Molly Walker - Good For A Girl Interview

Join Queensgate Football Club as they advance to the final rounds of the Women’s FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history. 

Meet a group of players, united in their love for the game and for each other. 

Photo by Nicola Young.

But can this record-breaking team survive the challenges they face, both on and off the pitch? Do they have what it takes to go on and win?

Inspired by real stories and told through high octane physical theatre and powerful performances Good for a Girl is a groundbreaking piece of theatre celebrating and exposing the real-life experiences of women in football. 

Written by Becky Deeks and directed by Lucy Wild, this thrilling production reveals the resilience of female footballers and the inequalities women still face in society today.

Taking on the role of Liv in the production is Molly Walker. We sat down with Molly to learn more.

What can you tell me about Good For A Girl and your role within it?

Good for a Girl is a new play about women's football, we follow Queensgate FC as they navigate challenges within the team, adversity and qualifying for the FA cup.

What drew you to this piece?

I'm a huge football fan, I grew up playing football so that was the initial pull for me. Then in the auditions we got to read extracts from the script so I was definitely drawn in by the writing and how the characters stories were intertwined.

How have you approached bringing your own vision to the character?

Finding our similarities and differences has been really helpful for me. Her passion for football is definitely something I share, but Liv takes the intensity of it to new levels. Finding my equivalent to that has been an interesting process for sure. 

Also the text is so rich, Becky [Deeks, writer] has created a fully three-dimensional version of Liv in the writing alone, so I just have to pull out all those details to bring her to life on stage. The more we run the show, the more we discover about them all.

Have you done much research into the world of women’s football ahead of the run?

I have watched a couple of documentaries about the Matilda's & The Lionesses, I also did some research into ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) rehabilitation. I keep up to date with women's football generally, I follow the WSL (Women's Super League) so it was more a case of me filling in the gaps of what I wasn't aware of.

How do you mentally and physically prepare for a run?

It's different for each of us but for me personally, I like to speed-read the more complicated scenes beforehand. I also read over some of my notes from rehearsals just to remind myself of some details and discoveries I may have forgotten about. Then I listen to a playlist I made for Liv to get me mentally in the right headspace. Just before I go on I set myself a little goal/aim for the show as well.

Physically, I warm up, stretch, including a bit of strengthening in there too as its quite an intense physical show. I make sure I eat something sugary for energy and finish with some keepie-ups of course.

Photo by Nicola Young

When did you know that you wanted to act?

I've always loved it since I was a kid, I was always telling stories and finding new ways to make people laugh. When I was about 15-16 I had to choose between football or performing because training was clashing with rehearsals. Both were getting quite serious as I was playing semi-pro but youth theatre ultimately won my heart and I've never looked back. 

What was the first piece of theatre that had a big impact on you?

In sixth form my English Lit teacher took us to the Odeon cinema to watch NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire, we were studying it at the time and it just completely blew me away. In the interval my teacher leaned forward to ask if we were having a good time, and I was like 'Miss. I'm gonna be an actor' in an unnecessarily intense, heartfelt way. I was so viscerally inspired by it and it just sent me into an absolutely theatre addiction. 

I eventually came across Emma Rice's 'Imogen' at The Globe and that production had the biggest impact on me for sure.

What gives you inspiration?

When companies take risks, break out of the conventions of traditional theatre and share untold stories. When productions prioritise connection, be it with the audience or within the company, I find that really inspiring and infectious.

What do you hope an audience member takes away from seeing the show?

I hope they feel empowered and seen. If they're football fans, I hope they connect with the characters and feel inspired to improve the game for women. If they're new to football I hope they learn about how powerful it can be, I hope they want to get involved as fans or maybe even begin playing. 

Good For A Girl plays at Derby Theatre until 1st March, then at Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry on Tuesday 4th March and at Attenborough Arts in Leicester on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th March 2025. Tickets and more information are available from https://www.fracturedglass.co.uk/good-for-a-girl

Molly Walker