Claire Foy talks "emotionally exhausting" H Is for Hawk role, playing queens, and why she must be in a "grief phase"

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

Few actors capture the British “stiff upper lip” like Claire Foy. Many first discovered her quiet steel as Anne Boleyn in the BBC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall, but it was playing a young Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown that propelled her to stardom.

Now, in new film H Is for Hawk (an adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s 2014 memoir of the same name), Foy plays a reserved Cambridge academic who adopts a goshawk following the death of her father.

You spend much of H Is for Hawk with a goshawk on your arm. Was that a daunting prospect?

I was nervous! Goshawks are the most difficult birds to handle. Our bird trainers [married couple] Rose and Lloyd Buck said, “Claire will get footed,” which is basically when the bird claws you, “because a goshawk has never not footed a falconer.” And our director [Philippa Lowthorpe] had to say, “No, she won’t!” because otherwise we wouldn’t get insured. I did get footed, but only in the last shot of the whole thing. We used five birds and it was by Jess, the least likely one. It was her little “see you later”.

What was it like acting with the goshawks?

Every scene with the birds was improvised. There are a couple where I’m talking to the bird and it does a poo. So you have to respond to it, which I found incredibly freeing. In a way it’s much easier than improvising with an actor.

The film is a study of grief and depression. Was it challenging?

It was emotionally exhausting, but being close to that emotion makes you feel very alive. I think that can be very true of real grief. It can make you live a little bit larger, a bit louder, in response to it. I never saw it as a burden. I never saw it like, “Oh, it’s terrible that I have to feel all these feelings.”

Helen actually hardly cries. Did that feel more authentic?

Yeah, and I found it an appealing thing to try to communicate: it’s an interior battle. We often presume that what’s happening on the outside is happening on the inside, and it’s just the opposite. So often these things are portrayed as histrionic, but most of us are trying to block those big emotions off a lot of the time.

You were previously in First Man and All of Us Strangers, which are also about grief. Is it a theme that you are attracted to?

I suppose I must be in a grief phase… It’s certainly not a theme that I’m hunting out. It is a thing that happens to actors. Film-makers see you in things and go, “Oh, OK, they might be good enough to also do this [similar role].” I’m honoured that people think I can touch upon grief. I just want to do things that reflect how people actually live.

After Wolf Hall and The Crown, were you offered many roles as a posh English woman?

Not massively. There aren’t that many queens and I did two of them! I think any more would be weird. You get offered what people think you’re capable of. The goal as you get older is for that to be broader, not narrower. But we’ll see. Maybe this is it for me for ever. I’m in Grief Alley, everyone, and I can’t get out!

Your next film is out of the alley – an adaptation of Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. Is it nice to be in something your nine-year-old daughter can watch?

Yeah! Really amazing. My daughter being able to watch it is exciting. I’ve never done that before. It’s just wonderful to be in something joyful, with a heart-warming message.

How would you describe The Crown’s impact on your career?

I’d been working for almost 10 years when I made it, but nobody knew who I was. It was like being in a blockbuster film. Afterwards, I got opportunities I’d never had before. It’s like the biggest promotion you can imagine.

Is a role like that a double-edged sword in that it can define you?

No, I don’t think it’s a double-edged sword. I doubt Olivia Newton-John hated being known for Grease – I bet she loved it! If I had just done The Crown and never worked again, that would be one thing. But I don’t feel any pressure to be anything for anyone else, really. I’m just doing my job.

How do you feel about fame?

It’s an abstract concept. I’ve been known for playing a particular role for about 10 years – sometimes it’s been surreal. It’s been alarming at times, it’s been illuminating. But on the whole, I’ve stayed the same. Protecting your humanity is the most important thing. You have to keep yourself sane.

H Is for Hawk is in cinemas from Friday 23 January

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H Is for Hawk is released in UK cinemas on Friday 23 January.

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