Imogen Poots’ 15 favourite songs of all time: “Very special songs”
Music and film have always gone hand in hand, whether it’s the grandiose orchestral accompaniments to early silent films or the new wave mastery of the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. It stands to reason, then, that a lot of actors are self-admitted music obsessives, and Imogen Poots is certainly no exception.
Despite Poots being perhaps best known for her role in 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, a film which is rarely, if ever, given credit for its soundtrack, her filmography has certainly crossed paths with the musical realm on occasion. Most notably, she took on the role of Linda Keith alongside André 3000 in the 2013 Jimi Hendrix biopic All Is By My Side. Only a year prior, Poots was also in the cast for Greetings from Tim Buckley, paying homage to Jeff Buckley and his journey to rediscovering the music of his father.
If those two projects weren’t enough, Poots also embraced the more abrasive end of the musical spectrum back in Jeremy Saulnier’s cult horror flick Green Room, where she (spoiler alert) ends up being one of the only survivors from a nightmarish night spent trapped inside a neo-Nazi punk venue in the middle of nowhere.
Admittedly, the mere fact that the actor has played these roles doesn’t automatically mean she has an appreciation for the music within them; Gary Oldman, for instance, didn’t have an overly favourable view of punk when he took on the role of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy.
Luckily for us, though, Poots often espoused the joys of her music taste, most notably when she listed 15 of her all-time favourite tracks for Two Paddocks back in 2023.
That list, perhaps understandably, doesn’t include any Hendrix or either of the Buckleys and although there are certain hints at the punk edge of Green Room here and there, it is a fantastically eclectic mix. Kicking things off, the actor cited cult post-punk heroes The The and their track ‘This Is The Day’ as being, “At this point in my life, probably my favourite song,” although they aren’t the only outfit flying the flag for indie on her list.
Elsewhere, for instance, the likes of New Order, Voxtrot, and, of course, The Smiths. “Bought Queen is Dead when I was 17 and they were in my ears through the last year of school, and ever since,” Poots recalled, selecting ‘Cemetery Gates’ as a particular highlight. “Very special songs. First band I really obsessed over.”
Other notable highlights among Poots’ list include everybody’s favourite Canadian poet, Leonard Cohen, whom she calls her “hero”, selecting ‘First We Take Manhattan’, as well as the similarly NYC-themed ‘Bleecker Street’ by Simon and Garfunkel. She also nodded towards her Vivarium co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, when plucking out Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘Swimming Song’, noting that it featured in 2005’s The Squid and the Whale.
In many ways, the eclectic nature of Poots’ listening habits reflects the diversity of her filmography. Over the years, she has played everything from Stalinist activists to car dealers, skinheads, and even the dead daughter of infamous strip-club owner Paul Raymond. Seemingly, though, her personal soundtrack has always provided support and solace throughout those many years in the acting world.
Imogen Poots’ 15 favourite songs of all time:
- The The – ‘This Is The Day’
- New Order – ‘Temptation’
- Little Jerry Williams – ‘I’m the Lover Man’
- Townes Van Zandt – ‘Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel’
- The Smiths – ‘Cemetery Gates’
- Leonard Cohen – ‘First We Take Manhattan’
- Voxtrot – ‘Start of Something’
- Simon and Garfunkel – ‘Bleecker Street’
- Hole – ‘Heaven Tonight’
- Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons – ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’
- Loudon Wainwright III – ‘Swimming Song’
- The Middle East – ‘Blood’
- John Hiatt – ‘Georgia Rae’
- The Magnetic Fields – ‘A Long Forgotten Fairytale’
- Beach House – ‘Astronaut’
