#SCHEMING SOCIALITE IN EMMA SERIES#

‘Jean is so self-possessed and intelligent, and aware of all of her capabilities in an environment and a world that is not willing or ready to see that in a young woman.’ Jean corrects every line, then eviscerates him with a glacial, ‘I will not sign this.’ Lucy plays her with pure nerve and precision – but Jean’s parents and fiancé believe she’s a tea girl at the BBC. When she reaches her corner desk, another agent asks her to sign off on his summary of a recent operation. The first time we see her, she’s on her way to work, stepping off a London bus in a teal skirt-suit and neat tweed hat. Lucy plays Jean Courtney, an agent with a steel-trap mind. That’s because her latest project is The Ipcress File, ITV’s new miniseries adaptation of the 1962 Cold War spy novel by Len Deighton.

#SCHEMING SOCIALITE IN EMMA SERIES#

With her choppy blonde bob, striped polo-neck and high-waisted jeans, Lucy could pass for an east London creative-agency worker.īut thanks to a streak of buzzed-about roles and a sense of style that’s made her a red-carpet star (not to mention her status as half of a Hollywood It couple, through her relationship with Rami Malek), Lucy is one of the most in-demand young British actors working today.Īcross a coffee table at The London Edition in Fitzrovia, Lucy – familiar from roles as varied as the young Beatrix Potter, Freddie Mercury’s best friend Mary Austin in Bohemian Rhapsody, and scheming socialite Astrid Sloan in The Politician – is unaffected and thoughtful, ready to talk about everything from lockdown (‘I got through it with lots of books, and Veep’) to sexual politics (her sister, journalist and presenter Emma-Louise Boynton, last year hosted a series of Sex Talks, exploring the pursuit of pleasure, in the bar of the hotel where we’ve met). It’s a crisp December morning, with anxiety and Christmas cheer swirling in the cold West End air. What’s the protocol for greetings in the age of omicron? ‘Are you hugging? I’m hugging,’ says actor Lucy Boynton, removing her black face mask and leaning in.

Scheming socialite in emma