An Interview with Romola Garai & Jamie Blackley from ‘Becoming Elizabeth’

Romola Garai and Jamie Blackley are a pair of talented actors that have appeared in numerous shows and films over the course of their careers. Currently, they are starring as Mary Tudor and Robert Dudley in the new STARZ series, Becoming Elizabeth, and we here at NTG were lucky enough to sit down with both of them discuss their new roles on this dynamic new series.
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John Betancourt: Let’s talk a little bit about what attracted each of you to your respective characters?

Romola Garai: I was fascinated by her. I think Anya, who is our amazing showrunner, has written a woman that feels, you know, very real and true. She's like a lot of different things. She's a real contradiction, like, at times, she's incredibly strident, and other times she's very vulnerable. You know, she's very clever, but makes some quite poor decisions. She's got a propensity for violence and also for peacemaking. You know, she was a real mixture of different qualities. And I think, you know, for an actor, you're always looking for kind of, roles that change and she changes scene by scene, and that feels like a really interesting thing to play.

Jamie Blackley: Yeah, I think everyone knows about the, the history of Robert and Elizabeth kind of later on in their life. But I think the thing for me that was interesting was it being this kind of period that felt unexplored and how they ended up where they got to, and, you know, aside from Elizabeth, you know, it's a young man figuring out his place in the world and where he fits in, what he is and isn't allowed to do and become, and I think, yeah, that was super interesting.

John Betancourt: Now you bring up a great point there Jamie, in that… folks in this series are searching for a lot. Some of it internal, some of it external. What would you both ultimately say your characters are searching for in this series?

Jamie Blackley: I think he's searching for where he fits in, in this world. And yeah, what he is and isn't allowed to do I think that he… he certainly by the end hasn't quite worked that one out and goes on a very… very kind of strange and confusing journey throughout. So yeah, I think that's it. He's figuring out his place in the world and who the people are around him that he's known for so long, who they really are.

Romola Garai: Well, I think, you know, the great project of Mary's life was very clear. And that was the restoration of the Catholic faith to Britain at the time. But I think within that kind of desire, there is a sort of deeper desire, which is that you know, her family was blown apart by her father divorcing her mother to marry Amber Lynn. And I think within that kind of longing for the restoration of Catholicism, there must have been some kind of longing for the restoration of her family, you know, and for the restoration of her mother because after Henry the Eighth's divorce to Catherine of Aragon, she was never allowed to see her mother again. So, I think within that kind of quest for, you know, the Catholicism I think there also existed a lot of stuff about her parents and her longing for her mother.

John Betancourt: Now… you both bring up another great point about these characters, specifically how they have a ton on their minds at all times. How did you as actors get into the mindset of playing people that are so conflicted and everywhere all at once?

Romola: Garai: Um, well, I think you don't play the status, you don't play the period, you don't play the Lords and Ladies, they're all just human dilemmas, and you just, you know, if you're going  into a scene where you're talking about somebody else, having a lot of power, you know, I think you can kind of connect that to things in your own life, you know? And, at the core of this story about power and faith and status, there's a story about, a family and an individual's personal relationship with God. And like, I think there's always things that you can use to kind of bring it back. Well, I say always… you can't if the writing is really bad. -laughter- If the writing is good, then you can, and that's what we were able to do with this.

Jamie Blackley: Yeah, I think that I agree with Ramola. I think that so much of you know, we're helped so much by Anya you know, making all of these characters superhuman and that's just yeah, it's just a really helpful thing. And I can relate to so much of what happens to Robert in this series, in terms of, I think everyone can… in terms of like figuring out who you are, your place in the world. What life is going to be for you as a young person, like we've all been through that and you go through so many different versions of yourself, and we're all constantly changing and, and it feels like everyone in this series has a has a journey like that, which is, which is super exciting to watch.

John Betancourt: Keeping that humanity in mind, what do you hope audiences will take away from these characters now that they are being presented in such a human light?

Jamie Blackley: I just hope people dive into the origins of Rob and Elizabeth's relationship and, that's something that we kind of explore in varying different ways and kind of goes in a lot of different directions. But also, that, you know, his place in the world and to her… it's very complicated as well.

Romola Garai: I think that the great sort of achievement of Anya’s writing for me is that it makes you understand how people just… we all just sort of float on the tide of history, you know? Like, you can have any kind of character, you can be born with any kind of skills, but you're sort of subject to the kind of pressures of your time, you know? If you're born in the time of a great patriarchy, if you're born in the time of a great kind of dominant faith, you know? Like these kind of massive forces, will kind of dominate and rule your life. And that's obviously still the case today. And I think it just, when you watch intelligently written history, it gives you the opportunity to examine yourself in the kind of span of history and to see yourself as a kind of, you know, fragment in these kinds of big forces, which is always useful, I think, for people.

John Betancourt: What would you say you’re most proud of when it comes to your time on the show?

Romola Garai: That's a very difficult question. What am I proud of? Well, I did try very hard, I think… to try and make a generally completely like, reviled historical figure, neither likable or unlikable, not kind of restore her or denigrate her, but just to try and represent somebody who has such a sort of horrific legacy as a kind of well-rounded person, which I think is hopefully a useful exercise to just kind of see somebody in their entirety. That was definitely the project of Anya’s writing, and I think I was hopefully able to kind of continue that through the performance.

Jamie Blackley: I mean, mine's kind of broad and lame, but like, I think that I'm all kind of proud of all of all of us in a sense that, that we shot this after a couple of years of, you know, everyone had a really horrible couple of years. And it was just a really special thing to be at work with a bunch of, really creative, lovely people who were so committed to the work and, and really invested in it. Yeah, mine is I'm proud of all of us who worked on it to just be super kind of, you know, just excited to be on board and willing to muck in and enjoy each other's company and creativity and all of that stuff.

John Betancourt: Last question I have for you two today, what are you most looking forward to audiences experiencing this season. Without spoiling anything, of course.

Jamie Blackley: I think I'm I am most looking forward to people experiencing the side of Elizabeth's life that maybe they didn't know too much about, and also just experiencing a show that visually is just so interesting. And the creation of it by Anya is just so wonderful. Yeah, I'm just excited about all of that.

Romola Garai: Ah, I think I'm really excited for like friends and family and people that I've spoken to about the show to see the scenes with Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour. Particularly because I think they really represent something really complicated, which is a relationship between a young woman who has you know, her beauty and her youth and an older man who has this power, and how they interact with each other and how consent and attraction and wealth and status and power, kind of play out in their relationship. And I think Anya’s just absolutely knocked it out of the park with the writing. And then those guys (Alicia von Rittberg & Tom Cullen), just their performances are incredible. And I was so interested in those scenes and I'm really excited to sit and watch the show with other people so I can talk to my friends and family about them.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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