Victoria and Albert were an active pair – in all senses
Jenna Coleman tells about playing the passionate queen – and the advantages of going out with a fellow actor
In a little black dress and a pair of skyscraper heels, Jenna Coleman is sitting in a room steeped in royal history. It was in this once grand, if now slightly dog-eared, private chamber on the first floor of Kensington Palace that, in June 1837, Alexandrina Victoria received the news that she was the new Queen of England. “Her uncle, William IV, had died in the night and she was standing here in her dressing gown,” says Coleman. “At just 18, she was about to become the most powerful woman in the world.”
Having just spent seven months filming the ambitious eightpart ITV drama that charts the young Queen’s life, Coleman has got to know her intimately.
Victoria was just 4ft 11in tall, something that Coleman, at 5ft 3in, can sympathise with.
“Maybe being small – and her feet didn’t even reach the floor when she sat on the throne – was part of what made her so obstinate, impatient, forthright and formidable,” she says. “It’s difficult to dominate and have your opinions listened to when you are so much shorter than everyone else in the room.”
Aged 30, she has, she says, “learnt to own my height” and sees it at times as a positive advantage. “It makes you look a lot younger than you are – and, hopefully, people won’t query me playing an 18–year-old.”
Like the diminutive monarch, Coleman’s energy and spark can command even this cavernous room. She has the authority and diction of a stylish young Londoner, although “grasp”, for example, is pronounced to rhyme with “asp”, the snake. If you cut her in half, she says, the name of her home town, Blackpool, would be written through her like the proverbial seaside rock. is being billed as the new
and aimed squarely at the same Sunday night audience, although it’s somehow so much better than that. Written by novelist Daisy Goodwin, produced by the makers of
– which will be showing against it on BBC One – it’s both a compelling story and a visual treat, studded with acting talent, including Coleman’s good friend Tom Hughes as Albert, the queen’s husband, and Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne, prime minister and Victoria’s mentor.
Coleman is perhaps best known for her turn as Clara Oswald, companion to two Time Lords – Matt Smith, then Peter Capaldi – in but she has also had parts in Stephen Poliakoff ’s and
Not at all bad for a former poppet.
In the latter she played Jasmine Thomas, a character whose storylines included having a lesbian affair and battering a policeman to death
It was her partner, David (6ft 4in tall, neck wider than face), who disagreed.
“Trump is a phoney, a jerk. He’s dangerous.”
Jane, who was drinking something pink and strong in a fancy glass, piped up. “I have never voted before. Ever. But I’m voting this time. No question. with a chair leg. She embraced the challenges of playing Victoria, too, and counts them now, on fingers manicured in a shade of royal, ruby red. “The most difficult thing was getting the cut-glass accent absolutely right while still making her emotionally accessible,” she says. “But I also had to learn to waltz, to speak a bit of French, play some Beethoven on the piano, master side-saddle riding while wearing a corset.” The series is an intimate portrait of Victoria’s marriage to Albert, based on journals which contain the Queen’s most private reflections. The devoted couple had nine children in 17 years. “They were a very active couple in every sense,” Coleman laughs. “And we certainly don’t shy away from the fire and the passion. Often, it’s in the bedroom that they work through arguments, too. Or they’d just be talking about the events of the day, or their feelings. “Those scenes were great to than a reflection of income. But in America, aspirations matter and that number has dwindled since the Great Recession. Today, 41 per cent now describe themselves as working class, up from 23 per cent in 2007.
For the first time since the Second World War, a clear majority of Americans believe that their children will be worse off than they are. And they are upset. Trump has introduced bar talk into the political arena, and the more polite America cringes, the more the rest laps it up. His unique combination of money, mouth and malice is pitch perfect for this age of anger and brings out Uncle Sam’s inner bastard. As the writer Thomas Frank told me: “People see Trump and they think, ‘Awesome, a bully on our side.’”
And yet, back in New York, logic and poll numbers told me that there aren’t enough Mingo Junctions to carry him all the way. I put this to Trump’s brand new campaign manager (the third in three months), Kellyanne Conway. A veteran film with Tom. We had exactly the same instincts and for me he’s the perfect Albert.”
She has been comparing notes with her co-star, Matt Smith, who is also currently playing a royal – The Duke of Edinburgh – in a forthcoming Netflix series,
“We’ve also been talking about the pressures of living a life you didn’t choose but were born to, and the private versus the public persona.”
Years of being in the spotlight may have given Coleman some insight. She’s a dab hand at deflecting nosy questions about her private life, neither confirming nor denying, for example, that she is still in a relationship with
star Richard Madden. What she will say, though, is that there are advantages and disadvantages to being in a relationship with another actor.
“It’s always great to have advice or talk through a scene with someone who knows your world because you have a shorthand which makes things