In a special Welsh language programme for BBC Radio Cymru 2, as part of BBC Wales’ Gwyl AmGen cultural festival, Rhys Ifans shares his personal experiences, reconnecting with his surroundings, during lockdown.

While living alone in a London flat without a garden, behind Waterloo station, on the banks of the Thames, the actor was spending his days in 1930s Alabama, preparing for his role in the drama ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, a story of racial inequality. A month later, lockdown was announced. Rhys Ifans talks about his experiences on Radio Cymru 2, Friday 31 July at 4pm.

“Your gut instinct, in this situation is to go home, first and foremost, and I wanted to be with my Mum, who’s also living on her own. I wanted to be close to my friends and family, so I was eager to go back to Wales. But of course, that was impossible. It wasn’t an option. I happened to be in this flat in London, and it’s where I stayed.

“Living in a big city, one of the world’s biggest cities, when something cataclysmic happens, is a worry. When you’ve seen those end-of-the-world apocalyptic films, it sets the scene for the months ahead. To be honest, when I look back now, I was pleased in a way, because it’s been a real privilege to have spent time in London during this period. I’ve been able to see the capital city, after hundreds of years, in a state of peace and quiet. It’s been mind-blowing, it’s been dramatic, and the lockdown transformed London in an instant.

“Overnight the place became silent. I wanted to walk those quiet streets, and felt that history and I were walking hand-in-hand, somehow. Before the lockdown, history was something that happened to other people, in another time, but all of a sudden, history was happening here in the present time.

“It’s been a very monastic experience and I made sure I had a daily ritual. I started running. I’d never been running before, unless I got paid for it, or running away from trouble. For the first time I actually felt the buzz runners often talk about, and that feeling of your body being active. It was a wonderful feeling. I still go running. So I’ve developed habits which I’ve kept. I was eating a healthy diet. I had to decide whether I was going to go down the Toblerone road or the broccoli road. I chose the broccoli road.

“I think, for me, it was something special to be part of a city that changed so dramatically overnight. I saw London as a kind of enormous courtesan that was, for the first time, able to lie back on her chaise lounge after centuries of hard graft, entertaining people, while the tide in the Thames kept rising and falling. I saw the Thames every day, like the city’s lungs, if you like. Looking out at this constant change became a big metaphor and breathing, of course, was such a dominant theme throughout this period. The Thames’ tides have been rising and falling, rising and falling for centuries, and this courtesan has seen so many plagues passing through her streets. This mantra of seeing things coming and going, coming and going, coming and going… became a personal mantra for me. It was comforting as well because it’s true. We haven’t got a clue what the future holds and it’s good to know that we won’t know as well – it’s not being afraid of it, just recognising it. That’s a fact which I found to be of great comfort.”

The lockdown period was a sensory awakening for Rhys Ifans and the feeling of eerie “kenopsia”, a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet, was ever present.

During the lockdown, he kept in daily contact with his Mum in Ruthin, north Wales, and is very grateful to her community.

“I was on the phone to Mum twice a day, every morning and afternoon. She lives on her own as well and I was desperate to see her. Mum’s seen loads more people than I have. She lives in an estate in Ruthin and her neighbours have been amazing. She’s had so much support. When you’re isolating in London, you do think about the value of community. I can’t thank her neighbours, and the people of Ruthin, enough for all the love and care shown to her. It certainly made my lockdown a lot easier.”

After appreciating the experience of seeing London in a new light, during the lockdown, and reliving memories in areas he called home, the death of George Floyd had a big impact on him.

“It’s a strange irony, to think that I started this period, studying the history of racism in America and all of a sudden, I was seeing racism here, happening in front of my eyes - and that transported me back to the present, with a jolt.”