Did playing such a literary icon as Jo March change you?
Yeah, I do feel it’s changed me. I am a real perfectionist and it was the first time ever that I was on a job where I thought, “I’m going to try something and I might mess it up. It might not be perfect and it might not be right but I want to try it.” And I’ve never really had the guts to do that before to that extent.
Do you share any characteristics with Jo?
We’re both very pigheaded, I think (laughs) and we are both very stubborn. She’s a much better writer than I am. In the earlier part of the film where she drags all her sisters in and their friend Hannah to be a part of her play that she’s written, and she’d spent all night going over the scenes, well, I used to do that when I was younger. I’d force all my friends to make a little short film with me. None of them enjoyed it – but I did because I was in charge! (laughs) And I think that’s a trait that Jo has as well.
It was such a heartfelt proposal by Timothee Chalamet’s Laurie. Have you ever been proposed to?
Not yet, not yet, unfortunately. There’s time though! (laughs)
Jo isn’t keen on getting married. Is marriage something you’re looking forward to or do you see that as an old-fashioned institution?
I think what’s nice is that you don’t need it, but you can just choose to have it and so then it’s for the right reasons. So yeah, I think it’s a lovely thing to get married if you want to and I think more than anything it should just be like a big party. I think definitely in Western society we can choose to have that or to not have that and show our love in that way or not.
What are you reading at the moment?
Eve Babitz’s “Black Swan”. It’s a collection of short stories. She’s an L.A. writer and I just thought that as I was coming over to L.A. for the Golden Globes, I may as well read about Hollywood. When in Rome…..(laughs). And also, I read probably one of the best books I’ve ever read a few months ago called “The Outrun”, and it’s by a Scottish writer called Amy Liptrot. It’s set on the Orkney Islands, which is far up north just off the coast of Scotland. It’s about addiction. It’s about somebody who goes to London and they’re trying to completely lose their sense of self and then finds themselves again when they go back to the countryside and to nature. And so that was very easy for me to read because I relate. I’m not an addict but I related to it in some way. (laughs) I grew up in the country, so I guess it was that.
If you were to write a book, what would it be about?
Probably about food. I’d probably write a book about all the nice meals I’d ever had. I’d go into great detail about it and the chef that cooked it and the person that cooked it for me, or if I cooked it. I love food. I would actually love to do that! (laughs).
