Rose Leslie - Gypsy Heart

Be brave and embrace the eclectic. Game Of Thrones warrior woman Rose Leslie wears it her way.

- Chloe Mac Donnell

Rose Leslie is telling me about her reign of terror as a child. ‘I’m number three out of five siblings, so I had power over the youngest two. I’d force them to put on plays and I was always the lead character in everything thing we did.’ That determined work ethic has paid off: after coming to TV viewers’ attention in Downton Abbey, the 28-year-old famously went on to play fiery Ygritte in Game Of Thrones, and now she’s courting international stardom. You’ll next see her as straight-talking detective Emma Jones in Luther, plus she has a starring role in new sci-fi movie Morgan. Not bad for a girl who was rejected from every university she applied to…

You grew up in a castle in Scotland, which sounds very fairytale – was it?

‘It was an idyllic childhood. My parents would send us out for the day, we had lots of freedom we were running around, climbing trees and exploring. Going back is still an escape.’

Was anyone surprised when you told them you wanted to pursue acting as a career?

‘I couldn’t get into university to study drama because my A-levels were so bad, so I decided drama school was the next step. I think my family were kind of taken by surprise – they were like, “Oh this isn’t just a phase”.

Do you remember where you were when you learned you’d won the part of Ygritte?