“Young, incredibly attractive, vibrant male with a lot of energy, a lot of intelligence and wit. Charisma. The parallels just speak. It’s method acting – he’s cheating! He’s got such intensity, such focus. You get drawn in to it – it’s easy to play a woman who becomes infatuated with him. He sucks you in. Those eyes and …. it’s easy.” “It was quite an initiation to my first movie. By the end of the day my inhibitions had completely gone and the crew had all seen more of me than I anticipated”
(On Jonathan Rhys Meyers)
“The swordplay in Casanova is beautiful. I’m actually disappointed that there isn’t more, I suppose I’m quite violent. I took a stage combat class at school and developed quite a sword collection.”
“I miss a lot of the people I worked with. I miss people bowing at me…Joke! But it was time to move on. Hopefully, she will be one of just many characters that I grow a strong affection for in playing them.”
“I know people think that acting is not quite the occupation of grown-ups, but it is actually the ultimate learning process: You get a multitude of experiences, all for the price of one life.”
“I think the thing about Anne Boleyn is there is an exotic quality to her. This is a woman who wasn’t raised in the English court. She was in the French court and Hapsburg court. She has a continental exotic quality to her. She’s quite a fiery woman and incredibly intelligent. So I think Anne really stood out – fire and intelligence and boldness – in comparison to the English roses that were flopping around court, she would’ve stood out. And Henry noticed that.”
“Jonathan [Rhys Meyers] is a wonderful human being. I had several dinners and coffees with him beforehand to talk about it and even a good cry with him as we stood in Kilmainham at dawn before the scene. ‘By the time I walked on to the scaffold, I hope I did have that phenomenal air of dignity that Anne had because she went out in the most incredible manner. It was one of the best experiences of my career so far.”
“My boyfriend even bought me a 19th Century infantry blade for my birthday”
“You don’t turn down a great job because it requires a corset and you’ve worn one before. I consider each project on individual merit.”
“Still to this day I can’t place why. I’d actually love to meet myself as a kid and see if I could figure it out.”
(When asked about being bullied as a child)
“I love all history because it’s storytelling. But, I will always have a special place in my heart for the Tudor dynasty.”
“There was an obvious concern at home because actors are all wandering troubadours, aren’t we?”
“You can really sink your teeth into it. I found the experience of her execution incredibly harrowing. It was very upsetting. I had to do all the lines, and as I was saying them, I got the feeling I was saying goodbye to a character. And, of course, you have to deal with the obvious sympathy and empathy to the historical figure. I was a real crucible of emotions for those few days. Which is a gift. Because when you’re holding a draft, a mirror up to life as humbly as we can, it’s one of the greatest opportunities we can be given, to deal with mortality. I felt very, very privileged and very, very grateful to have that experience.”
“I might seem a bit of a handful to directors because I have been told that I have a very dominant personality ‘ and I don’t think you could print what Anthony says about me!”
“I did indulge myself in a lot of history reading, to inform myself as to who the real woman was. As far as other actresses’ portrayals, though, I tried to stay clear. It muddles your process, I find.”
“I was frequently told at drama school that I was thinking too much.”
“I’ve spent a lot of recreational time walking around historical castles and estates, in Britain and Europe, and so I know what the real thing looks like”
Others on Natalie
“Natalie is extraordinary. She’s such a technician, as an actress. Natalie trained. She’s the epitome of when training meets talent in the best way possible. She’s naturally gifted and comes alive on camera. It’s a fantastic mixture.”
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
“Her Anne Boleyn is extraordinary. It’s more serious and sensitive.”
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
“I can’t say enough about Natalie. She’s very intelligent, as a person, but she didn’t let her intelligence stand in the way of embodying this lively, complex woman. We asked her to step up to the plate, and she stepped up to the plate big-time. She was hurt by a couple of negative notices at the end of season one, I think, when she was dismissed as being a bit of fluff, as just playing your typically manipulative, scheming bitch, and that was all she was capable of portraying. She came to us and said, ‘Would you throw everything at me this season? I want to show them that that’s not true, that I can do it.’ Well, over the course of the season, either directly or indirectly or in dreams, she’s drowned, stabbed, burned and beheaded; she loses two children; she loses her life at a very young age; she loses Henry; she realizes that her father has abused and manipulated her. She has to go through many, many things, and Natalie did it. She really did it.
“Natalie, I hope, I trust, has a great career ahead of her.”
Michael Hirst
