Years back, I decided that I was going to be a pharmacologist, because it seemed a practical, smart direction to take in life. There I was, a bright-eyed, sixth-form student, gently failing my chemistry A-level while treading water in my biology A-level, and preparing for a life of failure. Then I chose another path, by adding a media studies AS-level to my course load and taking a year off. I learned shorthand and interned at all sorts of places, and 16 years later, here I am. I started in radio but I write full-time now, something I am very happy about.
So it’s been odd to be appearing in Follow This, a new Netflix documentary series where BuzzFeed reporters (my day job) investigate interesting subcultures. I studied TV journalism with the full intention of being one. But here I am, talking to survivalists, firing a gun and sending an arrow into a target, all available on a streaming platform near you.
Filming is, inevitably, less glamorous than the smooth results; multiple shots from different angles require time and patience. Also: bless blotting paper!
My friends are tickled pink by this new side of me: they send me short clips lovingly mocking me or, worse, screenshots of my face caught in any number of grimaces (my go-to expression when uncomfortable). Strangers have been in touch to send me really quite lovely messages, which isstill taking some adjusting to – writing doesn’t show my face the way telly does. My Facebook and Instagram friend requests have shot up, as has the frequency of seeing my face on my Twitter feed; I have found myself idly admiring the shade of my own lipstick too many times already. I know.
Where it will end? Here’s what I do know: the pharmacology industry is safe, for now.
