Brave New World

In the recent reboot of ‘Aladdin’, Princess Jasmine isn’t just here to look pretty. British actress Naomi Scott speaks to Emily Baxter-Priest about redefining Disney, recalibrating feminine ideals, and stealing steak at the Met Gala.

- Emily Baxter-Priest

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Naomi Scott whispers to me on arrival at our shoot location in West Hollywood, her hands gesticulating wildly at her phone—a call she’s politely trying to wrap up. She’s barely 10 minutes late, and in celebrity terms that’s considered early, but when she finishes, she apologises, effusively, again. “God, sorry, I absolutely hate being late,” she says, her voice a lyrical London lilt—the Queen’s English, but with a younger, cooler clip. We hug and make small talk on the way to the helipad: she chats amiably about her frenetic schedule that will see Scott flit between LA and London multiple times over the next few weeks, before embarking on the global press tour for Aladdin, as I listen, part sympathetic, part-envious.

The 360-view from the helipad is epic, the wind whipping the team into frenzied anticipation. An inky black Givenchy coat billows so dramatically, Scott looks like she might take flight. But the helipad is her stage and Scott stakes her claim. She’s spirited, blithe, and knows how to move her body moving around the helipad in towering heels before stretching herself out cat-like, her torso contiguous to the ground. The photographer’s RnB playlist becomes a karaoke invitation as she takes the metaphorical mic, and laughs—a lot. Her smile is arresting, as is her aura, and I understand immediately why, in parallel to her talent, Scott is such a befitting Princess Jasmine. She is smart, sensitive, feminine, funny, fierce, preternaturally self-assured … The holy grail of marketable branding.