Elle the great

The style muse, actor and American sweetheart talks to Bree Player about fashion, fame and Catherine, the feminist

Oh my God, it's four in the morning?" Elle Fanning gasps. "That's insane. Surely we can pick a better time to talk?"

"It's fine," I assure her. "Australian journalists are used to waking up at the crack of dawn for interviews with international stars."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry. We need to make this quick! You have to get back to bed," she insists.

Even in our line of work, it's not every day a Hollywood A-lister concerns themselves with your sleep schedule. However, Elle's manners show the telltale signs of a Southern upbringing, even if her sunny Californian accent has no hint of a Southern drawl.

The actor is chatting to Marie claire from London, where she's currently filming the third season of her hit television series The Great. It's 9 pm for her after a long day on set, her Chinese takeaway is waiting on the table until she completes our interview, and yet Elle is beaming. I can't actually see her we've gone old school with a phone call rather than the "new normal" Zoom interview - but she's one of those people who talks with such excitement and joy, you can hear her ear-to-ear smile as she speaks. And rightly so. The 24-year-old actor has plenty to smile about.

It's been quite the year for Elle, who gained widespread critical acclaim for her surprising turn playing an uncharacteristically dark role in The Girl from Plainville, while also picking up an Emmy nomination for The Great. News of the nomination came to her via her co-star Nicholas Hoult, who also received a nod for his work as Peter. "I normally don't bring my phone to set, but coincidentally I did that day and in between takes, Nicholas called me right as the news broke and asked if we'd heard. It was so special to be surrounded by the whole crew. A big announcement was made, and we had champagne after work. It was perfect." Fans of the show know many "huzzahs!" would have been exchanged.