(cover_story) s the ominous motto in TV to be its Face of the Future for 2016. If you juggernaut Game of Thrones look at the list of names previous to me, any goes: “Winter is coming.” actress would be chuffed to be on that list, But Natalie Dormer, who with that sisterhood.” playsA Margaery Tyrell – the silk-swathed It’s no surprise to hear her use the power player whose response to the potent term “sisterhood”; Dormer has been question: “Do you want to be a queen?” outspoken about her feminism in the past. was, “No. I want to be the queen” – She champions her sisters in her work (“I has an altogether sunnier outlook than appreciate scripts that empower women,” her fictional rivals. she tells me), but she also walks the walk. And why not? After first garnering In 2014 she supported the UK’s Because plaudits being seduced by Heath Ledger I Am A Girl campaign, calling for an end in 2005’s Casanova, the actor, now 34, to violence against women and children, weathered the obligatory young-thespian with a powerful photo of her wide-eyed, dry spell waitressing and temping, but porcelain-skinned face scrawled with words soon returned to her corsets to play Anne taken from the accounts of abuse victims. Boleyn in the 2007 TV series The Tudors. However, it’s difficult to imagine (When asked why she took the role, given Dormer suffering herself to be overlooked QUEEN all the nudity it involved – she has plenty because of her gender. In conversation, of of sex romps with a brooding Jonathan she comes across as strong-minded and Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII – she said self-aware. Down the line from her base in “I LOOK TO PLAY WOMEN WHO FEEL REAL, A BIT SMARTS CONTRADICTORY; THAT’S WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMAN” Game of Thrones’ most glamorous schemer frankly, “I made the decision because London, her voice is clear and confident, Natalie Dormer tells Hannah James I was unemployed.”) a testament to her upbringing in the affluent about her latest role: fashion maven Via a memorable role in The Hunger commuter town of Reading, in England’s with a flair for feminism Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2 (the south, with her mother, stepfather, who is soldier/filmmaker Cressida, whose iconic a builder, and a younger brother and sister. half-shaved head surely sparked a She’s described her background as “fairly thousand teenage tributes), and less conventional”, and her sensible voice could memorable ones in Captain America: The almost be that of a lawyer or school First Avenger, Madonna’s panned W.E. and principal. If I hadn’t already known she’d Rush, Dormer’s global break-out came been head girl at school (defying bullies to courtesy of the smash-hit fantasy-romp get there), I could have guessed it. Although Game of Thrones. Her latest accolade is an excellent student, she missed out on the Women in Film Max Mara Face of the the grades needed to study history at Future Award, previously held by such Cambridge University, and went to luminaries as Rose Byrne, Emily Blunt drama school in London instead. and Katie Holmes. Given the success she accrued in her “Max Mara is committed to supporting teen years, both academic and sporting NATALIE WEARS Max Mara jacket, top the arts and culture and fostering the next (she was vice-captain of the school netball and pants, maxmara.com generation,” says Dormer. “I’m honoured team and took dance lessons), it’s no 14 | SUNDAYSTYLE.COM.AU 15 (cover_story) surprise she’s self-disciplined enough to overcome their trials and challenges on IRON MAIDEN (clockwise The admission feels like a rare chink reasoned, “so, in a very academic sense, run marathons as a hobby. In April she a day-to-day basis, because that’s what from right) Dormer as in the armour of professional I needed a project to prove I could handle Cressida in The Hunger took part in her second London Marathon, we’re all trying to do.” Games Mockingjay – Part confidence that Dormer wears. being a lead on a film.” where she recorded an impressive time of One of the challenges Dormer herself 2; in the UK’s Because She is confident, however, This kind of strategic career planning 3:51, which was 30 seconds slower than has successfully overcome was the dearth I Am A Girl campaign; about the power of clothes – and is admirable, but unusual, surely, in the her first attempt in 2014. When a reporter of such nuanced, powerfully realistic roles with fiancé Anthony her ability to deploy that power. Byrne; running for freewheeling artistic circles she moves questioned her about it, Dormer said, “I for women – that’s what led her, together charity; on set with Her style forms an important in. It’s more typical, perhaps, of the don’t give a f*ck what my time is; it’s about with her fiancé, director Anthony Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence; front part of the way Dormer thinks Cambridge graduate she so nearly became. ChildLine [the children’s charity she ran to to write and develop her own film script. row at Max Mara; in of herself: “I’m a Londoner, so Dormer won’t be drawn, however, on Captain America: The support] today.” Despite that, it’s a safe bet It’s taken a while, but In Darkness, in which First Avenger; as GoT’s there’s always an element of whether she shares this trait with her most she intends to smash her PB when she runs Dormer plays a blind musician who hears Margaery (at right); classical feminine, but with lauded characters, focusing instead on the in the New York Marathon in November. a murder taking place in the apartment stunning on the red kind of a street edge. I think, rise to worldwide fame they have granted Her no-nonsense manner makes above her, starts shooting next month. carpet; in The Tudors. when you’re a Londoner, there her. Her attitude to this veers between Dormer a sparky interviewee. She firmly “Anthony and I started writing it about is something of a hangover thankfulness and exhaustion. As a cast, sets me straight in response to a question six years ago, because that’s how long it where you’ve still got Vivienne she explains, “Our recognition on the about the frequent violence portrayed in takes to get independent films financed Westwood or Alexander street bumps up every year. What’s most GoT, particularly towards the female and get people’s schedules to line up,” McQueen in the back of your incredible about that is it’s international characters. Do you feel a responsibility she explains. “When we started writing it, head; the construction of the – you’re not just talking about your to portray strong women? I ask. it was because we were both frustrated, beautiful tailoring, but hometown or LA or New York, you’re “I understand what you’re saying,” and yes, because I was frustrated with the deconstruction [too].” She pauses, talking about when you go to a quiet she replies coolly, “and the answer is very quality of characterisation of the scripts then adds with an earthy laugh, obscure town in Spain when you’re on simple: I’m an actor and my bible is my that were coming in front of me. But in “And also, I’m an actor, so I’m holiday with your family.” text. As an actor, my job is to be a vessel those six-and-a-half years, I obviously always wearing one too She’s still stricken with remorse over for the writer’s words. Actors get asked all then had the privilege of Game of Thrones many scarves and hats, one such interaction: “I was in Dublin the time about the subject matter of what and The Hunger Games, and seeing a because that’s what we do. and we were having a family crisis. My they’re saying – journalists should learn revolution-slash-renaissance in three- You’ve got to keep the other half and I popped out for coffee that these are questions for the writers, dimensional females written. So it’s larynx warm, and the – I was in near tears – and a fan stopped not for the actors.” been a very interesting one, because beanie and the sunglasses me in the street. I gave him really short Those writers may make her job I started the process way before the when you’re in the airport, shrift, and the look on his face… It’s difficult at times, she believes, but she has future looked much more optimistic, so there’s also an actor always haunted me. Because that’s your to do it anyway: “Actors are trained to be like it does now.” uniform. I don’t know why we fan, that’s someone who loves the show, Richard III, the most horrific villain in Dormer’s agent deems further do it, it’s just part of our culture.” who has no idea what you’re going history, and also Florence Nightingale, questions about the film and her And for a working member of that through on a personal level, and it’s a saint. We will find a way to personify future, which presumably will include culture, clothes are a crucial tool of the trade. because of them you are employed. “There are some roles where you step into I dream about finding that guy one the costume, and you assume the role day and saying, ‘Look, I’m sorry.’” “I’M SEEING A RENAISSANCE IN THREE- immediately because it changes the way It sounds as if she’s being unduly harsh you move.