Under Salt Marsh and Death Valley star says 'we're angry' as new film sheds light on Wales' forgotten rural working class

Leisa Gwenllian is already being tipped to follow Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Sheen as Wales' next big Hollywood export. The 24-year-old from Llanrug in Gwynedd , recently turned heads with her appeared in TV thriller Under Salt Marsh, which was filmed and set in north Wales. She has also featured in BBC's comedy crime drama Death Valley. Now audiences will soon be able to see Leisa in her first major role as she leads the film Effi o Blaenau, based on Gary Owen's play Iphigenia in Splott. The story follows the societal issues that Effi, played by Leisa, faces whilst living in rural north Wales. She strives to leave Blaenau Ffestiniog in the hopes of finding a better life, but instead reality comes crashing down - reflecting the lives of many across Wales. Speaking about her breakthrough role, Leisa said taking the job was "a bit of a no-brainer" after not long graduating from university. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter She said: " It's such a powerful story. She's such a powerhouse of a woman, and she's just beautifully complicated. I think that's any actor's dream, isn't it? "All you want to do as an actor, I think, is to play people who feel real and flawed and she goes on such a journey. To get to play out that journey it really doesn't happen often, and those parts don't come around all the time. Also you know the fact that it was all being done in Welsh, in my native north Welsh dialect, I was just absolutely so chuffed to to be on board. I was daunted by the idea, but so up for it and and I feel very proud of the film." The actress said that put a lot of pressure on herself when it came to playing the roles, as felt a lot of responsibility to represent the people of Blaenau. She was inspired by the powerful women around her, when playing Effi. Leisa said: "I think Effie is a really strong woman and she has so much fire in her and so much fight, I love those women and I have a lot those women in my life. I'm very lucky, my mam is a very strong brave woman and has been a massive inspiration to me and so obviously I draw on my own life experiences. "I'm from a rural community similar to Blaenau, and so I see these people all the time and speak to them and of course all in the medium of Welsh. What was so lovely about the script is that to see myself represented in that way, to see the kind of language that I live my daily life in, that doesn't happen that often and so I took inspiration from speaking to people in in Llanrug and where I grew up." The story follows Effi's experience of falling pregnant after a one night stand, and navigating her pregnancy as a single mother. Unfortunately, during this time she faces significant issues as a result of class disparity, which despite being a "hard watch", Leisa said it is so important to represent these problems in the Welsh media. She said: "I think it's really an awful thing that Gary wrote this story over ten years ago and that this story is still relevant, and that it still needs to be told and that this happens to people and has happened to people. I think of Effi as a real person, and I think there's so many Effis out there. "Austerity really kills people, and I rally think you feel the real human impact of that political context in this film. Sometimes it can feel like a concept to people who haven't experienced it or who feel like far removed from it. Hopefully you fall in love with Effi as a person and you fall with her story and her spirit and her mistakes. "We're a poor country at the end of the day, and a lot of these experiences Effi is dealing with is to do with the fact that she is poor, and she doesn't have money and the prejudice that people have to deal with, and the way people are treated because of their backgrounds, it's absolutely appalling. I feel lucky to have been able to be a small part in telling a story that is so important." She hopes that the film gives people hope, Leisa said: "I think with a lot of working class stories they can be represented in a certain type of way that's a bit stereotypical, andthese stories can often feel hopeless and a bit bleak and I think what's great about Effi is that she really fights back. "Wales is angry, we're angry that these rural working class communities are facing such hardship and it feels like they've been forgotten about and that they're on the bottom of these politicians' priority list, certainly Westminster's, but even by our own devolved government, everything feels so Cardiff-centric sometimes and I think up north we can feel like people don't really care. "Despite all that there's a community here of people who are strong and who deserve to be celebrated and these people fight back and there is such a strong sense of community there. " Despite her north Wales roots, Leisa felt the need to move to London to pursue acting, although she quickly discovered that is not the case. She filmed Under Salt Marsh in Barmouth, Death Valley in Margam and now Effi o Blaenau, in... Blaenau. She said: "As a North Walian, I know it doesn't happen all too often, but We've just had Under Salt Marsh, which was filmed in Barmouth, and so what gives me so much pride as a north Walian is to see Wales kind of being represented on the big screen, on platforms like these, on this kind of level, and to see these beautiful pockets of Wales gain an audience. "I kind of moved to London thinking, I have to be in London, all the work is here. But that is evidently not true at all, and it's changing. To be able to go home to North Wales to shoot, it just makes the whole experience even more special. I think for this project, for Effi, It was so necessary that we got to film on location because the location is so important it's a character in itself in the film and it just makes the whole experience feel so real. "It makes the job easier because you're in it. You're in the middle of it all, where it's all happening and where it is all written to happen. You get to speak to the people and socialise with the locals and eat at the cafes and go to the pub and it all just feels really authentic . I know you don't always get to do that on shoots, and so I feel really lucky to have been able to spend so much time in Blaenau, because it's a really beautiful place. We're going back there in June for the homecoming premiere and I think I'll feel quite emotional going back, because I've really fallen in love with the place." Leisa also shared her favourite filming spots, saying: "Visually, my favourite place was the lake. I think it was gorgeous. It was cold, so probably my body would disagree, but I remember feeling really emotional coming out of the lake. "I think it took me moving away from North Wales to actually be able to fully appreciate its beauty, I never actually realised how lucky we are in Wales. The fact that we get to have this beautiful shot that a lot of people would pay a lot money to create and we have it for free just on our front door. "Nothing beats being on location, especially when it's a location like Blaenau, I just feel so spoiled, like I had the best story, the best character, the people around me, the best crew and cast and the best location, I just feel so spoiled." Effi o Blaenau will be released in cinemas across the UK on Friday, June 19.