Interview With GWEN Star Eleanor Worthington-Cox

Already a BAFTA and Olivier award winner, 18 year old British actress Eleanor Worthington-Cox now takes the title role in the gothic chiller Gwen, set in 19th century Snowdonia and co-starring Maxine Peake. While her career has been far from conventional for someone so young, becoming involved with Gwen couldn’t have been more simple – “My agent sent through the script and I fell in love with it” she tells me, on the morning of the film’s opening day. “It had been eight years in development, so it meant a lot to Will (McGregor, director), and I felt very honoured that he trusted me to be a part of this.”.

Accents & Fun On Set

Gwen was shot on location, with the cast and crew staying “in cabins about twenty minutes away”. Worthington-Cox found “it was really lovely to feel part of the community, to go to the local supermarket at the end of the day and everyone knew each other’s names!”. Her Welsh accent in the film is fantastic, although this was the first time she’d had to do one – “I’m from just north of Liverpool, so it was just about adapting my accent to sound more Welsh. There is a big difference between north and south Welsh accents, which I had to kind of figure out.”.

Worthington-Cox’s first major film role was in last year’s comedy Action Point, alongside Jackass alumni Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius. “I did Action Point just before Gwen, in the summer of 2017. We had such a riot in South Africa, petting lions on our days off! It was such a fun time, a great film to be part of, everyone was always cracking jokes – although when you do a film with the Jackass crew you know what you’re getting into!” she laughs.

She tells me that, although the two films couldn’t be more different, she had equally enjoyable experiences making them. “On Gwen, there were days where the set flooded and we couldn’t put up lights, so had to use natural lighting! I had such a good time on both though, and made friends for life.” Her mother in the film is played by Maxine Peake, someone she was very excited to work with. “I’d looked up to Maxine for so long, and to finally get to work with her was a dream come true for me!”.

Theatre Career

While now making a name for herself on the big screen, Worthington-Cox’s career began on stage. “My first professional role was Matilda on the West End, which I got into totally by accident. I saw the show in Stratford, where it originally ran, and loved it, which my family could see. I didn’t know then that children could perform like that, and do such a show – I didn’t know how you got into it, I thought you had to be, like, Angelina Jolie’s children or something. My brother signed me up for it when they were casting for the West End move, and eleven auditions later I’d got it!”.

She performed Matilda for a year, extended from her initial six-month contract, and became the youngest person ever to win an Olivier award. “It was such a huge honor – I didn’t realise at the time what a big thing it was!”. I ask her if she’d ever like to return to theatre – “I’d love to!”.

Alongside her Gwen director William McGregor, Worthington-Cox has recently been travelling the country doing Q&A screenings of the film. “We’ve been to some amazing places with it. We did a screening in Bangor, close to where we shot, and the reaction was wonderful – for people to see their area on screen, and to see what their ancestors went through represented.”.

Film Inquiry thanks Eleanor Worthington-Cox for taking the time to speak with us.

Gwen is out in UK cinemas now.