The White Queen star talks bad chat-up lines and style icons with In Profile.
Middlesbrough girl Faye Marsay snagged the lead role of Anna Neville in BBC1 period epic The White Queen fresh out of drama school and is on the rise. After all, Anna Neville didn’t claw her way to the throne for nothing – some of that queenly steeliness definitely comes from Marsay herself. Since The White Queen, Marsay’s landed roles in Fresh Meat and ITV wartime drama The Bletchley Circle – but we’ll always have a spot in our hearts for the once and future Queen of England.
Who is your style icon? I like what Ellen Page wears. Sometimes she wears like beautiful dresses, and then other times she just looks like a tomboy. That kind of vibe I think, like casual, smart, and then just whack out a beautiful dress.
Any hobbies? I like playing the drums. Or just hanging out with my mates really. I just like being around people. People person. Not all the time, but you know.
What’s the coolest gift you’ve ever received? Probably when my parents took me to Disneyland in Florida. I was about 9 or 10, my mum and dad told us and a week later we were on a plane. It was that age where Disneyland is like the best thing in the world.
If you could co-star with any actor or actress all the time, who’d it be? Kevin Spacey, or Charlize Theron… Or Robert De Niro, loads of them you know what I mean? Let’s go with Kevin Spacey.
What is your most embarrassing fashion faux-pas? At school we used to have our hair tied back in a really tight ponytail. Your hair would be scraped back in a pony with a scrunchy and you’d have two bits coming down over our foreheads that would just be hairsprayed – these two antlers, like antennae. I also had a coke-can fringe before, horrible fringe… With a scrunchy on top.
Biggest pet peeve? Slow walkers. Especially living in London. People that walk dead slow.
What’s the worst pick-up line you’ve ever heard? “Are those space pants because your ass is out of this world.”Awful.
What’s the bigger deal breaker, bad teeth or B.O.? Bad teeth.
What is most stylish character you’ve played? None of them really… Probably Anne Neville because she’s in the court, so she’s got the most regal style. Anne Neville, White Queen.
Three wishes (and no wishing for unlimited wishes). Mum and Dad sorted forever. Just sorted. Emotionally, healthwise, financially. To be in a play at the national theatre. And to be able to drum with Dave Grohl would be pretty cool as well. Art, passion, family.
If you could punch any animal in the face, what would it be? Snake.
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Images: Jessie Craig
Styling: Francesca Turner
Words: Paul Craig
Producer: Seona Taylor-Bell
Hair: Noriko Takayama using TIGI
Makeup: Naoko Scintu at The London Style Agency using DR HAUSCHKA
Fashion Assistance: Giulia Oddi
Look 1: Bug print pencil skirt by MCQ ALEXANDER MCQUEEN and T-shirt with elasticated collar by MARNI
Look 2: Sweatshirt by MCQ ALEXANDER MCQUEEN