It has been the honor of my life being in “The Last Kingdom” family. I absolutely adore glamour and fashion so it was definitely challenging donning Lady Aelswith’s dowdy appearance. The scriptwriters on “The Last Kingdom” are so brilliant the language and speech written for Lady Aelswith was so helpful to finetune her sternness yet also reveal her insecurities. In the first couple of seasons, it was challenging but also fun to find Lady Aelswith’s dark and villainous streak matched with her vulnerability as a mother. Were there any challenges in portraying such an important role in the first seasons? I love her wit, steeliness, and strength as well as her newfound compassion and sensitivity.
Throughout the seasons, I have grown so fond of her and have been able to show so many more facets to her ever-evolving character. To play Lady Aelswith, I found a new voice, physicality and demeanor to help me portray her age, wisdom, and authority.ĭo you connect with your characters in a personal way?Ībsolutely! I think in a way it’s impossible not to! Even though Lady Aelswith is such a stark contrast to me, and I don’t always agree with her methods I have to find empathy for her actions and make sure to connect with the reasoning behind her behavior. I love being able to tap into situations I have yet to go through and use my imagination to gain an insight into her world. Lady Aelswith is a mother and grandmother, who is a lot older than I am so it was interesting to find all of these emotional layers to her which I personally have not experienced. I am naturally a very goofy and warm person, so it was super exciting and challenging for me to step into a role that is so far from myself and to be able to transform emotionally as well as physically. She is extremely intelligent, powerful, fierce, cunning, and severe. Lady Aelswith is such a fascinating character. What did you do to prepare for the role of Lady Aelswith? One of my first roles after graduating was playing Lady Aelswith in “The Last Kingdom,” and I have been so lucky to be a part of this incredible family ever since. At the age of 18, I went on to train at RADA for three years and learned about the craft of theatre as well as screen and radio. I was performing in a school play it was a comedy and the thrill and joy of making the audience laugh was so exciting. It is bizarre to imagine but I was actually an extremely shy child and wasn’t properly bit by the acting bug until my late teens.