An Interview with Alicia von Rittberg from ‘Becoming Elizabeth’

Alicia von Rittberg is a rising star in the industry and currently she is taking on the role of Elizabeth I in the STARZ series, Becoming Elizabeth, and we here at NTG were able to sit down with Alicia to talk about her new role and show.
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John Betancourt: I’m curious what it means to you as an actor, to be able to play someone that happens to be one of the most iconic human beings in history?
 
Alicia von Rittberg: I think I just, I just feel incredibly grateful that I was allowed to play this part. And when I first heard about it, when I was first, like, asked to take a video of myself, I actually thought it was a joke. -laughter- Because I would have never imagined that I as a German would…. yeah, be trusted with that role.
 
John Betancourt: How did you as an actor, get into the mindset of playing someone that has so much going on in her life and her mind?
 
Alicia von Rittberg: Well, I think to be honest, I just tried to, I mean, obviously learn as much as possible about the politics and the religion and the culture of that time. But I tried to still develop some kind of blind spot for her later life and years, because I didn't want something that she just couldn't know yet to influence my performance, or like, the portrayal of her. And, I think, that helped me to really concentrate on the, you know, on the emotional side of it. On the, like, the palpable relatable things, that the story, touches on as well. So, yeah, I think that was kind of like the overall approach. And, then I was, I obviously, I had to work on my accent a lot. So, I started half a year in advance to do so. I was allowed to learn how to horse ride, calligraphy, playing the Virginal, ancient Greek, or learning how to dance. So, my life basically looked like what her life must have felt like probably for a bit, because if she wasn't schooled, she was probably outside and on a horse. So that was my, my praises of “becoming Elizabeth.” -laughter-
 
John Betancourt: Becoming Elizabeth, by immersing yourself into Elizabeth.
 
Alicia von Rittberg: Exactly!
 
John Betancourt: Was there any pressure that came with the reality that you’d be playing such an important character?
 
Alicia von Rittberg: Yeah, I mean, the first thing… you look at all the brilliant actresses who played her before and you're like, “holy macaroni, like, how am I…?” -laughs- Yeah, don't even want to compare myself to them. And then yeah, I think it really helped that I played her in her early years, and that was a period in time that just wasn't really taught before, you know? And I think that that made me come down a little bit. But I think that comparison to such brilliant actresses, plus the fact that you're playing someone who, you know, is not a fictional character, you can find her in the books, and you want to, you know, approach it with respect and do a justice, I think, yeah, those two in combination, were a little intimidating in the first place.
 
John Betancourt: So how did you get over all of that?
 
Alicia von Rittberg: Well, I think… so actually, Helen Mirren, because I did look at all the other projects just also to see what they did with it. And yeah, I thought it was very, very interesting. But Helen Mirren said that she, when she was researching, read something a painter said and that was that; he can only show his version of the person who he’s painting, and he's not claiming that it is the person but it's just his version of it. And I think with like shooting a film or like telling the story, we're not doing anything different than that. And I think that really helped me to, to calm down. And yeah, not be too afraid of making mistakes, because there is no right or wrong in that way.
 
John Betancourt: Now to dive a little more into her character… I’m curious as to what you think Elizabeth is ultimately searching for in this first season.
 
Alicia von Rittberg: I think well, first of all, I think she's just trying to stay alive. I think that's kind of like, the duty side of it. She's trying to stay alive. And I think the personal side of it, the young woman, you know, the one we can all relate to, side of it, is that she just wants to, I don't know… just make decisions on her own. Experience life, experience love, have something for herself, that she does not have to, you know, share, or discuss or do.
 
John Betancourt: Last questions for you today, what do you ultimately hope audiences take away from your portrayal of Elizabeth and this portion of her story?
 
Alicia von Rittberg: So, I think what I myself, I love the with the story, because I think it's so important to see the human being behind any kind of like, historical figure or public figure. It's just so interesting, like, what was, what is behind the people, you know, from the books, and to just understand that they were also just, you know, humans and just wanted to, to live and love. It's just something I find so, so important to remember. And then, the other thing, I think… we have still a lot of work to do in the way we see female leaders. And I think what I what I tried, what we try… is to… by giving some insight into her earlier years… I think you allow her to have a soft voice to be vulnerable, to be emotional. And yet, she gained some kind of respect, and has strength through that vulnerability. And to understand that kind of strength rather than a loud, kind of strength is, I think, something that is very hard to understand sometimes. But it’s very important to process and get used to, more and more.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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