After spending so much time with Diana, how difficult was it to finally let her go and let her go?
To be honest, I still haven't let go. And it was a very special experience to come back to London now for these interviews. I haven't been here since filming. I have always associated this place with other feelings. Now I see this city with completely different eyes. At every corner, on every street, I imagine Diana might have walked this way. And it will definitely be years before anything changes. And then there's the theme of the film, the psychological pain Diana suffered. This pain really got under my skin. I can't just take it off after three days.
Was exposing yourself to these feelings really only a good experience or sometimes an unpleasant one?
Playing her was so beautiful and just pure joy. The effect she had on people and her power are still present. I also absorbed this power physically in addition to the pain. And that too is a very special experience that has changed me.
How have you changed?
Let me put it this way: I try to be nice to other people, to treat them well. I try not to think too much, let my instincts guide me and approach others with love. I've learned that this is how I can win people over. Actually, that's a basic concept if you treat each other with respect. I believe in treating other people the way I would like to be treated and I get back what I put into it. But Diana practiced this on a completely different level. And even though the film is set in this highly emotional, sad setting and I'm playing an unhappy woman, I've never had so much fun making it. And that left its mark on me.
What are these tracks?
It's fun to walk up to people and unabashedly touch their faces. Although I'm not sure if I'll take over that from her. There is this invisible barrier between people. And Diana had the ability to push those boundaries and show her emotions in that way too. And living that within the framework of that role or wearing it like an emotional costume felt incredibly good.
With what consequences?
It kind of opened me up emotionally. I felt bigger playing it even though it was at rock bottom.
Didn't you have any reservations about playing the role, considering that Diana's children, William and Harry, might see that low point again later on screen?
Of course, there is a moral debate as to whether, with projects like this, you take more from a woman who has already been taken so much, just to project your imagination onto her and create a new myth. You collect as many facts as possible in order to speculate on this basis and let your imagination run wild. I am aware of that.
I think Diana instinctively wanted to bring people together. That's just my guess though. But at the end of the day, the fact is that she succeeded, whether that was really her goal in life or not. Maybe she wasn't even aware of it. You know, I believe in art and how we can use it to reach people. Diana's attitude and life still resonates. Til today. Those are just my thoughts, and maybe I'm completely wrong. But the fact that we still talk about her and learn from her shows that she had an impact on many people's lives.
What have we learned from Diana?
It spurred discussions that were previously stigmatized or taboo that continue to this day. We are still working through these stigmas and taboos. And she was a big part of it. I don't know whether we succeeded in everything in the presentation and whether it corresponds to the truth. But that wasn't our goal at all. We wanted to honor her with this film and give the viewer a chance to honestly introspect and reflect on certain things that are connected to her life.
The film shows Lady Diana, the mother of William and Harry, at her lowest point. How does the actress deal with it?
How did you study Diana to end up becoming so much like her?
I looked at everything about her, footage, interviews, pictures, just everything I could get my hands on. That is the central question, and unfortunately I don't have a more exciting answer to it. Because it sounds relatively simple. I tried to consider all the perspectives that people had on her, and then came up with my own opinion in the end. But that's pretty much how we all do it when it comes to celebrities, isn't it? We think we know them, but actually know very little about them.
And how does all the research become a living game?
In the end I had to forget all of that and rely on my acting instincts. At some point I realized that in order to do her justice, I had to be as impulsive and present as possible. I also knew that the intensive preparation could get in my way. But the goal then is not to let it happen.
And does that work then?
I prepared myself as well and extensively as I could. All in all, I worked on it for at least four months and then came to the shooting very motivated. I got a great stage direction on the first day or two. Pablo (Larrain, the director - FAS) said to me: You've got the part, really. Now you need to relax and calm down. Trust her and trust yourself. You know everything to play them, now just be yourself. - I was so dying to play them. And Pablo had to tame me first.
When playing, where did you draw the fine line between imitating and mimicking their body language and facial expressions?
I wanted to imitate her as best as possible. And that was a risk. Actually, I'm not very good at it. Although I often imitate my friends when I tell stories about them. But I'm not usually the kind of actress who pushes the envelope and goes all out to create something amazingly new. There was a possibility that I would end up just standing there in a wig and playing something that moves me but doesn't move the audience because it has nothing to do with Diana. But then I just let myself fall into the work full of confidence.
I had an amazing acting teacher and a dialect coach with whom I learned her way of speaking. He was hugely important. Diana was such a special person and I like her so much that I had a lot of fun decoding all of her little forms of communication. It felt like a giant jigsaw puzzle that I wanted to put together. She really fascinates me. And so I absorbed everything. Of course, there was also the fantastic screenplay as a solid basis, which is written very precisely in the portrayal of her person. I've always said the sentences fit her mouth perfectly.
You know how it feels to be followed by paparazzi or to read about your private life in the media. Was that the part of the role preparation that you didn't have to research?
Yes, definitely to a certain extent. But even without those experiences I would have been able to see Diana living like a caged animal in a cage if that's the image you want to choose. She was a person who had more to say - and had no platform to do it. Your whole life is twisted. And she responds with a kind of indirect communication born of desperation. For this interview, we're sitting here in this room. But at the same time there are actually many more people here who will read the interview later and on whose expectations your questions are also based. That sounds a bit crazy when you think about it. And I also know the feeling of being constantly looked at. At least that's how it feels.
Even if nobody recognizes you right now?
Sometimes I get recognized, but sometimes I don't. And then you feel like you're reacting paranoid. Of course that changes you. But Diana's kind of popularity and fame played out on a whole different level. That was unique. I don't want to sound like an idiot here and compare this monumental icon with me. But I know that everything I say and do will be interpreted differently. Because there is no such thing as an objective truth, not in interviews and not in pictures. The same person looks very different from different perspectives. I too had to deal with this complex situation and live with it. So do I have any clever answers to the related questions? No.
Everyone thinks they know you, too, although of course that's not the case. How did you make your peace with that?
At some point you have to let go. There is no other way. If you worry too much, at some point it becomes unhealthy. I can't control how people perceive me. And the only way to deal with it is to just let it happen. And not everyone has to like me. That is okay.
What was the weirdest fake story you've read about yourself?
About me? No idea. Google it.
You once said you would never accept a role in a film project if you knew in advance how it would end. Do you need that level of uncertainty when gaming?
I like films that are made with curiosity and not didactically. Films that come with a certain truth are not complex enough for me. Movies have to feel like real life to me, like an internal process that I can now see externally on screen. I want to sit in the cinema and think: They managed to portray something that I've felt in a similar way before. And cinema can perform this miracle. Because moving images and sound that have no relation to the time we normally experience in everyday life can feel like an inner experience.
I think cinema is the art form with which you can imitate what it feels like to be human. And that's why it's my favorite form of expression. There are definitely people who feel something like this when they look at a picture. But for me it's the cinema. For me, ideally, films should be like mirrors in which I suddenly recognize myself and think: dammit, that's me! Anyone who claims to know something for sure is lying to themselves.
Have you imagined what it would be like to actually be part of a royal family?
I actually thought about it a lot, during the shooting and in the preparation every day.
How would you have reacted to the circumstances?
Hard to say. If I was exactly in Diana's position? I think there are people who can function on different levels, separate things and play two roles. However, I also believe that if you do this for years, it is not healthy and leaves its mark. I'm sure I'm not very good at it. When I was younger, I was pretty dreaded about interviews. I thought it was a big deal, and also because of that, scary. The advice I've been given the most is: Just be someone else, don't let the situation get to you so much.
Play a role?
I agree! Thank you. play a role But honestly, I don't even know what that means. Even when I'm acting in front of the camera, I'm not actually acting. I find this idea so far off, I have no idea how to do it convincingly. But who knows? Maybe I would love the prince and we would be very happy together. We wouldn't be living a big lie. I could very well imagine that.
Diana wanted to free herself from the overwhelming burden of the rules at court by making her own rules. Are there rules you live by?
Yes I think so. I trust my feelings and instincts and then actually always know what I want and what is good for me. And I want a lot. I love getting to the bottom of things, I dig down to the core of something. Even if it can end up being very painful for everyone involved. I can hurt myself or the people involved in this quest. Although I try to avoid that.
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