Fiona Glascott: On My Culture Radar

The Fantastic Beasts actor on London, Olive Kitteridge and Homecoming

Fiona Glascott: When I’m away from London, I miss it.

Favourite current book?
I just read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It's about an old lady in America who's in her 60s or 70s. The book is made up of short stories where Olive always comes in, sometimes briefly, or sometimes she's a main character. They've since made it into a TV series with Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins, and now I've finished the book I can watch it. It's an HBO miniseries so it's in good hands.

Restaurant
I love a place called Randall & Aubin in Soho, London. It's a French brasserie, and the atmosphere is lovely; it's little so you're squashed in with everyone else and it's all high countertops. They serve lots of champagne and, say, half a lobster and frites, but they'd be the best frites. I go there with my husband when we get out for a rare date. We usually go for lunch, but going there feels like an evening date.

City
It's got to be London. I moved well over 10 years ago because so many projects are cast here, and it's where I met my husband and where my daughter was born. Ireland will always be my home but when I'm away from London, I miss it – though sometimes when I'm in it, I want to get away because it's too much. I live in Peckham, so there's a lot of green space and commons, but it's still close to town and Soho, which is really vibrant. I've spent a lot of time in the Curzon cinema there. I love it, I feel alive here, although I'm still searching for the perfect coffee.

Album
I'm listening to My First Piano Album, which is a compilation of classical music for children. Almost every day, my three-year-old girl and I put it on and dance around the kitchen. Our favourite is March of the Trolls by Grieg. It's really fun; she runs around during it and hides.

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Actor
I'm going to have to say my husband, Tom Brooke, and not just because he's my husband. He has lots of years in theatres, he was in the BBC's Bodyguard and he's going to be in Dark Heart; he's in the Donmar Warehouse at the moment. His timing is wonderful, even in daily life. We read each others' work when we get a job, and the way he performs it is different than I would have expected having read it, so he's surprising in his choices.

Gadget
I love my pair of Juku Rhythm Bluetooth Earphones, though they have a few flaws so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that brand. Before, I would pull the wire out of the phone or whatever it's attached to, but now I can move around without having a wire in my way. They're good for exercising, as they wrap around your ear and stay in place.

TV show
I've started watching Homecoming on Amazon Prime with Julia Roberts. It's intriguing, well-shot, and Julia is fabulous. You've also got Sissy Spacek and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who are incredible actresses, and Bobby Cannavale, who I think is brilliant, plus lots of actors I haven't seen before, which is important. It's about a government centre set up to help soldiers who've come from Afghanistan to get back into society, but they're being drugged. Julia Roberts plays the psychiatrist in the present day, and then it cuts into the future, which looks like it's a 1970s movie. In this future, she works in a cafe and lives with her mother, and she can't remember why she left her job. We're on episode seven and it's well worth a watch.

Film
John Carpenter's Halloween was the last film I watched, when it was Hallowe'en. I love horror movies, I've screamed in many cinemas all over London and other places. This is such a well-made film. It's perfectly cast, Donald Pleasence gives a grounding to the situation so you're genuinely terrified.

I'm also excited about seeing Mary Queen of Scots, which is out soon. Josie Rourke is directing it and I know her a little as she directed myself and Tom on the job where we met, when Sky Arts were doing live plays on television. I've worked with Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn and she's an amazing actress, and I love Margot Robbie, so it all bodes well.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is in cinemas now