A MAJESTIC TRANSFORMATION
How Victoria star Jenna Coleman went from being a pneumatic, orange-tanned soap actress to a slender, classy friend of a prince
Acertain type of elegance is required to carry off a red carpet look — and ‘less is more’ is not a bad rule of thumb. this rule, alas, was either not known to — or went unheeded by — a brassy young brunette who turned up at one such glitzy event at London’s royal albert Hall in 2006.
the fake tan bottle had been squeezed dry; the make-up applied with gusto. the heaving bosom strained to escape from a skimpy lace frock. the big hair would have looked at home on a WAG.
today, this is an image that Victoria actress Jenna coleman, 30, would rather you consigned to history.
after all, to play the formidable monarch on the ITV Sunday night drama, alongside tom Hughes and rufus Sewell, she’s had something of an eliza Doolittle- esque transformation from ladette to lady.
Having developed a certain froideur and overhauling her look, even mingling with royalty, Jenna has sped several rungs up the society ladder.
ten years ago, Jenna-Louise, as she was known before dropping the second part of her name in 2013, was enjoying a small degree of fame after taking part in a lesbian scene in emmerdale.
Born in Blackpool to middle- class parents (her father has a business fitting interiors, having recovered from a bad spell in 2007 when his firm was shut down with debts of £250,000), she was offered a place at York University to study english.
But she turned it down to play Jasmine thomas in the long-running soap. Her big break came in 2012, when she took the role of clara Oswald in Doctor Who alongside Matt Smith and later Peter capaldi. it was over the next two years that her transformation took place — and the result is remarkable.
indeed, when she was photographed last year at the polo with Prince Harry at ascot, Berkshire (he had his hand on her knee), she could easily have been taken for a high- society beauty born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
So who is behind this transformation? according to a well-placed source, Miss coleman’s agent, conor Mccaughan, is focused on making her a Hollywood star. He turned Michael Fassbender into a movie a-lister and it’s said he wants to work the same magic with Jenna.
to this end, he has employed the services of rebecca corbin-Murray, a highly regarded stylist who helped to create the fashionable but elegant look of Downton abbey’s Lily James and Jessica Brown Findlay.
She is responsible for ensuring Miss coleman looks suitably high-class at red carpet appearances and chat show interviews. She has introduced her to key players in the fashion industry and made sure every designer in town is eager for Jenna to showcase their clothes.
Miss corbin-Murray told a newspaper
that Jenna is ‘insightful’ to work with and ‘likes a vintage sort of feel to things’.
Meanwhile, the Percy & Reed salon in London — a favourite of A-listers such as Anna Friel, Diane Kruger and Sophie Dahl, where a cut and blow- dry can cost £300 — says on its website that Jenna is a client.
The Jenna who walks the red carpet nowadays is virtually unrecognisable from the girl who turned up at the Royal Albert Hall in 2006.
SHE’S lost a huge amount of weight. A leading actress must be a size ten or under. Jenna, who looked about a size 16 in the older picture, is now a size eight.
The untamed hair has been cut into a chic style just above the shoulders, with flattering auburn lowlights.
Her make-up is expertly applied and there is a hint of a healthy, natural-looking tan.
Gone are the revealing High Street dresses. Instead she’s turned to blue-chip designers such as Alexander McQueen, Burberry and Mulberry for expertly tailored dresses that are all the more beguiling for what they conceal — and are favourites of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The first screening of Victoria at Kensington Palace last month was a case in point. Jenna was a vision in an outfit by British designer erdem, one of Sam Cam’s favourites. While the demure, knee-length dress concealed her tiny figure, the floral print and her subtle make- up made the effect striking.
But it takes more than a well-cut dress to make a lady. One’s demeanour must also undergo a subtle change.
Note how in the picture taken in 2006, Jenna is looking straight at the camera and has a wide smile. Posing now, the smile is chilly, the head tilted very slightly to one side. Its effect is haughty, rather than approachable.
Jenna’s down- to- earth Lancashire accent has also been softened. In the ten years since her emmerdale lesbian scene, it has become less pronounced.
In TV interviews in 2013 and 2014, a faint trace of her Northern roots could still be heard. But in interviews in May to promote her film Me Before You, it’s gone.
While her new cut-glass english accent is not what you might call BBC received pronunciation, it’s rather like how properly posh people speak nowadays — with a hint of estuary to avoid sounding too monied.
And she’s cultivated an upper-class imperiousness.
On Good Morning Britain, Kate Garraway asked Jenna about a photo of her and Prince Harry at Ascot, saying: ‘I’m assuming you were together because of research into the Royal Family? Is that what it was?’ Jenna responded with an icy, regal stare. ‘ No, he’s a friend of mine,’ she said coldly. The rest of the interview was frosty.
According to one source, Jenna has been very much involved in the transformation process. ‘It’s been a bit of a project,’ says the source.
‘She’s read all the magazines to see who is wearing what and who are the “in” designers.’
And certainly, it seems her ambitions don’t stop with British TV. One agent tells the Mail: ‘Jenna has been to California recently and the rumour is that her agent has scheduled a lot of meetings.
‘ Victoria has been conceived as the next Downton, which made the cast household names in America. It’s the perfect stepping stone.’
But, of course, it’s a large leap from the illuminations of Blackpool to the bright lights of Hollywood — even for a modern eliza Doolittle.