Today sees the release of Ollie Robinson’s latest screen project – the black comedy film The Roses, in which he plays Young Roy and worked closely with his on-screen family Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as parents Theo and Ivy Rose, and Delaney Quinn as his twin sister Hattie. The Roses is written by Tony McNamara and directed by Jay Roach, and is the new reimagined traditional love story of The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. This year also saw the release of drama film After This Death, with Ollie playing Noah and being directed by Lucio Castro (who also wrote the film), and Ollie attended the premiere in June at Tribeca Festival. For Ollie’s first recurring role, he played Mauricio Rentzel in episodes of Series 5 and 6 of Bull for CBS, and he has worked on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and regularly for Saturday Night Live. Also having voiceover experience, Ollie voiced the lead character Samuel Lapp in the Audible Original release of Witness. Ollie answered our questions about playing Young Roy in black comedy film The Roses, this year’s release of After This Death and his recurring role of Mauricio Rentzel in Bull.

What are you looking forward to for viewers to watch the new release of the black comedy film The Roses?

I’m excited for viewers to get to see the evolution of Theo and Ivy’s love story, the riff on American’s obsession with (and sometimes misinterpretation of) British humour and the overall brilliant film Jay Roach created.

Can you tell us about The Roses and was there anything that drew you to the project?

I was really excited to work on this project because of the way Tony McNamara and Jay Roach reimagined a traditional love story… and I got to do a pretty funny stunt that happens while Ivy and Theo are sitting in the restaurant celebrating what great parents they are. I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say Roy did not make the best choice during that scene! I also loved getting to work with such an amazing cast and crew.

In the film, you can be seen playing Young Roy; how would you describe the character?

Roy is a lot like me in real life at the beginning of the movie, an indoor kid. He’s not athletic, prefers a bowl of Lucky Charms to a soccer game and the beach to a sports arena. He loves his parents but knows that he can take advantage of certain situations to his advantage!

What was Young Roy like to play and what did you enjoy about filming for a black comedy film?

Roy was really fun to play. We shot the movie in England and after being away from my sugary cereal for so long I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the scene where Theo comes in and Roy is eating Lucky Charms and he throws it in the trash. Delaney (Quinn, who played my twin sister Hattie) and I were so happy to get to eat sugary American cereal that we actually fully ate during each tape. Typically we’d spit it out after Jay yelled cut but kept eating. So when you watch the film and see Benedict (Cumberbatch) throwing away the cereal and Delaney and I getting upset just know there wasn’t much acting there! We even talked props into letting us keep the unopened boxes! It was also really fun to get to play these kids who are in the middle of the identity crisis their father is going through as their mother takes over the culinary world.

What was it like meeting and working with the rest of the cast, which includes Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as your on-screen parents?

This cast was amazing all round. Benedict and Olivia were a dream come true to work with. Benedict was honestly a great on-set friend who would help me look for bugs between takes and referee (almost like he was our real dad!) when Delaney and I would argue over something. He was also incredibly kind to me and really listened when we talked. He is a genuinely good person. Olivia was the best on-screen mom. In real life she’s really funny and looked out for me on set. It was really hot when we were shooting and there was no air conditioning in the house where we were filming. I got heat stroke and ended up throwing up in a trash can between scenes. Both Olivia and Benedict told me it was okay to quit for the day but I love what I do so much that all I wanted to do was go back to work (despite my real mom trying to talk me out of it). Olivia and I were filming a scene together and it was in a tiny bedroom where I had full pyjamas on and had to be under the covers. The room was really small and extra hot with the cameras and lights and there wasn’t room for my actual mom to be in there with us so Olivia kicked into mom mode and had my back. She put water on my neck, fanned me between takes and each time Jay yelled, “CUT!” pulled the covers off of me to help keep me cool. That and she’s really goofy and funny.

Do you have any favourite highlights from your time on set of The Roses that you can share?

Overall this was a really special project for me. Everyone on set went out of their way to make sure I had a great experience. From Rohit (Gogna) getting Delaney and me McDonalds and Starbucks instead of the healthy lunch from catering, to Polly (our audio engineer) whittling me a little statue out of wood we found while filming in the forest or crabbing on our lunch breaks in Devon, this was a really special shoot. I think the overall highlight was just the amazing connection between all of the cast and crew, that doesn’t always happen!

Also this year, you play Noah in the drama film After This Death; what was it like getting into character as Noah?

This was a really cool movie to shoot because I GOT TO WORK WITH A DOG! I’ve been acting professionally since I was three and this was the first time I got to work with an animal on set! It was my dream come true! That and Mía Maestro helped me catch lizards between takes in the woods which was pretty cool. Gwendoline Christie played my mom and it was fun getting to play a hippie music kid with her.

How was it being directed by Lucio Castro (who also wrote the film) and who do you think will enjoy watching After This Death?

Lucio was an awesome director and really gave everyone a lot of freedom to play with their characters. This was also a cool project because I do Saturday Night Live (SNL) a lot and the steady cam operator on this shoot was my friend Kyle who does steady cam for SNL!

It’s a pretty adult movie so I can’t really even speak to what to expect in theatres because my parents wouldn’t let me watch it at the premiere!

What was it like attending the premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival in June?

It was actually really great because it was in my neighborhood so I got to have a full day of school, hung out with my best friends Cricket and Haarlem and then was able to go home, change and make it to the red carpet in time!

For your first recurring role, you played Mauricio Rentzel in episodes of Series 5 and 6 of Bull for CBS, what do you remember most from your time filming the series?

I loved playing Mauricio, but the biggest thing that stands out from my time on Bull was that we started filming it before the pandemic and then filmed throughout the pandemic. We got to take our characters through the stuff we were really dealing with in real life like Zoom school and wearing masks. I loved that our show decided to portray what life was really like instead of just pretending everything was normal.

How do you find the experience filming for Saturday Night Live, and working on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert?

I love working on SNL. It’s one of my favourite shows to do because the cast and crew are really just big kids all playing together. My favourite skit so far has been Lake Beach with Dave Grohl. Fun fact, he taught me how to juggle between takes! Just to bring this interview full circle, I got to work with Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon on The Roses. Kate is the best and we actually talked about Lake Beach on set. She remembered my shirt from that skit, and to really tie it all together, the shirt I wore had little alligators on it and was actually a shirt wardrobe let me keep from Bull! So you can see both Mauricio and me in Lake Beach wearing that alligator short! Kate also had Delaney’s and my back. After her close-ups wrapped, she could have left and called it a day but actually stayed to do lines opposite us for our close-ups so that we would have someone to react to.

As a voiceover artist, you voiced lead character Samuel Lapp in the Audible Original release of Witness, can you tell us about this?

Oh my gosh I LOVED this project! We recorded this for Paramount and I got to work with Sean and Jordana, who are now two of my most favourite people ever. They also have the most comfortable couch in their recording studio. This project is a remake of the Harrison Ford movie called Witness from the 80s. I played Samuel, the witness.

We understand you have been nominated for and won awards, how does it feel being recognised for your acting?

It feels really nice to be recognised by my community for my work. I am incredibly lucky that I get to do what I love and would do it for free and without ever winning anything, but I’d be lying if I said winning didn’t mean a lot.

Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get into it?

I love getting to tell stories. I love getting to create characters and bring a writer’s vision to life. I love getting to play off of my scene partners and hopefully help the audience either feel something, forget something, or just escape reality for a bit. I started acting when I was three because I hated sports. I literally came home crying and begged my parents to never make me go back to soccer. They decided that since I was always doing little skits and stuff at home to give it a shot professionally and I met my agent Bonnie. I booked the first audition she sent me out on and we’ve been a team ever since.

What are some of your favourite films and TV shows to watch?

Right now my favourite movie is Freaky Friday and I’m really excited to see Freakier Friday.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I spend my free time at the beach, hanging out with my friends Cricket, Haarlem and Leila and gaming.

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