Cara Delevingne On Acting & Nudity

Cara Delevingne on acting, nudity and the paramount importance of pizza

By Andy Morris

Unsurprisingly Cara Delevingne's first dramatic role is so hotly anticipated that even the concerted efforts of the RMT couldn't prevent GQ heading to Mayfair's Courthouse hotel last night for the premiere. In Tim Firth's deft drama Timeless, the 21-year-old model is exceptional as an army wife - guileless in places, exuberant in others - and is perfectly paired off in the formidable form of Sylvia Syms as her onscreen great-grandmother.

In  the lively Q-and-A that followed there were some highlights of filming in Iceland (including Delevingne inadvertently recreating the Donnie's ashes scene from The Big Lebowski) and some zingers from Syms ("There's a wonderful thing about being 80 - you're entitled to be obscene.") Here are our highlights...

Sylvia's first words to Cara (according to Cara)

"I hear that you're some model tart."

Cara on why she chose this role for her dramatic debut

"I wish I could say I chose it. I was lucky enough to get it. When I found out I got it I was incredibly happy. Sky Arts is an incredible thing to do. The amount of amazing actors who have done the Playhouse  - I was lucky to do it, especially being alongside someone like Sylvia. It was amazing. Of course I loved it."

Cara on why she's keen to pursue an acting career

"Because it's always what I wanted to do since I was four years old, the first time I got on stage. I just wanted to be an entertainer and performer…so this is living the dream." 

Sylvia on comparing Cara to Audrey Hepburn

"All I can say is: I've done this job for  years now and a few movies. I worked years ago with a beautiful girl, she was under contract with me - oh God,those English contracts! Well she became very famous, to  say the least of it, when she got away from England. This child here [Cara] has a quality which is very special. It's known as 'not acting for the camera'. You have to be real. And she is real and an absolute joy to work with. Frankly, when I knew I was going to work some sodding model I thought, 'Just a minute I spent 15 years on the board of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art'. I literally fell in love with her the first day. The other girl I loved very much - she never got a decent break in England - her name was Audrey Hepburn."

Cara on choosing the right role (and why nudity in scripts is not necessarily a problem)

"I already know when I look at a script: if I have to be naked...if it's a role I am just a stupid…there are just things that I look for. I know automatically whether it's something I don't want to do or not. There's a fine line when you want to work with a very good director and be part of a really good cast, but there are some things you don't want to do -  do you cross that line or not? I have morals I want to keep to. We'll see. You have good people around you who help you make those decisions. Get support hopefully. Hopefully I pick the right one - you never know these things. [When asked whether nudity rules out a role] In the beginning you look at it and say "No, I have to do a sex scene" but obviously it depends on the role. If it's a role I'd really love, I'd do it. It just depends. For the sake of art, always."

Cara on Sylvia

"As soon as I walked in I knew how clever she was and how witty. As soon as she started speaking she was putting me through my paces: quite hardcore. Saying things like, 'When I left drama school I did a little play with a friend of mine called Noel Coward.' Saying it like it wasn't anyone - I know who that is, don't worry! She was testing me. I get that. I see people when I do things like this [thinking] 'Oh you're just a model…'. People do that and I'm totally fine with that because I'm totally ready with proving I'm more than that."

Sylvia on her knowledge of Cara before shooting started

"I'd never heard of her! It's the truth! I don't buy those posh magazines.... She got mobbed in Iceland. Mobbed! In Iceland! I didn't know what to expect. This little thing arrived and it was like: she was childlike, innocent funny, incredibly frank. I learned a lot about the modeling industry which frankly I didn't know  about - you have to understand I've led a very sheltered life. I just know she's funny and sweet to work with." 

Sylvia on Cara's supposed plans for her

"She's going to teach me how to model. I've got to lose four stone in weight and have my face lifted, all the wrinkles put up. I should be alright shouldn't I?" 

Cara on the difference between British dramas and Hollywood blockbusters

"When I first read the script the beauty of it was that it was very sad but then I'd be laughing throughout the whole thing. I'd been so engulfed in these Hollywood scripts that were all very one way - action or just one thing. In the fact in the 20 minute thing you can find so much despair and drama but yet so much comedy all together  -  that's the beauty of it that it could switch so quickly. I would love to be able to carry on doing British dramas always. Stick to the Brits!" 

Sylvia on the pair's unlikely friendship

"My great niece was terribly excited when she heard her name but I'd never heard of her. Why would I? She hadn't won an Oscar. The thing is we became friends. What was enormously flattering is she didn't treat me like some mad old woman with alzheimers. She's very open. She talked about a lot of things which I didn't know about - the sort of things they get up to in modeling but I don't want to talk about that now. It'll all be in my book!" 

Cara's plans for her music career

"I'm trying so hard. I could be trying harder to be honest. I take my guitar every place I go. I'm always trying to write, it just depends on when I can get into. I'm trying to learn how to use Logic and when I do I learn I'll probably be a lot better. Watch this space." 

Cara's dream role

"Sylvia and I actually had a long conversation about this. When she first started, [she]  was fighting in that age for rights for women and equality. Still now today I think there is a lot to be said for women and for a lot more strong women parts. A lot more writing could be done for strong women. Whether that's an actual strong female superhero or just a female that is strong - without having to be broken down, or have someone die, or be raped or go through something terrible. To be able to see that would be incredible." 

Sylvia advice on why men have an easier time than women aging on screen

"Watch it when you get to 40. Watch it even more when you get to 50. God help you when you get to 80! There's lots of crap parts for crappy male actors - sorry gentleman. There's half a dozen men in uniform, loads of solicitors, lawyers where it doesn't matter how old you are. They're doing things about the Roman Empire and all that. Lots of chaps take off their clothes. There isn't the same opportunity for old ducks - and of course we do make up half the population. There are some good parts but normally they go to Maggie, Judi and sometimes, I suppose, Diana Rigg. It's very tricky. To even make a living of any kind you must be exceptional. That's all I can say: I was very glad of the few quid I earned on this because it goes to one of my charities." 

Cara on preferring acting to modeling

"Modeling is the way I started - I'm never going to turn my back on it. I thank it for everything I've done now. Without it I wouldn't be here. But it's not what I love: this is what I love. This is it for me." 

Cara on managing to curb her "animated faces" on screen

"It's quite hard I didn't realize how little I had control of it. That's about it. It's playing a character, so. It's like having a holiday away from yourself which is the nicest thing ever."

Cara on what she learned being a model that helped her as an actress

"Rejection, majorly. That's a huge thing to get over. That was the worst for me. I actually started auditioning for movies before I started modeling and I could not deal with it. When I got turned down for something I loved, it would take me weeks to get over it. Now you do care, but it's less of a hit." 

Cara and Sylvia on bonding over fast food

Cara: "We had Dominos pizza for lunch. It was the first time she'd had Dominos."

Sylvia: "They said we were going to have some time in the office with our beloved producer and that's what happened. You ordered the pizzas..."

Cara: "Twenty-one Chicken strippers, which she loved. So good! She was so happy about the thickness of the pizza."

Sylvia: "I'm a bit fussy about food normally. We sat there eating  this grungy chicken. We got to know each other like an elderly auntie got to know a child in the family. Then I realized she was in fact far more sophisticated than that and far shrewder than that. We had our arguments - though rarely,  actually."

Cara: "You kept me in  my place."

Sylvia: "I didn't ever! Don't talk such rubbish."

Cara: "You kind-of did it where you kind-of joked about it. But kind-of didn't. Do you know what I mean?"
Sylvia: "No dear, I can't imagine." 

Playhouse Presents starts on Sky Arts on Thursday 1 May.