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She’s been dubbed the new “it-girl, ” and by all means British darling Felicity Jones is making that title her own. From her movie choices to her daily wardrobe, Felicity impresses critics as Nelly Ternan, the naive mistress to a much older Charles Dickens in Ralph Fiennes’ period drama The Invisible Woman. On the day of our interview, Felicity walks into the interview room in a chic A-lined dress, which subtly contrasts her shaggy bob and smoky eyeliner. “Somebody is anything but invisible today,” says one journalist. “I AM the visible woman,” Felicity exclaims, a giant smile covering her face. We begin:
WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING ASPECT OF NELLY THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO TAP INTO?
I think for Nelly, there was a real conflict in her; I don’t think she wanted to be a floozy mistress, that was so antithetical to her identity, but at the same time she fell in love with someone who had a very particular way of living and so it was this battle between wanting to be with [Dickens] but at the same time, obtain her own dignity and identity. I felt like my job was trying to portray that conflict.
NELLY IS STAR STRUCK WHEN SHE MEETS DICKENS, WAS THAT THE SAME FOR YOU WHEN YOU MET RALPH FIENNES AND KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS?
With Ralph, I was slightly intimidated; I thought he was going to be a bit like Voldemort.
[Laughter]
But Ralph is actually very sweet, a kind and lovely person and nothing like Voldemort at all. More like Ron Weasley! Kristin Scott Thomas is so tremendous; I mean it was so surreal, when I was in the read through I was sitting in between Ralph and Kristin and it was like being in “The English Patient.”
HOW WAS RALPH AS A DIRECTOR?
He’s very honest, so he would come up and say ‘That was awful, do it again but better.’
[Laughter]
So he was very focused on the performances as you can imagine, being an actor. He had a very strong idea about being totally true to the period, which I thought was really fascinating about his direction. Often when you make period films, you make them more appealing to contemporary audiences by being a little more lenient with the truth; Ralph was very particular about us retaining truth… and the austerity of the period.
YOU’RE NO STRANGER TO PERIOD PIECES, ALTHOUGH THIS IS AS FAR BACK AS YOU’VE GONE. YOU PLAYED MARGOT FRANK [“THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK”]… IS THERE SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS ERA THAT APPEALS TO YOU?
I love the aesthetic; I love the sternness of the way women presented themselves. It’s interesting; I think English people are obsessed with telling stories from the past.
[Laughter]
I don’t know quite why that is, maybe that’s when England thought it was great.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT PLAYING NELLY THROUGH THE AGES, YOU PLAY HER AT BOTH 16 AND HER LATE THIRTIES.
Interestingly, she pretended to be a lot younger than she actually was. When she met [her husband] George Wharton Robinson, she was in her late thirties, but pretending to be twenty-three. This was a way of almost reliving her life, really. She didn’t tell anyone, she didn’t tell her husband or kids about her relationship with Dickens, it was very much kept a secret. It was much more fun [playing] older than younger, that’s one thing I realized.
THERE’S ONLY ONE SEDUCTION SCENE IN THE FILM, HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT DEVELOPING THE PACING AND THE EMOTION TO CARRY THAT AND BUILD TO THAT ONE CULMINATING SCENE?
I think you try and play each scene before that with truth and honesty; [Ralph and I] didn’t want it to be cheap in any way, we felt like they were very careful about their connection to each other. With Nelly, there’s something quite puritan about her because she’s having these sexual feelings for this older man but has no one to talk to about it, she doesn’t live in a world where that can be discussed with friends or family, and there’s this sort of guilt with it. It’s very important that [the build] is gradual and the audience is on both their sides and doesn’t judge them for it.
IN THIS FILM YOU PLAY THE OTHER WOMAN AND IN “BREATHE IN” YOU’RE ALSO THE MISTRESS, IS IT CHALLENGING FOR YOU TO PLAY THESE TYPES OF ROLES?
I do feel like I’ve played a lot of serious roles recently so I’m looking forward to something a little lighter, because I find that I take home that character as I’m playing them. I try to take each project as it comes to you rather than trying to contrive it. If I like the director and I think there’s something interesting that I can get my teeth into then I’m drawn to it.
