“You have to have a bag of Yorkshire Tea bags. It is the best tea that England has to offer, and that comes with me everywhere I go.”
― Felicity Jones
“I actually always had short hair as a kid, and it’s really liberating. I recommend it. It’s just very easy. I don’t have to brush it.”
― Felicity Jones
“I usually have two or three books on the go at the same time. If I’m in different moods, I want to read different things.”
― Felicity Jones
“When you’re a skateboarder or a snowboarder, it affects the way you talk, the way you move, the way you interact with the world and other people.”
― Felicity Jones
“You still slightly down that you’re ever going to work again, every time you finish something. That’s the territory of being an actor. It’s like anything that’s competitive. It takes a lot of determination. I just feel lucky to be able to do something that I really love.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m not really massively into going out. I’m much more of a hibernator. It’s nice to have people come to your house or go to someone’s house, I think.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love ‘Annie Hall’; I will always come back to that film again and again. Diane Keaton has been such an inspiration to me. She always brings humour, but complexity, and I love watching her on screen. She’s got real charisma.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m a masochist in some ways. I look for things that I think I can’t do, then, for some bizarre reason, I really want to do them. Maybe one day I’ll take the easy route.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think that my parents’ divorce gave me a very strong sense of self-reliance and independence. I realised that I needed to make sure I could support myself because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’ve always been a feminist, and what I love in my work is being able to explore a full-sided woman and not patronize her.”
― Felicity Jones
“I don’t have much time for shopping so I pick things up when I can. My favorite labels are APC, Isabel Marant and Agnes B because the clothes are cut small and have a simplicity to them.”
― Felicity Jones
“I was a very rotund child with short hair, and for some reason, I always had black ballet shoes. I was like the Wednesday Addams of ballet.”
― Felicity Jones
“When you’re a young actor, there’s this pressure to rush. But I hope to be doing this into my sixties and seventies, so I’d prefer to take my time.”
― Felicity Jones
“The key is working with great directors. A film is so many different people and all their talents, but particularly the directors, because of the idiosyncrasies of that person.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think you’re attracted to things that are different from yourself in a character because it’s more interesting, and you get to play out a fantasy version of yourself.”
― Felicity Jones
“There’s so much of a desire in the entertainment industry for newness, a desire to build somebody up and then treat them as old news within six months. I think you’d be naive if you didn’t try to hold on to your own way of doing things.”
― Felicity Jones
“Of everything I have done, ‘The Archers’ always gets the most excitement; there’s a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.”
― Felicity Jones
“Acting has always existed alongside my normal life. It’s been a case of learning on the job. I’ve worked in so many styles, with so many people, so I’ve picked bits up from everyone and everything.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m interested in all forms of performance, yet I think it’s difficult to be as equally talented in all of them as they call for such different skills. At the moment, I still feel I’m learning and want as much experience and variety as possible.”
― Felicity Jones
“I guess I’m a bit of a romantic.”
― Felicity Jones
“It can be very intense being an actor; it can be quite a small world. Then you speak to your friend who is a scientist and they have a completely different perspective.”
― Felicity Jones
“But for everyone, I think, there is always a pressure to conform, and I guess as you get older you realize it’s less interesting to do that. It starts with you, though, saying, ‘I know what I like doing and that’s what I’m going to do.’”
― Felicity Jones
“It’s nice to have some continuity you can come back to. I feel that in coming home, coming back to London.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think, as an actor, you’re always traveling. There’s a sense of dislocation sometimes from home.”
― Felicity Jones
“The more you work, the more people can see that you’re something different from what’s come before.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m very excited that I can get on a skateboard and skateboard down the street now. That was something I never thought I’d be able to do. I conquered my fears.”
― Felicity Jones
“A lot of my time is spent watching films and reading scripts. And it can be all-consuming. And it’s obviously something I’m fortunate that is both my work and my hobby. It’s what I would naturally be doing anyway.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m attracted to playing people who aren’t necessarily straightforward.”
― Felicity Jones
“You have to be brave and not always play likeable people. It’s difficult, because there’s a demand for the hero or heroine to be very likeable.”
― Felicity Jones
“I always wear the shoes of the character a week before going on set; the idea of just putting on a new pair of shoes on the first day of filming is just horrific.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m very independent, creatively, always trying to push myself – and I think that comes from my mother.”
― Felicity Jones
“Day to day, I always wear eyeliner on my top lid and mascara. I like to do my own makeup, it depends on the event.”
― Felicity Jones
“If it’s something quite low-key then I’ll often do my own makeup. But for something like a premiere, it’s good to have a makeup artist because they know what they’re doing.”
― Felicity Jones
“I don’t like when I look too cluttered.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m not a huge jewelry fan.”
― Felicity Jones
“You just have to take these opportunities when they come along. They’re not that frequent; you’ll get a really good script, oh, maybe once a year if you’re lucky.”
― Felicity Jones
“As a child, I always liked dressing up and getting into character, and actors are lucky in being able to retain that playfulness, though we do seem to find it hard to grow up.”
― Felicity Jones
“It was only after university that I said to myself that I had to take the risk and have a serious go at acting. It’s such a bizarre profession, because you have to be totally tough to deal with all those times when you’re being turned down, and then really soft in order to access your character’s emotions.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’ve never done a superhero movie. It’s very nice to you as an actor in several worlds to go and to experiment.”
― Felicity Jones
“I have a great plain blue shirt from APC, and a denim one from Dolce that I wear constantly. It’s hard to find the perfect denim shirt, but this is it.”
― Felicity Jones
“My most treasured item is the brown leather bag that my mum bought me from a little Italian shop for my 21st. It’s supposed to be a vanity bag, but I use it as a handbag.”
― Felicity Jones
“I would describe my look as ‘ladylike rock chick.’”
― Felicity Jones
“I use SPF every day, then apply foundation, mascara, eyeliner and blusher. I always take my make-up off at night and moisturize.”
― Felicity Jones
“There’s such a sense of theatre in getting glammed up; it’s like putting on a play or short film.”
― Felicity Jones
“My mother worked in advertising and my father was a journalist. But they split up when I was three and I grew up in a single-parent family. My mum brought my brother and I up.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think that when something happens when you’re growing up, like a death or divorce, it does open the world slightly because things aren’t as straightforward.”
― Felicity Jones
“Fashion choices are never arbitrary. Even if you say you don’t care, that’s a decision. There’s something you’re trying to say.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m more of a freestyle dancer. I like to do my own thing.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m used to doing independent film where the style is a lot more casual. With improvising, you obviously find so much out on the day – and in a way, I feel more comfortable doing that.”
― Felicity Jones
“With every film that you do, you’re always so nervous. You feel exposed because you know people will see this eventually. You sort of have to put all that out of your head. What will be will be. But it’s nerve wracking.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think human nature is eternal and constant.”
― Felicity Jones
“Once you’re playing someone, you shouldn’t be judging them in any way. That’s what being an actor is – it’s having empathy for people that are different from yourself. Once you’ve committed to that person, your responsibility is to tell that story.”
― Felicity Jones
“I am quite fortunate, because I can still be quite incognito. If you go out looking for attention, then you’ll attract it, but if you’re just getting on with your life, particularly in London where everyone is engrossed in what they’re doing, you can keep a measure of anonymity.”
― Felicity Jones
“It is disheartening when you read an interview with an actress, and it starts by describing what she is wearing.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think there is an enormous appetite for great roles for women. You can see that clearly with things like ‘The Hunger Games.’”
― Felicity Jones
“I always think Michelle Williams is excellent in her work. And I do love Sofia Coppola. She always creates something so atmospheric. I love Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Andrea Arnold.”
― Felicity Jones
“I don’t think my parents would have let me go straight into acting full time when I was 12. I do like to have balance, naturally, as an individual.”
― Felicity Jones
“For everyone, ‘Star Wars’ has been a part of their lives in some capacity. I remember watching it very early on with my cousins and my brother, and we were all cuddled around the VHS player, which sounds very old-fashioned, but that was the way then.”
― Felicity Jones
“There’s so much that goes into a film that I feel like it’s a bit arrogant to say, ‘Oh, I never watch my own movies.’ Well, it’s not just you. There’s a whole host of other people. So much skill goes into it. But I would say it does take a couple times seeing it to get a level of perspective.”
― Felicity Jones
“Any creative process comes with a level of self-analysis and self-criticism. There’s a lot of waking up in the middle of the night going, ‘Oh, I wish I had done that differently.’”
― Felicity Jones
“Without sounding too pretentious, I feel my job is almost like becoming a monk or a nun – it’s a calling.”
― Felicity Jones
“When I come home, I am literally the most popular person with my friends’ parents for doing ‘The Archers.’”
― Felicity Jones
“I’ve never done this level of physical preparation for something. Particularly for ‘Rogue One’ where I was training every day and doing kung fu rehearsals on a daily basis. But that’s part of the reason I wanted to do it, because it was very different from what I’ve done before.”
― Felicity Jones
“When I was 11 years old, I was a member of ‘Press Pack,’ which was a thing that would come out in ‘The Sunday Times’ in England. You’d write articles and send them off and would get a badge saying ‘Official Press.’ I was really excited about my badge.”
― Felicity Jones
“I hardly ever watch the news… I love reading newspapers, but I know they’re dying out.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m a horrible perfectionist and very highly strung. That’s why I do yoga: to unwind.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think actors always find the dialogue doesn’t quite fit, so you always have to play with it.”
― Felicity Jones
“In a way, ‘Like Crazy’ keys into our generation, this idea of now we can still be in communication. Where do the boundaries of relationships end?”
― Felicity Jones
“I like to jump into different worlds. I’m attracted to the emotional rollercoaster of acting. Now I’ve been doing it for so many years, I must rather enjoy it.”
― Felicity Jones
“The actresses I’ve known support each other very much. If you have a level of confidence in what you’re doing, then you don’t feel threatened. We all have different things to offer.”
― Felicity Jones
“A fashion show is like a 10-minute play, but there’s all this anticipation; Everyone arriving, finding their seats, then there’s 10 minutes of people walking past and clothes and music, then the whole thing is finished.”
― Felicity Jones
“I learnt circus skills in drama group, so I can juggle.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m obsessed with subtexts. I love that we often don’t say what we feel. That gap between the two. I like it when actors reveal a lot without having to say it.”
― Felicity Jones
“In everyday life, I like APC, Isabel Marant, but I also like Zara. It depends how I’m feeling on the day. I like clothes that have a certain strength to them – simple but graphic.”
― Felicity Jones
“Emotional messiness is my reason for life. In acting, it’s so important.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love the Spider-Man story. I watched the cartoon on TV when I was a kid, and my brother wore his Spider-Man pyjamas everywhere.”
― Felicity Jones
“I just took everything so seriously in my early twenties. But now I’m like, ‘life can be fun.’ You don’t have to overthink everything. I’ve found a way to be more at peace with things. I’m looking forward to turning 30.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think the writing skills of actors are sometimes underestimated.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love spending time researching a character and reading about them.”
― Felicity Jones
“Actors and directors work on things together. That’s how I like to work, anyway. I don’t want to be told what to do. I want to share it with someone and work it out together.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’m happiest when I’m discussing a script and working with interesting people.”
― Felicity Jones
“It always starts with a script. I like to have plenty of time to read something, and I always like to read a paper copy. I hate reading it on email. I sit down with a script, and want to see how it hits me. It’s an instinctive process.”
― Felicity Jones
“If you’re in a film that you’re proud of and you care about, then you’re always happy to talk about it.”
― Felicity Jones
“I actually studied literature at university, so I’m much more of an arts-based person, but I remember I actually did enjoy physics because you got to do weird experiments. I remember we did this thing with static where we all had to put our hands on this static ball to see that your hair would all stand on end.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love French films, and I copy things I see in them. I read magazines and also look at Tumblr. I love nails, so I literally just search the word ‘nails’ on Tumblr and start looking.”
― Felicity Jones
“My bag always weighs a ton. I carry my whole bathroom with me. You never know what’s going to happen in a day!”
― Felicity Jones
“I always take off my makeup. My mother always told me to do this, and I never go to bed without doing it. I use a good moisturizer and Mario Badescu face wash.”
― Felicity Jones
“I always love listening to Bob Dylan. ‘Blood on the Tracks’ is one of my favorite albums.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think we’re very lucky that there is a tradition of British actors working in America and being respected in America, and I’ve always liked Kate Winslet and her work and respected her.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love going swimming. I spent a lot of time in North London in summer going to Hampstead Heath and swimming in the ponds there. It’s so beautiful; we’re so lucky to have that in London.”
― Felicity Jones
“I have such an eclectic taste. I like listening to classical music and pop music.”
― Felicity Jones
“She was obsessed with French and Swedish cinema. I also remember our mother showing us ‘Gone With the Wind’ very early on. She absolutely loved Vivien Leigh, so it must have been a formative experience for me, thinking, ‘Oh, maybe one day I’ll be like Vivien Leigh.’”
― Felicity Jones
“Interviewing someone is very similar to preparing a character, isn’t it? You’re just asking questions: ‘Who is this person? Why did they make that choice? Why are they doing that?’ You’re being Sherlock Holmes.”
― Felicity Jones
“I always had a very strong sense of independence. I really liked being able to buy my Alanis Morissette ‘Jagged Little Pill’ album. I wore that as a badge of honor. I love not having to rely on anyone.”
― Felicity Jones
“My boy cousins used to sit my older brother and me down and take us through a film-studies course. It included ‘Tremors’, ‘The Goonies’, and, of course, ‘Star Wars’. That was when it began: sitting cross-legged watching as the opening crawl goes up the screen.”
― Felicity Jones
“My agent called me up and said, ‘There is a tremendous female lead in the new ‘Star Wars’ film, and I think you’re really going to like it.’ The opportunity to play someone determined, who’s trying to find her skills as a leader; to be in a fantasy movie; to be able to do a leading female role in a film of that scale – that’s very, very rare.”
― Felicity Jones
“I did think that acting would be much more like being a pop star. Now I’m here, I can’t think of anything more different.”
― Felicity Jones
“I would be writing an essay that was due in the next day until about 1 A.M., and then I would be up at 6 A.M. and on a train to Birmingham to record ‘The Archers’. It was pretty intense.”
― Felicity Jones
“I don’t actually think there has ever been too much emphasis on what I am wearing.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think there is an enormous appetite for great roles for women.”
― Felicity Jones
“I am definitely romantic, and I love romantic stories – that’s why I keep making romantic movies.”
― Felicity Jones
“It’s funny how seeing a love story never gets boring, because it’s the dream, isn’t it? It’s the dream to have a true connection with another human being.”
― Felicity Jones
“My grandmother has dementia, and my mother is looking after her as her primary caregiver. Seeing their relationship has had a profound impact, seeing how tough it is for both of them and seeing how the roles change and how my mother has gone from being a daughter to being the mother.”
― Felicity Jones
“The ideal would be to have a career like Meryl Streep’s or Kate Winslet’s. It’s just unbelievable how they manage to make such incredible choices one after the other. If you could have a career anything like that, then that would be a great thing.”
― Felicity Jones
“On ‘Rogue One,’ we had these sets with tiny little buttons that would light up when you pressed them, and screens full of graphics, and it really felt like you were driving a spaceship. The level of detail; you’ll be two meters away from where the action is, but there’ll be a little detail there just in case the camera catches it.”
― Felicity Jones
“It’s nice to film in somewhere that you actually love being. Usually, you’re in a studio for months on end, and you never see any daylight, so you really make the most of it.”
― Felicity Jones
“I just always want to play people. I don’t want it to be necessarily that you relate to the character as female or male, but that you relate to them as a person. That’s the driving force.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’ve heard directing talked about as being a benign dictatorship, and I think that’s probably the best way a director should be. They’re open to collaboration and feedback from people, but ultimately, it’s got to be that one person’s vision. That’s what I think makes a film really stand out.”
― Felicity Jones
“I was thinking ‘Love Story’, obviously, was a romantic film of that time.”
― Felicity Jones
“London is my home. I miss my family so much; it’s hard being away. And I miss salt and vinegar crisps. And Marmite. And good fudge. Oh my God. Clotted cream fudge.”
― Felicity Jones
“I was so passionate about wanting the role in ‘Like Crazy,’ I filmed myself in the shower because that’s where one of the scenes was set. It just felt instinctive. It was a close up! It would have been strange if I’d sent off a wide shot of myself. That’s not the kind of work I want to do!”
― Felicity Jones
“It can be frustrating when you’re put in a category with others. Women do get lumped together in this reductive grouping, and you think, ‘Gosh, that rarely happens with the boys.’ I’m sure people don’t say to Eddie Redmayne, ‘How do you feel about Andrew Garfield?’”
― Felicity Jones
“The luxury of radio is that you don’t spend hours in make-up, and you can wear whatever you want. It’s bizarre. You’ll be saying lines, with various people around making sound effect noises.”
― Felicity Jones
“Often the last thing I want to do is stand up in front of 50 cameras on the red carpet. I’d rather have a cup of hot milk and an early night.”
― Felicity Jones
“I make all my decisions by listening to my instinct and then keeping my fingers crossed it will lead to a good place.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love being able to change from big films to small films.”
― Felicity Jones
“I feel like I personally have been lucky.”
― Felicity Jones
“If the part isn’t always there on the page, I’ve had good relationships with writers where there’s an openness to bring more to the role.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’d love to do more comedy. It’d just be nice to go into work and not be crying every day. Some broad slapstick would be great. Falling over banana skins would be wonderful.”
― Felicity Jones
“When a relationship with a director is really working, you have the same idea at the same time. You go, ‘Look, this isn’t working,’ and they’ll go, ‘I know it’s not working. What are we gonna do?’ And you go and try something else.”
― Felicity Jones
“’Great Expectations’ has become one of my favorite books.”
― Felicity Jones
“I’d studied English literature at university, but I was also far more enamored with Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, and James Joyce. That was my passion.”
― Felicity Jones
“When you’re in the head of the character, you feel less self-conscious. If I was just being me, I would feel so exposed and be like, ‘Why is there a huge camera in my face?’ But, when you’re believing in the person that you’re playing, you feel protected. It’s about being true to that person you’re playing.”
― Felicity Jones
“Nothing beats an ‘Archers’ fan for their levels of devotion. I think it’s because it’s radio, and you obviously conjure up an image of the character that is so powerful.”
― Felicity Jones
“I think it’s absolutely about time that we have as many female leads as male. It’s a very exciting time to be an actress.”
― Felicity Jones
“People keep saying how amazing it is having a female lead, and I just sort of feel, ‘Well, of course!’”
― Felicity Jones
“While you are improvising, you need to be prepared, and I like to have a sense of who the character is, what she likes to read, where she grew up, where we went to school, and what she has for breakfast, so that when I go to set, I’m free to explore.”
― Felicity Jones
“I love moments in film where there’s no dialogue, and somebody communicates something with a look that kills you. That’s why I love going to the cinema.”
― Felicity Jones
“I actually love doing comedy!”
― Felicity Jones
“My mother was in the kind of late-’60s, early-’70s origins of female emancipation. And she was very much like, ‘You’re not going to be defined by how you look. It’s going to be about who you are and what you do.’”
― Felicity Jones
“I want to be paid fairly for the work that I’m doing. That’s what every single woman around the world wants. We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position.”
― Felicity Jones
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