Rebecca Ferguson Talks White Queen

In a recent interview to Collider, actress Rebecca Ferguson talked about the new Starz drama, White Queen, in which she plays Queen Elizabeth. In the interview the actress talked about getting the part, the script, surviving and much, much more.

“Collider:  This is such a fantastic role that every actress must have fought over.

REBECCA FERGUSON:  I’m so happy and so grateful that they actually gave someone who is nobody a chance for this role.  It’s so interesting to portrait these people that we don’t talk about.  We don’t know much about them, at all.

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When you were finally given the script to read, what did you think?

FERGUSON:  I was given three scripts, the same day that I got the part.  I got the part on a Tuesday.  I was flown over to do the last casting on a Monday, and I knew it was between me and another girl, and I knew that she came in from America.  I don’t know who she was.  I never asked.  I don’t want to know.  I just knew that one of us would get it.  So, I went for the casting, and then I walked around London because I couldn’t sleep.  And on Tuesday, a quarter past seven, my agent called and said, “It’s yours.”  I still get goosebumps.  I wanted it so badly, but at the same time, I felt that it was such a good character that anyone who got to play her was just so lucky.

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How did you find a way to understand and relate to what Elizabeth was going through?

FERGUSON:  Well, this is not my history, being Swedish, so I was amazed by the high stakes.  This is what happened, during this time.  You’d be York, then Lancaster.  You’re on the throne, you’re off the throne, you’re in a monastery.  For me, it was just hanging in there with Elizabeth and thinking, “How do you protect your boys?  How do you protect the heir, off and on the throne?”  I was amazed at how quickly things would change, during that time.

Edward comes very close to raping Elizabeth, but then she ends up marrying him.  Was it hard to justify how all of that happened?

FERGUSON:  I call it rape.  He says the intent of rape, but that it’s not a rape scene.  We fought about it.  Can we ever justify love and our actions, even today?  I don’t think we can.  Even though this is the Middle Ages, it’s about a girl who falls in love with a boy.  The consequences are, of course, much more deadly.  It’s life-and-death.  At the same time, you can’t often stop yourself when you fall in love, can you?  You act before thinking.  And her actions weren’t always the good ones, but they’re the ones she made.  For her to become White Queen, all of her family had to change sides, which was a good idea, at that time, because of the stakes.  The stakes were so high.

How ruthless will Elizabeth have to become to survive?

FERGUSON:  As ruthless as she’s asked to be, to save her family and to save her own ass, literally.  You have two sides.  She’s on the thrown and, all of a sudden, they capture Edward, which means she has no power anymore.  Because he’s the man, he’s the King, which means she has to run to sanctuary.  Sanctuary is in a church, which means no one can break sanctuary.  They’re not allowed to go in, but they don’t all abide by that.  It means you bring the gold you have, and you bring the children you have.  Hopefully, some people support you and bring you food.  As soon as you walk outside the church door, you would be killed.  And then, he’s on the thrown again, which means she’s on the throne again.  Talk about a split personality.

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What was it like to work with this talented cast?

FERGUSON:  It’s incredible!  First of all, I got the role of my life, as a first role.  And then, I looked at the cast and went, “Janet McTeer is playing my mum?  Robert Pugh, James Frain and Max Irons are in it?”  I’ve been lucky.  I’ve been lucky to have Janet next to me.  I love Janet.  We bonded, on and off set.  We shared an apartment, for a week, and we would just sit there and talk.  I guess that’s why it worked so well.  We found that, and she’s still my momma.  I’ll call her, and she’ll call me.  She’s a giver.  When we did our scenes, she would change her acting so slightly.  Every time, she would give me different things, like home tutoring without verbally teaching me.  She would never put her thoughts in my head, but she was the best teacher I’ve had, in a very long time. 

And you went from doing this to doing a role in Hercules, with Dwayne Johnson?

FERGUSON:  I went from this to doing the main part in Ridley Scott’s new television movie, The Vatican.  And then, I got Hercules.  John Hurt is my dad in that.  Dwayne is amazing.  I love him!  That cast is also brilliant, with Ian McShane and Rufus Sewell, and lots of Norwegian actors.  It’s cool.  We’re doing it, right now.  After this, I fly back to Budapest.  It’s fun.  I’m lucky.”

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