FELICITY JONES
Since skyrocketing to stardom in The Theory of Everything, this actress has lit up our screens with her performances. BRITISH ACTRESS
Have you met Miss Jones? In one or other of her guises, almost certainly. It’s a testament to Felicity Jones’ talent that, though still in her early thirties, her career has encompassed such a variety of roles, starting at the age of 11 as the evil Ethel Hallow in ITV’s series The Worst Witch.
As a teenager, she voiced Emma Carter in The Archers, who she played for a decade, taking her from a schoolgirl to a wife and mother at the centre of a lurid fraternal love triangle. While on the show, Jones read English at Wadham College, Oxford, where her studies informed her acting. ‘Virginia Woolf was the first author I really connected with, that difference between the words we say and the thoughts we think,’ she recently told Bazaar. ‘I loved her endeavour of trying to describe the stream of consciousness, the chaotic nature of thoughts and opening up interiority. In some ways I try to do that on screen; I’m always interested in the disparity between what the characters are saying and what they’re thinking.’
Indeed, Jones’ acting is remarkably nuanced – she absorbs herself into her work, getting to the heart of the character with true perspicuity. Take, for example, her wideeyed portrayal of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, where she perfectly captured Austen’s naive heroine.
Her literary background must have aided many of her performances: she took on Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited; Miranda to Helen Mirren’s Prospera in a film adaptation of The Tempest; as well as Charles Dickens’ mistress Nelly Ternan in The Invisible Woman.
However, it was when she appeared alongside Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything that Jones was propelled to international recognition. Her portrayal of Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. In October, she was awarded British Artist of the Year at Bafta Los Angeles, an excellent predictor of future stardom – prior recipients have included Kate Winslet, Tilda Swinton and Helena Bonham Carter.
This winter Jones appears in three very different films. In Inferno – the sequel to The Da Vinci Code – she’s racing about Florence in a bid to stop a global plague; and she stars alongside Sigourney Weaver as a young mother diagnosed with a terminal illness in A Monster Calls. ‘Sigourney and I connected very quickly, we had a very similar approach and I’m a big fan of hers. She’s a real role model for actresses – she set a precedent of seriousness about her work.’
Her biggest part, however, and one that marks her transition to blockbuster superstar, is in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, playing the impetuous resistance fighter Jyn Erso. ‘I loved the action side of it because it’s something I’ve never done before. I learnt how to do kung fu and now I’ve become obsessed with stunts and being on wires.’
She brings something unique to each role, imbuing each one with her subtle, compelling flair. One thing’s for certain: Miss Jones is in no danger of being typecast.