to jump on board a bit but this actress that’s been made with AI is scary. The woman that’s made it is suggesting she’s never going to take our jobs – that there will be an AI industry the way that there’s theatre or film industries, but I’m not sure. It’s a slippery slope. I can see issues for us down the line.  

Do you have a strange Christmas tradition you can share? 

When I was about 16, I opened a present from my dad and it was this raspberry leather beret. My brothers went, wow, you look like a camp train driver. I thought it was a joke but he picked it because he thought I would love it. It’s become such a joke in our family that every single year they rewrap this raspberry beret. And every year I’ll forget and will open it thinking it’s something else.  

What did the world get wrong this year? 

We’ve witnessed war and genocide on our phones live streamed and still not been able to accept that it’s happening. We’ve been able to scroll through it, alongside ads or FitCheck, and it’s so mindboggling that it becomes so normalised. We’ve got that really wrong.  

And what did the world get right this year? 

I think what we got right was people like Aimee Lou Wood really speaking out to the point where it empowered the rest of us to speak out publicly about the wrongs going on in the world. People were using their platforms to try and come together. 

What are your big issues for 2026? 

Apart from cat civil rights? Community has been important to me for a really long time, but I’m now really exercising it. Everyone wants a village but no one wants to be a villager – so I want to be a villager and be in the village and look after the people in my community and the area I live in. Getting involved, getting to know people in my local café and my neighbours – which is also amazing for cat sitting. And I can’t move out of the area because my cat sitter’s around the corner. 

What is your big idea to save the world in 2026? 

I wish we could all stop being so nonchalant. If we can all just be much more ‘chalant’? It makes everything more real and will help us to connect. We need to get back to properly connecting with each other and looking after each other and being villagers. Community is everything for me.  

Most Favoured is at Soho Theatre until 24 January 2026. 

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