Gavin & Stacey role a 'wow moment' in actor's award-winning career

Gavin & Stacey role a 'wow moment' in actor's award-winning careerImage source, Channel 4Image caption, Rakie Ayola has just appeared in Channel 4 drama The FallingByNicholas BourneBBC WalesPublished5 minutes agoPlaying a small role in the finale of BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey has been a high point in an award-winning career that spans stage and screen, according to Welsh actor Rakie Ayola.She said playing the registrar who married TV fans' favourites Nessa and Smithy, played by show writers Ruth Jones and James Corden, was a pivotal moment."Standing between Ruth and James, it suddenly occurred to me that this was the picture," said Ayola."I thought, 'wow, look at me, so this is the most important and influential minute of my career'."The Bafta Cymru award-winning actor has appeared in TV dramas including The Pact, Anthony, Silent Witness, Casualty and Doctor Who, among others.Ayola, from Cardiff, explained how the opportunity to appear in the comedy, set between Barry and Billericay, came about after she bumped into Jones while visiting a theatre.Image source, BBC / Toffee InternationalImage caption, Nearly 60% of Wales' population watched the finale of Gavin and Stacey last ChristmasShe said Jones then got in touch a few days later and said she had "one scene" left in the final episode and wondered if Ayola wanted to be involved.Ayola told BBC Radio Wales' Lucy Owen that she guessed the scene was a "wedding, a birth or a funeral" and then guessed Jones wanted her as a registrar for a wedding.Fans of the show had long held out hope that the characters would finally get together, with 59% of Wales' population and 39% of the UK watching the Christmas Day finale."I just put two and two together and bingo," said Ayola.In 2023, she was awarded Bafta Cymru's annual Siân Phillips award, which is presented to a Welsh person who has made a significant contribution in a...