Playing a young Prince William in the climactic season of The Crown, Ed McVey – metaphorically – sat the young royal in a chair facing his. Mirroring his movements, mentality and behaviours, the British actor leaned into the man behind the headlines; someone he could relate to and embody. As far as on-screen debuts go, playing one of the most famous living people on one of the most beloved series alongside some of the world’s most esteemed actors is a daunting task: McVey not only embraced the challenge but excelled. As the lead in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, friend and contemporary India Amarteifio knows the pressure of fronting a highly successful series – navigating the industry with a refreshing authenticity and ease.

India Amarteifo: Hi, Ed!
Ed McVey: Hello! Where are you?

IA: I’m prepping for an award show next week in Spain.
EM: Is this Woman of the Year?

IA: It is.
EM: Are you Woman of the Year?!

IA: One of.
EM: That’s amazing!

IA: So, I’m prepping for that. How are you?
EM: Good, I’m just trying to keep myself as busy as possible. I think press is starting to pick up which is nice, so I’m starting to get my head around it, which is interesting. Having media training for the first time is quite terrifying, did you have media training? 

IA: I did. I think it’s probably better to be a bit scared going into it because then you’re ready for it. It is terrifying, especially as we’re both pretty young and starting out in the industry. It’s a big adjustment to make, to always be conscious of what you’re saying is quite subhuman. 
EM: For acting in particular, you shouldn’t have to constantly be thinking about if this is the right thing to say or wording things right, it’s very inhibiting. Did you find that?

IA: Completely. Everything needs to be said in a certain way, but for us as actors that’s not what we’re about, we’re so free and creative – we want to use our voice. 
EM: And work on impulse as much as possible, but you can’t really do that in an interview. [laughs] 

IA: I know you’re just about to kick off the press side of things but how have you found moving into this life so far, what are the adjustments you’ve had to make? 
EM: It’s a lot to get used to. Especially starting going to events, because the show isn’t out yet, so you almost feel like you don’t have a right to be there, and that’s quite strange. It’s almost like a past life and a new life, and you feel like you’re still this past person who doesn’t move in those circles and doesn’t belong there. I’m not trying to think about that too much and just enjoy where I’m at and not put too much pressure on representing myself or getting it right so soon. 

IA: But, what is ‘right’? Whatever feels right for you is right, and not necessarily what the people who have come before have told you is the right way. You’ve got to figure it out for yourself. 
EM: But it is fun, and looking nice is fun. [laughs] I’ve never really been a fashion person, I didn’t follow it much. I cared about how I looked but I wasn’t really focused on it, but it’s quite fun playing dress up. 

IA: It is, and it’s a bit of escapism as well. I’ve found this – and I don’t know if you have as well – when you go to these events and feel quite different, the clothes allow you to have a costume to help you become a different person. 
EM: Yeah, it builds a different version of yourself. How have you found it? Because you’re everywhere. 

IA: It’s so bizarre. We’re so similar, we’re actor’s actors. We go to work because we love acting and we love the creative side, everything else is a bonus and it’s fantastic, but it’s not necessarily how we want to live our lives. It’s quite an adjustment and I’m still finding it really weird. I feel like you need to give yourself a little bit of grace and a teething period because I’m sure it is going to be absolute chaos in the best way. 
EM: Of course, and it’ll hopefully lead to more amazing things, but you can never be trained for how to deal with that because it’ll always be different for everyone. 

“I was a fan [of The Crown] when it first came out and I was like, “That’s the sort of work I want to be doing,””

IA: Where did you study?
EM: Drama Centre London.

IA: How did you find that? And, in comparison to working professionally, what were the differences you noticed? 
EM: Drama school is such a safe place to play, to do ridiculous things, to fail and not be afraid of time or getting something right. Even though, trying to get something ‘right’ is a thing that I do and I’m trying really hard to move away from because it can be quite inhibiting. I was very lucky because the writing I got to work on was so fantastic in The Crown and the people were great, but there is just that pressure and that fear. When I started filming, I’d spent so many months prepping. You come on set and you’re like, “Look how much work I’ve done, look how seriously I’m taking this.” You’re trying to get it right all the time and you’re in your head because you’re trying to show your work instead of just doing it. Throughout filming, as you get more tired, those walls break down and I learned the process more because I’d never done any screen before that.

IA: I couldn’t believe that. I was looking at your CV and it’s just The Crown, which is unbelievable. 
EM: I didn’t even really do any screen training at school, so it was very much learning on the job, which I think is the best way to do it because you kind of sink or swim. [laughs] As I learned the process of filming, you start to chill out and you realise you can do things multiple times and you have the chance to do things differently, then I brought back a sense of play. You can do what you want to do and get back to the more impulsive stuff. There were some teething problems coming from theatre. There is no one else your performance is for apart from the other actor in the room with you, the far-away seats don’t have to see what you’re trying to do. What’s your story India? [both laugh]

“Playing a real person and being able to watch footage of them from birth was crazy.”

IA: I started dancing, I went to Sylvia Young [theatre school] then I tore my hamstring and had a revelation because dance is a profession that heavily relies on the body and you can’t control what happens sometimes. It spun me a little bit and I faced a challenge with what I was going to do, but acting goes hand in hand with dance because it’s all storytelling. So I just started to hone in on acting a little bit more, I went to ArtsEd for a brief stint and graduated in 2020. 
EM: I went to ArtsEd!

IA: Did you?! You’re joking.
EM: When did you leave?

IA: I went in 2018 and graduated in 2020.
EM: I graduated when you joined, I left in 2018. That’s wild, did you enjoy it?

IA: Yes and no. I’m similar to you in the sense that I wanted to work, I wanted to put everything I’d learned into practice. Being at school is a great environment, you are protected and you can play about but I wanted to learn and be around people who had been acting for years. I graduated in 2020 and had a crisis about what I was going to do because we were in lockdown. I did running jobs on The Jonathan Ross Show looking after the guests that came on, and then I had an audition for a job a year later and it all happened. I feel very lucky. We’re still really young, it’s crazy. 
EM: This is the thing, I’ve wanted to do this for so long and in my head I was confident but very pessimistic because I thought it was going to take a very, very, very long time to get to a place where I get to be a part of The Crown. I was a fan when it first came out and I was like, “That’s the sort of work I want to be doing,” but I knew I would never be in it because the characters were only getting older. To then be in this position so quickly, I was like “Am I ready for this?” But are you ever ready for anything? Even if you are in your 50s, being part of this crazy thing would probably still feel like a shock anyway. 

IA: Of course. You’re also playing the character at that age so you wouldn’t want to know more than they do. It’s a bit of a blessing that you are also in this position of being like, “I don’t know what’s going on!” Because I’m guessing your character is the same. 
EM: It’s obviously scaled down in terms of my life compared to his, but it is very much art imitating life. Joining this show, the pressure of that, and the character facing the legacy that comes with stepping out onto a global stage. Even acting with Imelda [Staunton] or talking to Imelda, she is the Queen but for myself as an actor, talking to Imelda who is my Queen, I don’t need to act! The feelings I’m having are like what it would feel like to talk to the Queen. I think so much of what I was experiencing as an actor being thrust out into the world in such a way is how the character was feeling. Wondering how to navigate things, when everyone is looking at you and expecting something from you. 

IA: You’re pulling from experience in real-time. 
EM: Yeah, which was super helpful. It connected a lot easier but also hit harder for me because I was like, “Woah, this is a lot.” 

IA: Of course it is. You spoke about Imelda being your Queen, what else and who else has inspired you?
EM: Everyone I worked with was incredible to watch. There was Imelda with her absolute precision, one take was all you needed because she was just there. She doesn’t need notes, she’ll take them if they’re given, and she is fantastic like that, but she is so precise so quickly. Look at me diagnosing these incredible actor’s techniques. [laughs] Jonathan Pryce has serious technique, presence and precision but also has so much play and is really cheeky. Then you have Dominic West who is all play, he has such presence in a way that anything could be going on and then as soon they say, “Action,” he’s with you and he’s so reactive. What they have is all you need to be a fantastic actor, so I’m just trying to soak up all of that and try to make it sit right with me. Everyone was incredible. I rarely did any scenes with Lesley Manville, but anytime I did it was always different, everything she did had something behind it that was truthful. There were loads of moments where me and Luther [Ford] would be doing a scene and all of the principal cast would basically be glorified extras and they’d be in the back of the shot for a whole day of a scene that we were doing. The professionalism was just incredible, from actors like that you’d expect a level of, “What am I doing here?” But, never.

IA: I think a lot of the people you’re working with on the show are theatre-trained which, as we know, is so communal, it’s about an ensemble and it’s about the finished piece rather than individuals. You can always tell that with theatre actors.
EM: Oh definitely, there is a generosity there. Are you interested in theatre?

IA: 100 percent, no one wants to hire me that’s the problem! [both laugh] Without sounding cliché, there is nothing like it. The live interaction and the rehearsal process are often missed on screen but it’s so important, not only to get a feel for the world you’re going to be living in but to interact with your fellow cast mates to find out what they do on their weekend and what they need from you as an actor and vice versa.
EM: I’d almost prefer just doing the rehearsal process and not doing the shows, maybe a couple of shows but just making some good friends.

IA: It’s always so much fun. It sounds like you had a good time, which is really important for your first show.
EM: I had the best time, it was influential and an absolute crash course in all of it. It’s definitely given me a lot to take forward in my life and in general in acting. I’ve found a big shift in how I do auditions now, have you noticed anything different in yourself?

IA: For sure. You hit the nail on the head when you said earlier about going to these events with a sense of imposter syndrome and feeling like you have so much to prove but nothing to show. I’ve always felt that way in auditions, I knew I could do them, but I didn’t have the credits and the confidence to back myself and therefore push myself. Since doing the show, the world it has introduced me to, all the crazy stuff I’ve done, the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been, for me now – without sounding cliché – I feel like I can do anything. Not because I think I can get the role, but because it’s not scary anymore and if I feel really passionate about a project why can’t I see myself in it? I used to self-tape for three or four hours running the same thing over and over again, but I remember speaking to a director friend of mine and he said if he looks at a self-tape for the first five or ten seconds he can tell straight away because it’s not about what you’ve said or how you’ve said it, it’s the whole package. It really opened my eyes because I feel like as actors we can get bogged down in the tiny details because that’s all we have control over, but the writers know what they want. So, as long as I’m happy with it and I’m confident then I’ll send it. Outside of auditioning, taping and filming, what have you been doing?
EM: I feel like I got very all-consumed by the show and I got very invested, which you should do, but when I stopped filming I hit the ground with a bit of a thud, and trying to then switch my brain back into normal life was difficult. Now, as press is starting up, my brain is shifting back into that world again and trying to find a balance is tricky but I think that’s a lifelong thing. There’s no magic potion.

“I always have this image of the character on a chair in front of me. How does he look, how is he sitting, what clothes is he wearing, is he fidgeting? And if so, why is that?”

IA: It’s also your first big job and there’s a lot of pressure to do the work justice. You were also playing someone who is a person of history and is alive, so there is a lot of detail and attention that has to be paid to it and the dedication you have to have as an actor to do that comes with sacrifice. But that switch is really hard, everyone I’ve spoken to about that, especially within our generation, has found it hard. You come back down to earth with a thump. It probably won’t disappear, but it’ll get easier, the first job is going to be the biggest eye-opener. 
EM: I’m interested, what kind of stuff do you like to do when you’re prepping? 

IA: It depends on what it is. I have friends who are like, “I’ll look at the script on the day and I’ll see how I feel.” Fantastic, great for you, but I think I would probably have a nervous tremor. I need to be as prepared as I can in an industry that is so unpredictable. The one thing we get control over is how much time we put into it. It usually starts with as much research as I can into the director, producer, time frame, who I’m playing. I think it’s really important to get a feel for who that is in terms of what they look like, or experiences you’ve had with other people who remind you of that person. A mutual friend of ours – Corey Mylchreest – had an amazing way of putting how he reaches a character and I really relate. He was saying that when he first starts a project, he imagines himself in a field and he’s trying to get from one point to another so he starts a path treading through an overgrown field, then the more he leaves Corey and goes to the other character the trail becomes easier and it becomes more easily accessible to the point where, by the end of filming, there’s a path that has been paved. So, the transition of getting into character is so much quicker than it was at the beginning. Being as present as you can whilst filming and going with how you’re feeling in the moment is important. 
EM: I love that image of the field, moving away from yourself and carving a path so you can almost run there. I have a similar thing, I always have this image of the character on a chair in front of me. How does he look, how is he sitting, what clothes is he wearing, is he fidgeting? And if so, why is that? Picturing how they are on their own I think is always interesting. If I’m really tasty and if I’m at home by myself I’ll set a chair up and I’ll visualise the character in front of me, then I’ll sit down into the chair and take them on but that’s only if I’m feeling really tasty. If I’m feeling very thespian-like. 

IA: Oh, he’s an actor! [both laugh] 
EM: Playing a real person and being able to watch footage of them from birth was crazy.
I was able to really visualise how they move, how they hold themselves, how they wear their chest and shoulders, then as they grow up, why is it that they’re standing straighter, why is it that they aren’t bowing their head or trying to make themselves smaller? Then trying to figure out the psychology around that was really fun, why is it that he’s so shy? As he comes into himself he starts standing up straight and you can build stories around that. I love it when the physical life affects the psychological life. The physical stuff excites me, the idea of transforming as much as possible and becoming someone else is very cool. That will change for different jobs depending on how physical it is or how psychological it is. If you’re playing a physician then you need to get your head around physics, I love getting to learn. I would never have learned so much about the royal family if I didn’t get this role. 

IA: You must feel so enriched and have a different understanding of so many things. 
EM: I do. I’m also constantly trying to realise it’s enough, because you always feel like you still have to prove something, but it’s OK to just be yourself. When you’re doing publicity, it’s about being yourself and not feeling like you have to be interesting or engaging, did you find that? 

IA: Yeah, I had a couple of people who were like, “Make sure you think of some really funny anecdotes from set,” I could do that, but it’s not me. I’m quite studious and boring, I went in and did my job. I guess there is pressure but I think we’re also probably a little bit allergic to that, which is fine. [both laugh] 
EM: What kind of stuff do you like to watch or read? 

IA: I was literally about to ask you that, crazy! I will watch anything. I’ve just finished watching Boiling Point on BBC – it’s so well done. It makes me so excited. I love things that are really character-driven, I’m interested in what that person is thinking and doing. I read quite a lot and I read very romantic, cheesy, corny books. I’ve just finished The Notebook, I love a little bit of escapism. 
EM: Would you say you’re a romantic?

IA: Yeah, a little bit.
EM: Aren’t we all? 

Interview originally published in the HERO Winter Annual 2023. 

grooming ROM SARTIPI using ORIBE;
photography assistant BRUNO McGUFFIE;
fashion assistant HARRY LANGFORD