Rebecca Ferguson – The Real Star of Dune

Rebecca Ferguson plays the intimidating Lady Jessica in the sci-fi epic. She’s much friendlier in person.

- By Hanna Hanra

Rebecca Ferguson is tucked into a corner at an institutional chain restaurant in the chichi London suburb of Richmond (it has its own palace and a park with wild deer). The actress has a knack for playing steely, stoic women, but in person, she is disarmingly funny. When we receive our food, she leans into my recorder to describe lunch as if she were hosting a cooking show. “A beautiful butternut squash, dressed with something that looks like it should be scraped into the bin,” she says, cackling. “People have said I have a regal air.”