Naomie Harris felt "conflicted" portraying Winnie Mandela because she had so many impressions and ideas about her. Photo/BANG
Naomie Harris felt "conflicted" portraying Winnie Mandela because she had so many impressions and ideas about her.
The
'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' actress admits she struggled to figure
out how to play the controversial former wife of the late Nelson Mandela
- who was once accused of human rights violations and cheating on her
husband - and says meeting her alter ego did little to help her turmoil.
She
explained: "From reading about her, I was formulating an idea of who
she was. From talking to people I was formulating another idea. My
director had a strong idea about how he wanted her to be played ... I
felt really torn, conflicted.
'SCARED AND FASCINATED'
"I
was scared and fascinated [meeting her]. I thought I would finally be
able to put all these pieces together, but I didn't. You can't -
especially with someone as complex as her. I asked how she wanted to be
portrayed and she said, 'You've done your research, you were chosen for
this role, I trust you.' It allowed me to own it."
The
stunning actress was offered the role after working with director Justin
Chadwick on 'The First Grader' but admits she didn't realise how
challenging the role would be because she was too busy shooting James
Bond film 'Skyfall'.
She said: "I started doing my
research and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what the hell did I say yes to?' I
had no idea about her complexity, that she's a million different people
in one."
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