Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
Charlotte Drablow came to acting by a side door. The Berkshire actress, presenter and voiceover artist has an academic background in psychology and mental health, and before she was cast in screen comedy she worked in broadcasting and presenting. She recently signed with Sirius Casting Agency. This autumn she has two screen projects waiting in the edit: Season 1 of the television comedy Pish & Posh, in which she plays Christian Abbey, and Saving Christopher Nolan, an independent short film written and directed by Thesy Surface, in which she plays Siren.
We sent her five questions. She answered them in writing, and the quotations below are hers.
Nerves that vanish when the camera rolls
Comedy was there first. “I’ve always felt comfortable in front of the camera, and I’ve always been drawn to comedy both watching and performing,” she says. “I absolutely love the thrill of making people laugh, or even making them feel something.”
What she did not expect was the pattern of her own nerves. She gets nervous before every take. Then the camera starts rolling, and “the nerves just instantly disappear, but the moment the cameras stop and I’m ‘me’ again they literally come straight back.”
What sits under the anger
Psychology turns out to be practical on set. “I find it fascinating how much psychology goes into acting,” Drablow says, and she means the small things: memorising lines, reading facial expressions and body language, noticing how much a person gives away before they say a word. Those details, in her account, are what let her bring a character to life.
She can’t say much about the scene yet, but there is a moment in Pish & Posh where Abbey becomes very angry and aggressive, verbally and physically. Her training sent her looking past the outburst: “my psych background helped me think about what might be happening beneath the anger and how those emotions manifest through facial expressions and posture,” she says. The point, for her, was “understanding how much can be communicated without saying anything at all.”
It seems to have worked. “Funnily enough, the police actually attended during the filming because they thought it was a real life argument!” They were, she adds, “apparently convinced it was genuine so I felt strangely complimented about the performance.”
One room, then twelve days
The two productions could hardly have been more different. Saving Christopher Nolan was “a much smaller and more relaxed experience in one studio room with just one camera.” Pish & Posh was, in her words, “a completely different end to the spectrum!” There was a whole ensemble cast and a much quicker pace. She thinks the whole of the first season was shot over 12 days. There were “so many different locations and costume changes and some scenes performed in public places,” which also explains how a staged row could bring the police. Both, she says, were great fun.
On her own website the series appears as Pish ‘n’ Posh, made by Carys & Knightley Ltd. Both projects are in post-production, release date not yet announced.
A thick skin and a long list
Asked about the working reality of auditions and self-tapes, Drablow doesn’t romanticise it. The biggest lesson, she says, is that “you have to be persistent and develop quite a thick skin,” “especially when you’re putting yourself out there and don’t always hear anything back.” She kept applying for the parts that suited her. She held on to the idea “that someone will eventually see what I’ve got to offer, so I just kept going with the ones I thought I’d fit with.”
Signing with Sirius Casting Agency was the milestone that came out of that persistence. And living outside the capital has not held her back: “being based in Berkshire hasn’t stopped me pursuing opportunities in London (and beyond).”
Presenting still runs alongside the acting. Her credits list includes hosting the podcast Cursed & Curious for Bracknell Podcast Studios.
The next role she wants
Comedy is the home ground, and she says so: “I’m obviously a sucker for comedy and anything that makes people laugh.” But the next year is where she wants to change direction. “I’d love to take on a serious, emotionally intense drama where I could really explore the depths of sadness, vulnerability or maybe even heartbreak on screen,” she says. It would mean stepping away from what she knows, and she wants that: to “push myself emotionally as an actress.”
After the argument scene in Pish & Posh, it does not sound like a leap. She has already played anger with no joke at the end of it.
Pish & Posh (Season 1) and Saving Christopher Nolan are both in post-production, release date not yet announced. Charlotte Drablow is represented by Sirius Casting Agency. More on her work: charlottedrablow.wordpress.com.
Photographs
Official promotional photograph, Pish & Posh (2026). Photo: Jude Airy.
Behind the scenes, Pish & Posh (2026). Photo: David Malcolm.
Behind the scenes, Pish & Posh (2026). Photo: Warrick Simon.
Charlotte Drablow, headshot (2026). Photo: Susan Phelps.
Charlotte Drablow, headshot (2025). Photo: Chris Bearman.
