q&a: rosie fortescue Describe a memory you have from your first acting job. Julia Jekyll! Oh. [Laughs] So. There is an episode where it is Julia's birthday and it had been scheduled to be filmed on mine as a surprise. If you haven't seen the show, it is hilariously campy, this show, very much a treasure of its time. There were a lot of us kids on set and it was fantastic because the adults were so fun, they were so hammy and as a kid, I felt like I was with people just like me. I never felt like I was talked down to or not as important, so when I had the call for this episode, on my birthday I was actually quite upset because it was my birthday and I wanted to go back to London to see a proper show with my mum. The day finished and everyone left one by one with some happy birthdays and cards, so I felt a bit demoralised and then when I left the studio there was this huge outdoor party set up for me and it was so lovely. In the episode we made this cake that had EVERYTHING in it, so outside, they had all these ingredients and all us kids just threw everything into it: sprinkles, chocolate chips, banana slices. God, it was terrible! I have never had such a kind experience on a set since. What is your proudest accomplishment thus far? Oh, god, two? Three of them. Working with Helen [Mirren]. The way the collaboration with Drake [Doremus] and Anton [Yelchin] turned out, the freedom we both had in the role, the dialogue, the characters and their story. And, then, I think, just pipping those is the accomplishment of being here with the right people around me. I'm very proud of my friends and family. I love the work of my friends, especially, and the immensity of being surrounded by talented, brilliant, impossibly clever people. It's really awe-inspiring to have friends like Claude [Amick], Helen [Blackburn], Rian [Theisen] who do the opposite of me - music - and tell such incredible stories in three minutes that take me three hours. I am so proud of having good friends. How has your career changed since it started? I have more control over saying no. At the start, it was no a lot said to me - a lot of rejection, a lot of second, third, fourth place and waiting anxiously for a phone call and being sure I'd never make it. Now, I have more control. As an actress, we take a lot of direction and not just from who you expect, but managers, agents, producers; it's not very common we have a lot of say in the direction of our roles, but that's changing and I'm really thrilled with being more included and involved. Are there any roles you regret taking? Any that you regret not taking? So, I couldn't make The Imitation Game work with my schedule, which was really devastating, but then I saw the finished product and I think: it worked as it should because here is this startlingly beautiful film with fantastic performances and I don't know if it would have been the same with me. It's funny how these things work out. I'm very happy I told the stories I did in that year, that I got to represent another side of Britain in Testament of Youth. For me, I know there has been a lot of questions around type-casting, around period films and I just: I love my home and I love telling British stories and working in British cinema. There's something really lovely about seeing my home's history brought to rich life, allowing people all over the world to understand the very British way of looking at life: very self-deprecating! and, more importantly, why. I don't regret any role I have taken because each one has been very important to my development, either on who I met, or who I worked with. It's very en vogue lately to question a certain director and I'm delighted I worked with him three times and I would, easily, work with him again. Separating work from the personal seems to be something very difficult now for audiences, for people. Are there any actors you want to work with or not work with? [Pause] There's an interesting dichotomy in creative work, I think, in that we see creating as this really uniting, very human element and, yet performance is so divisive. It's a personal, almost intimate relationship people have with performance, be it musical, theatrical or sculpture. When I was a teenager, I was very into French New Wave films, the whole spirit of youthful idealism, that the young can change everything against saturated backgrounds. Everything seemed impossible cool in these films and I desperately wanted to be part of that, well, joie de vivre and I suppose it came to head in 2003 with Les Innocents? I felt sort of entitled to my taste; like, no one else could get it, like I didn't want to share it. I thought I was the first person to discover Agnès Varda. I wouldn't watch films with people and I guarded all my favourites. I look back now on it, on that period, and I can see how I've grown into someone interested in the blockbusters and American cinema from the 80s and 90s I refused to like. I always wanted to be different, so for a long time I refused to admit what I like and I tried to put myself in this box of precocious rebellion and wise-behind-her-years intelligence when I really just wanted to watch Jurassic Park [Laughs] As someone who has had a chance now, to be a working actor, I still have this love for the cinematic innovation that represented the 50s and 60s in France, but I really appreciate the constant churn in Hollywood, especially, and British cinema, of course, to try something new, to introduce new people, to avoid the muse and embrace the role. The modern cult of celebrity makes it hard, I think, to separate the person from their character and there is an expectation from audiences that the person on film must behave a certain way to befit their character. I suppose, you know, to answer the actual question I want to work with everyone and absorb their style, their way of creation and how they exist in that very fine demarcation from fame and reality. There is a risk, in my opinion, of working with the most famous that you're going to be working with a brand, more than a person, and creative control then becomes very murky, it becomes very determined by agents, managers and studio heads. Creative license has to be complete, shared. Working with someone who can play the game, it's less about you, them, the story you're bringing into life and more aboout -- you know -- how does what I say sell the film, sell me, and how does this work within my reputation? I try to avoid working with those people. How does your family take to your public persona? Fine. I don't discuss my family. What has been the single most influential relationship you have had? Drake [Doremus] is very important to me because he taught me what acting could look like and how directors and actors should interact. I have felt such trust from someone and I've really brought into each role since. In terms my career, he has made a difference. Personally, my relationship with John [No surname] has been very important to me because when you create your own family there is a lovely sense of becoming an adult. It isn't just that, though, it's the way he has loved and supported me and to feel like there is someone I can be myself with and who I trust to always be who they are: it's a wonderful companionship and that makes every bad day worth it, every good day even more exciting to celebrate. As of this exact moment, who is the most important person in your life? why? A very special little girl. My relationship with her has driven most of my latest film choices. I've always been a Roald Dahl fan, so being offered a chance to bring The BFG to life was fantastic and even moreso, that this little girl who I adore can share in one of my films. I think more now about what I choose to do because I want her to be proud of the work and I want to leave her a legacy of playing strong women. If you could go back in time to give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? Have more fun. Cambridge is going to be hard, but you will love it if you do the work. Don't date that person. Don't judge that person. You should smile more. Call your mum more often. What advice would you give to someone looking to get into your field? You're going to be rejected. And it is going to hurt. Creatives, I think we suffer with that. It's very subjective, expression, and I think people coming into this field have to learn to accept no and to grow from it. You also have to learn that "No." is a complete sentence you can give people. Expect to fight hard. Expect to have to say No to be honest to yourself. Don't take a role just to say you're working