The series sees your character find her power, as a monarch, in a situation where the odds are against her. What do you find empowering yourself?
My relationship with my mum. I find her fascinating given the things that she’s been through – she really gives me the motivation to forget the past and move on and use it as a lesson.
As an actor, it’s empowering to see roles become more available to everyone. Growing up, I would never have dreamed that I could be in a period piece, let alone play a queen, especially at my age. So the fact that there are people out there writing roles for people like me is really important and inspires me to keep going in an industry that is so oversaturated and incredibly difficult to become successful in.
On social media, you’re very candid. You recently assured your followers that “life is still very much dressing gowns, grand designs and pesto pasta”. What keeps you grounded?
Any kind of fame or elevation of my social status is so not my vibe at all. I find the whole thing ridiculous. And I think the more I laugh about it, the easier it is to stay humble.
If I woke up one day and suddenly started thinking that this lifestyle was normal, I wouldn’t be myself. I think my friends and family would pick me up and say ‘what are you doing?’. A lot of my social posts at the moment are me in full head-to-toe glam, but it takes a lot of people that create this image. At the end of the day, I’m kind of a product.
I think it’s so important to show that this is the reality of the job. I would be doing a disservice to myself, but also to people that know me, if I if I acted any other way.
You had your break in theatre in shows like The Lion King, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – if you could do any stage role now, what would it be?
I’d love to do some Shakespeare – maybe Lady Macbeth. Yeah, I’d want to do some really dark, classical texts, because they’re rooted in all acting.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is available to watch on Netflix.