PHOTOGRAPHED BY SCOTT TRINDLE/AUGUST/RAVEN & SNOW. TEXT BY JAMES MOTTRAM
At just 29 years old, this period
drama poster girl is a veteranGIRL OF THE MOMENTHOLLIDAY
GR A INGER
“Growing up, I got really into Jane Austen and the
Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne),” says
Holliday Grainger. So it’s somewhat ironic that this
rising British star is making her name in lit-flicks
like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, as well as
the scheming Lucrezia in TV show The Borgias. “It
was like, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’” she laughs.
Ensconced in the library of a swanky London
hotel, Grainer is talking up her latest period piece,
My Cousin Rachel, taken from the 1951 Daphne du
Maurier novel. She plays Louise, who falls under the
spell of Sam Claflin’s beguiling older cousin, played
by Rachel Weisz. “It’s a psychological relationship
thriller,” Grainger explains. “It’s [like] Gone Girl
where you make your own conclusions.”
Raised by her graphic designer mother Gian in
Manchester, Grainger started her career in TV when
she was just six. “My mum was really supportive- as long as I kept up with my school work,” she
says. Aside from a brief spell at Leeds University
studying English literature, Grainger has stayed
on screen ever since, including a role alongside
Cate Blanchett in 2015’s Disney classic Cinderella.
Despite her success, she has found the glamorous
side to the industry challenging. “For me, fashion
isn’t important. I’m an actor. I’m not a model.”
Fortunately, she’s found a solution, thanks to
“ethical” designers and the lead of a fellow Brit,
Emma Watson. “She is making the designers aware
of where their fabrics come from, what dyes they
use, where their factories are, how much they pay
people ... that made me rethink the red carpet.”
My Cousin Rachel is in cinemas from June 8.