1883MAGAZINE - HER (with Holliday Grainger)

Though perhaps currently best known for this role in the cult TV series - Holliday’s most recent selection of roles shall no doubt propel her into a whole new Hollywood league. This year, marking Dickens’ bicentenary, shall see the release of the hotly anticipated big screen adaptation of Great Expectations, with Holliday taking on the iconic role of Estella. In Bel Ami, she’s playing the eventual bride to Robert Pattinson’s scoundrel protagonist; while in Anna Karenina, Holliday is placed alongside a cast of veritable who’s who in British talent with an appearance as Baroness Shilton.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to play such great characters from literature having grown up reading a lot of these books. I guess it was just karma that the opportunity to play these fantastic roles all came at once,” smiles the 24 year old actress who can also add a sublime portrayal of Diana Rivers in last year’s Jane Eyre to her ever-expanding repertoire of classic characters.

With a beauty that harks back to old-school Hollywood starlets matched with an inviting charisma and a seemingly unwavering ambition; Holliday is indeed the perfect candidate for such roles. Having first cut her teeth immortalizing the manipulative minx that is Lucrezia Borgia; her depiction of Estella (the love interest yet emotional torturer to orphan Pip, played by War Horse’s Jeremy Irvine) has long since been touted as perfect casting.

When it comes to approaching these characters however, despite a wealth of material at her perusal; Holliday admits though she devours it all, it is necessary for her to carve out her own interpretation of each role she undertakes. “Like there’s so many different versions of Lucrezia going around-it was important for me to truly embody the right one the fits with the story,” she says, explaining how she likes to work closely with the director of each respective project she takes on.