British Actress Holliday Grainger On Girl Power

She cut her teeth on teatime costume dramas, now Holliday Grainger is ready for Hollywood. Here, she talks on-set sexism, airport fashion and Instagram fakers.

- Olivia Foster

In a corner booth of the Oscar Bar in London’s Charlotte Street Hotel, Holliday Grainger is telling me about her discovery of a fake Twitter account set up in her name. ‘I was so fucking bored reading it,’ she says. ‘All [the tweets] were going, “love yourself ”,’ she says cringing. ‘I just wouldn’t say that!’ Her friends have also alerted her to a fake Holliday Grainger Instagram account filled with a lot of gushing inspirational quotes. ‘Though perhaps in some world where how many followers you have on Instagram actually matters, the people who set these things up are helping me out,’ she says.

With such a bashful (and very British) attitude to fame you could be forgiven for thinking 27-year-old Grainger was new to show business. In fact, her career began over two decades ago, when her mother began chaperoning her to auditions at the age of five. ‘I don’t think I would have enjoyed them quite so much if she hadn’t come with me. Having a parent there gives you the freedom to do whatever you want without being scared,’ she says. With her pale skin and Botticelli angel pout, Grainger has since become something of a period-drama doyenne, ticking off leading-lady roles in 16th century drama The Borgias, Great Expectations and, most recently, a saucy BBC adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover with Richard Madden and James Norton.

Her mum still pops out to visit her on set, as does her actor boyfriend Harry Treadaway (the pair met through mutual friends and have been dating since last year). This month sees her fast forward to the 50s to star opposite Chris Pine in new movie The Finest Hours. Based on a true story, Grainger plays Miriam, the girlfriend of a coastguard called out in a storm to save a crew from drowning.