00:00Charlotte, we are here at the premiere of Duchess.
00:05Tonight's the big night.
00:06How are you feeling?
00:07What's going through your mind?
00:08I'm trying to enjoy it.
00:11It's kind of nervous.
00:12This was my baby for a long time, you know, co-writing it and producing it and all these
00:17things.
00:18So it's exhilarating but very nervous at the same time.
00:22What would you say has been your favorite part about being involved with this project?
00:26Is it co-writing?
00:27Is it being the ingenue?
00:29What would you say?
00:31What I love about writing is you're literally at the...
00:35You can't...
00:36Sorry, it's really hard because I'm hearing all these different...
00:38No, what I love about writing, acting and producing is you're there from the very beginning
00:44to the very end.
00:45Right?
00:46So you've got this germ of an idea and then you do it as an actor and then as a producer
00:51you help see it through, make sure it gets made, then at the end...
00:54And again, this is like the best, most rewarding part when you're there and you sing on the
00:57big screen with an audience.
01:00It's very chaotic to be at a red carpet, right?
01:02We just had a bus go by, it was honking, people are talking.
01:05How do you manage this stress?
01:08I try and just focus on what it is, right?
01:11I'm focusing on the movie and trying not to focus on all the noise around, like traffic
01:17and all the distractions.
01:19But no, I'm just so excited to see it on the big screen with an audience, really.
01:26It's very rewarding to see, you know, I love to see the reaction of the audience.
01:31It's laughing, crying, screaming, whatever it is.
01:33I love it.
01:34Tell our audiences what you think the genesis of this movie is.
01:41It's called an actions, revenge, gangster movie, but it's got so many layers, it's got
01:48so many things.
01:49You know, it's about really love, portrayal, power, and I think any great film, any great
01:57gangster film has that, you know, it's a gangster film, but it's about all these other layers
02:03as well.
02:04Like The Godfather, it's about family, you know, all these other films, all these gangster
02:07films, action film, whatever it is, it's always about other things as well.
02:11You know, that's what makes a great story.
02:13I want to get your opinion on female protagonists in this genre.
02:19Do you think there's enough of them or how does this movie fit into the genre?
02:23Female protagonists, there needs to be more.
02:27There really needs to be more, hence why I wrote my own.
02:30I feel that good scripts are hard to find.
02:34Good scripts with good female characters are even more hard to find.
02:39And I think it's very empowering and I love to see women and, you know, great characters.
02:45It doesn't matter if it's female or male, but I just think there should be more female
02:49roles, female protagonists.
02:51Absolutely.
02:52I feel like sometimes female characters can be pigeonholed, right, to just being the pretty
02:56face or, you know, the honey trap.
02:59How does this character defy those stereotypes?
03:05This role, if you just read the script and didn't have a female name, you would think
03:09it's literally for a male because it is a typical badass action from start to finish.
03:17And this is why we wanted to just say, me and my co-writer Neil, who's also the director,
03:22wanted to literally say let's do exactly what, you know, we want to write exactly a kind
03:27of gangster film that we love, like the Scarface, the Goodfellas, but let's make it a woman.
03:33Let's just switch it.
03:34Let's do exactly what a man would do, but let's make it a woman.
03:37And how has this role differed from other characters that you've played in the past
03:41or how do you find this fitting into your legacy?
03:45It's very, very different to any role I've played before.
03:49Just her journey overall.
03:51It's very, it's kind of, it's got a My Fair Lady vibe.
03:54A girl in a very small fish tank world who then meets the love of her life and thrusts
04:02her into this criminal underworld.
04:05It was challenging because I've never had such a role that's so, the arc is so profound.
04:13It's massive.
04:14She starts off, as I said, in a small bubble in the UK and then becomes the leader of one
04:19of the biggest diamond cartels in Europe.
04:23So yeah, it was just making sure emotionally that I was, I got it right.
04:29And that was very, very important for me.
04:31To make sure that I'm not overplaying it, but at the same time underplaying it.
04:34At the same time, it's a gangster movie, right?
04:36So I think I could push the needle as far as I could.
04:40And I think with some of the best gangster movies out there, Scarface, Tony Montana,
04:45he plays that pretty badass and pretty out there, but it works.
04:48I think with this genre, if any genre, you can really push the needle in terms of acting
04:52and how far you can play it.
04:54How big you can play the character.
04:56From what we've heard from everyone we've talked to so far, it just seems like a lot
04:59of fun.
05:00We've heard them say, watch this on a Friday night, a Saturday night with your friends
05:04and family and just have a good time.
05:06Yes, absolutely.
05:07It's definitely one of those films.
05:09Just have fun.
05:12But again, it's one of those films that is going to hopefully make you cry and make you
05:16laugh and all the other things as well.
05:19So it's got substance and layers to it and it's got a real story to it.
05:25So exciting.
05:26Well, we cannot wait to head into the theatre and watch the premiere.
05:29Congratulations on the big night.
05:31Thank you so much.
05:33All right.
05:34Have fun in there.
05:35Thank you, my love.
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