REBECCA'S TRUE NATURE
The new family flick The KidWhoWouldBeKing
is a modern retelling of thet Arthurian legend for the iPhoiPhone generation, where an averaaverage schoolkid draws the iconic swsword from a building site. We chat to GreatestShowman star RebRebecca Ferguson, who plays the wickwickedked sorceress Morgana.
How did you get INVOLVED IN THE fiLM?
Simon Pegg, my co-star on Mission: Impossible–Fallout, suggested me tto producer Nira Park. I hadn’t actually read the script – I just met with writer Joe Cornish at a café and it was as if he was telling a story for his children. I could see that he was just so in love with this film. He brought out these images of Morgana as a dragon. I thought, “I don’t care about the script. I’m working with you. We’re doing this!”
What was your take on your character?
First of all, you have to be faithful to the actual storyline of Morgana and who she was. But what’s great is that it’s modern times mixed with old. I loved the idea of her unknowingly becoming Mother Nature because her contact with the world has been through the root systems and the rain. You look at her as an evil character, but at the same time, she’s a part of Mother Nature.
What were the costumes like?
There was a lot of collaboration between make-up and costume because everything is supposed to be one. So when I fall out of a tree, the root system has entwined itself around my body and made this incredible dress. There was a lot of debate: How long do the vines hang? How do they move? The texture? The wetness? As soon as I had the dress on and was walking around these spectacular sets, I felt evil and powerful.