How are you? Nice to meet you.
You too.
Gorgeous day as well, which makes a bit of a change.
I know is the light is really working well for me.
That definitely makes two.
I should also say happy birthday for the weekend.
No, thanks. Thank you.
What timing?
You must have had such a weekend because it was supposed to be on Saturday
And then it was Sunday.
It's your first appearance in Peaky Blinders.
Yeah.
And also we filmed those scenes on my birthday last year.
Yeah.
So the whole thing was really like, kind of, I guess, serendipitous, because we.
We already started filming last year in January, but actually we filmed those.
That specific scene when you meet Diana on my birthday
a year ago,
and I don't think it was supposed to be a year later
because originally Peaky was meant to come out
like about three weeks before it did.
And so it's just sort of a coincidence they got pushed in that
the timing ended up being so perfect.
But yeah, it was a really fun weekend
and I was turning 30, which is obviously a really big milestone birthday.
So what do we can we must have had.
Well, congratulations on what we've seen on you.
Your performance so far.
Thank you.
Feel to be joining a production when it's in its last season and everybody
around you, it's probably been working together for a number of years.
That's the thing that made it daunting to walk into because
you're just walking into set thinking everyone already knows each other.
Everyone knows how each other works.
And I'm, I'm just the new kids.
But in a weird way, I think that's quite freeing because
it's not the same as if you're all starting a film on the same day.
And it feels more like your thing.
You know, I think if you're walking into a show that's already so established,
in a way, the pressure's
off, but in a way the pressure's on as well because
obviously you want to sort of hold your own with these other amazing actors.
But also it's it's quite relaxing
ultimately, it's Tommy's show, and we're all just there to,
you know,
serve different purposes
within that kind of universe, I guess.
But it's not sort of like the Diana the TV show, sadly.
And so I didn't really feel I felt like
I had permission to just turn up and have fun, really.
And that was quite nice.
And with a part like this as well, I mean, Diana
was one of the Mitford sisters that she was.
It's probably true to say
she was pretty much hated because of her her right wing views.
Yeah.
How did it feel to be approached to play
somebody who was so despised generally?
Well, as an actor, it's really exciting because I think, you know,
I think lots of actors say this, that sort of to play like a bad role in
a way is more fun because because you get to turn up and just sort of like
have fun and not really worry about trying to portray someone
who sort of cares about being liked or has any kind of level of self-consciousness.
You know, Diana just does whatever she wants
and that's really fun to play.
You know, politics aside, obviously, I don't align
with her politics at all.
But that's the joy of being an actor, is
that you get to play things that are so far away from what you are.
And so I actually didn't
really think I always thought about it a lot in terms of the time period.
And I did a hell of a lot of research, but it was only really when we started to do
press and people were kind of asking me, how does it feel to play
this really despised character that I thought,
Oh God, I need to think of an answer to that question
because I'd only been thinking about it as a sort of an actor, really.
As just, you know, that was the next job I was doing.
And so I kind of threw myself into that.
But I found the family of The Mitfords so interesting to research,
and I thought there was an interesting
mirror image with kind of current events now because you have this family where
you had unity and Diana, who were fascists and who were friends with Hitler even,
but their second cousin was Churchill.
And then you had Jessica Mitford running off with Churchill's nephew,
to become a communist.
And so it's like in this one family, you have so many moving
parts and so, so much so polarization politically.
And I thought that was interesting because you know, at the moment,
for instance, you know, you have families where some people are vaccinated
and some are not,
and that that creates a lot of tension and a lot of uncomfortable
conversation, I'm sure. And
so it was nice.
It was interesting to read about and it was interesting
to read that that happened.
So, you know, that was happening 90 years ago.
And but yeah, it felt so kind of weirdly current at the same time.
So how do you think viewers are going to respond to
Oh, I hope.
I hope. Well, obviously.
But I also think in a weird way that if they hate
her, then I hope I sort of done my job properly.
Really.
I just hope it's sort of like loving to hate her rather
than actually hating me.
But yeah, I think, you know,
she's supposed to be there to provoke and disrupt and
and to make everyone's lives just a little bit more difficult.
And so I think I hope that people
have a reaction to her because that's kind of the whole point, really.
I can't believe that they weren't.
One way or another.
I mean, this time it crosses somebody who just loves to stir things up.
Yeah. Yeah.
There's a lot more to come as well in the next three or four episodes.
That's a real journey.
That she goes on,
which was really fun to do.
But yeah, there's a scene in episode
four that I yeah,
I sort of forgot I did it, and it's horrific.
And and now I've just realized it's coming out
and that people are going to see it.
And I'm thinking, Oh, my God.
I felt like, yeah, I really yeah.
How did, how did you get on working with Sam Claflin who plays Oswald Mosley?
I love Sam.
So Sam, I hope like me is the opposite of his character in the sense
that obviously Oswald, you know, extremely unlikable and difficult to love.
And Sam is just the opposite.
That he's just extremely easy to get on with and lovely to have around on set.
And, you know, he's like a dad and he's just like a really lovely person.
And so I loved I loved hanging out with him
because I read something about him continually singing this Eurythmics
song to himself on set. Is that right.
Oh, good.
I'm really regretting saying that now.
So I just, you know, it's just, you know,
your days on set are very long, and people don't realize well,
some people don't realize that, you know, you're there
for like 14 or 16 hours some days and you're up at 4 a.m..
And and so you find ways to pass the time, like on end.
With the film I did before Peaky, we were playing games of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
We were playing games of fives.
I don't know if you played fives.
That's great.
And so I think that was just
our version on Peaky of like finding a way for the time to pass.
And so we just kind of must just be singing these songs.
It was it was just this one tiny bit from the beginning
of the Eurythmics song, which is doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
Oh, no, I love yeah.
And it became like a weird social tick.
And we would just it was like you.
We couldn't stop singing it.
And I'm sure we became extreme seemingly annoying to everybody else on set.
I'm just wondering if some had the same sort of vocal range as Annie Lennox, but,
you know,
you guys.
Yeah,
you mentioned being in Emma, and of course, in that one,
you were playing Jane Fairfax and you were working with Anya Taylor-Joy as well.
And you were in a beautiful dress, elegant surroundings.
I'm wondering if you're making a little bit of a habit of sort of period costume.
I know I think actually, weirdly, these are the two most period things I've done.
Everything I've done before has been a lot more modern.
But yeah, Anya and I just we need to, you know, I think it's fair to say that
it's obvious all characters in peak in are not going to be aligned
and I know you and I are just like, we just need to do something
where we play like best friends because we keep playing
people who are sort of at odds in some way with each other,
and we actually really like each other and get on really well.
So I think the next thing we do, we need to play people who, who get on well
maybe third time lucky then.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
Well, from what you told me, I cannot wait for the rest of the season,
particularly now. Episode four Yeah.
Because I think Diana is going to be an absolute handful.
Yeah.
And the fact that she's great because you can really get your teeth
into a part like that Yeah, totally.
Oh, my God.
It was a gift.
Like, it wasn't even a question.
You know, when you ask about the kind of the political sensitivity of that role.
Like, I totally get it.
And obviously I don't agree with her politics at all,
but when I go off at that part, it was like there was just no question
whether or not I would do it because it's just so fun to play someone
so kind of shocking and, you know, irreverent.
Yeah.
Well, roll on the rest of the series because I can't wait
and they will be sorted.
Really appreciate your time.
You thank you so much.