Foy wears Selezza ruffled tulle mini dress, £590; Swedish Stockings Olivia tights, £30; Cult Gaia Cassidy sandals, £670; David Morris Miss Daisy pearl drop earrings, £10,700, and triple ring, £16,700. Opening image: Zimmermann Luna ruffle maxi dress, £2,750; Miu Miu pink plexiglass flower earrings, available for rent at 4element
That instinct for invisibility might seem at odds with being one of the most recognisable British actors of her generation. Now 41, Foy has never been comfortable with scrutiny. “There’s an assumption that actors are desperate for attention, and that’s true in a way,” she admits. “But you want it and don’t want it at the same time.”
If H is for Hawk demanded withdrawal, The Magic Faraway Tree is a different kettle of fish. Foy plays Polly, the mother, in the new adaptation of Enid Blyton’s beloved book. “I’m not up the tree,” she says. “My character is very grounded.” Which meant she didn’t get to go to Malta, where much of the fantasy was filmed. “My bits were filmed in Reading,” she laughs.
Even so, the experience was joyous, not least because Jennifer Saunders plays her mum. “I basically have a sense of humour because of her,” Foy says. “Absolutely Fabulous was everything. The way they delivered the lines. Even the rhythm of the way I speak when I’m trying to be funny – my sister’s the same – it’s like we’re trying to be in Ab Fab.”
What drew her to the film was its modern take on a classic story. Early on, we see the parents (Foy and co-star Andrew Garfield) grappling with the sense that technology is stealing childhood moments. “They’re seeing childhood slipping away because of devices,” Foy says. “And that’s what we all feel.”
Foy, who has a ten-year-old daughter, laments falling reading rates among children. “There’s always a more appealing alternative, isn’t there?” she says. “It’s so much easier to just go on a device than it is to read a book.”
Her frustration with smartphones is clear, though her relationship with her own is more nuanced. “They’re horrendous and should be illegal,” she insists, before conceding they’re useful “for parking and the Ocado shop”. Still, she adds: “My life is maybe easier, but also it’s harder, because of the existence of smartphones.”
She is unequivocal about their place in childhood, though. “If you put something so addictive into the hands of a child, I don’t know what you think is going to happen,” she says. “There’s so much parent shaming, but it’s not parents’ fault. Governments need to step in, and make the right choice.”
Cult Gaia Kalea dress, £1,550; Miu Miu blue crystal stone earrings, available for rent at 4element
Frankly, she’d rather read a book – which may explain why she has starred in so many adaptations of much-loved novels. While she enjoys the work, there is pressure to live up to readers’ expectations. Doing Wolf Hall, she says, was particularly difficult. “I’d read the novels and, in my head, Anne Boleyn was so not me in any way, shape or form. I was really happy to be in it, but it was a struggle.” Still, she sees value in that. “At least you’re as hard on yourself as everyone else is going to be,” she adds.
Of course, for many, Claire Foy will always be Elizabeth II. Asked whether there’s a moment from The Crown that has stayed with her, she laughs. “There is nothing new to say about The Crown, sorry. And honestly, my memory is not what it used to be.” Her brain, she says, is “like a fridge. You have to clear out the back of it every once in a while.”
After The Crown, she had something of a Hollywood era, starring in First Man with Ryan Gosling and as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. In recent years, though, she has chosen more British projects. Was that deliberate? “I just love the commuter belt,” she jokes. But really, it comes down to her daughter. “I wanted her to have a normal school life,” Foy explains. “It was a choice. I’m at home during term time and not away for extended periods. I find being away from her really hard.”
That choice has shaped the projects she’s taken. “It certainly affected the locations that I’m willing to go to,” she confirms. She pauses, then laughs. “I can hold it over her when she’s older: ‘I could’ve been somebody!’ But no, it’s not that I’m not ambitious. I’m just also ambitious to be around for my daughter.”
That decision hasn’t slowed her down. Following H Is for Hawk and The Magic Faraway Tree, she’ll soon be seen in Savage House, a bawdy comedy in which she plays Richard E Grant’s wife, and Ink, set in the world of 1960s tabloid newspapers.
Maison Margiela bias-cut evening gown, £3,690, and blush shirt, POA; Simone Rocha poppy bud hoop earrings, £375
Her character, a female editor, didn’t exist at the time, but represents the women who came later and fought to forge a path in a hostile industry. “It was such a boys’ club,” she says. “My character is a tribute to the women who worked so hard, and put up with so much.”
True to form, the locations were not glamorous. Alongside Fleet Street, filming took place in Bromley. “Bromley Civic Centre, to be precise,” she grins. “We ate a lot of Nando’s Deliveroo. Not to do Bromley down – my sister lives in Bromley.”
Foy’s two older siblings are not in the industry. Her sister works at a suicide prevention charity, and her brother does “something to do with systems for financial organisations? I’m not intelligent enough to understand, basically.”
Her parents, now retired, are both proud and amused by her work. Her dad even emails in to his favourite film podcast, Kermode & Mayo’s Take, to suggest they have his daughter on as a guest. “Oh god,” she puts her head in her hands when I mention this. “Dad, what are you doing? You do realise this is my job?” She laughs. “I actually took him to an event that I knew Mark Kermode would be at so they could meet. But then he tried to act cool, like, ‘Oh, hi.’”
Despite surely having plenty of starry friends through work, she says her most fun WhatsApp group is one with her old mates from drama school, all now in non-showbiz jobs. Perhaps the secret to her success lies in this groundedness. She talks about ambition with humour, about motherhood without sanctimony and about fame as a side-effect rather than something to chase. “I usually know the right choice for me,” she says. “And as long as I stick by that, life will pan out as it’s supposed to.”
The Magic Faraway Tree is out in UK cinemas on 27 March
TRAVELS WITH CLAIRE
How do you beat jet lag?
“If you’re not staying for longer than three days, then stay on UK time. Enjoy the late nights or the early mornings, and don’t even bother trying to acclimatise.”
What’s one item you never travel without?
“Noise-cancelling headphones. Really fancy ones that block out every other human being. Mine are by Bose.”
What makes the best holiday souvenir?
“Terracotta knickknacks. I’ve got a donkey that I bought in Greece and a weird ceremonial man from Spain. I love little ceramics made by local people. In 20 years, I’m gonna be drowning in objets!”
What’s your favourite way to immerse yourself in a new culture?
“Walking around with no plan. That’s my favourite thing – just seeing where you end up.”
What’s been your best travel experience with work?
“I filmed in Puerto Rico for six months, for a doomed American TV show (2014’s Crossbones). I’m desperate to go back to the Caribbean islands.”
What would you most like to ask a pilot?
“I want to learn to fly a plane. Not a commercial airliner, but to be like Harrison Ford and do it for fun. So I’d ask a pilot: can I have a lesson, please?”
A TOUCH OF GLASS
It was an architectural feat when it opened in 1848, now Kew’s iconic tropical glasshouse is undergoing a monumental transformation
High Life’s cover shoot with Claire Foy took place in the Temperate and Palm Houses of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Containing 1,339 plants and a living laboratory, constructed from 16,000 panes of toughened glass and opened in 1848, The Palm House is one of the oldest surviving Victorian glasshouses in the world.
This is why its ambitious £60m renovation, due to begin 2027, is such an undertaking. Since its opening, renovation works have been carried out roughly every 30 years to combat the effects of high humidity and poor ventilation on the structure. For the upcoming renovation, which includes the adjacent Waterlily House (which has already shut and will reopen in 2027), the Palm House will be closed for five years, and the overhaul will reimagine the design to make it more sustainable. The aim is to reduce The Palm House’s emissions to net zero, to increase accessibility and to provide a better space for storytelling.
Kew’s horticulturists have been preparing for several years for the work by taking cuttings, air layering plants suitable for propagation and planning on where to temporarily rehome The Palm House’s residents, such as the Eastern Cape giant cycad, which holds the honour of being the oldest pot plant in the world. It pre-dates The Palm House itself, having arrived at Kew in 1775. The indoor rainforest’s plants – including rare and threatened species, such as Ravenea Moorei from Comoros, East Africa, which was thought to be extinct in the wild until 2023, and Pelagodoxa henryana from French Polynesia – will be moved, and the panes removed, recycled, and replaced with glass best suited to the job.
RBG Kew has raised almost a third of the funds to date, but is seeking funding throughout the project to maintain this beloved national monument.
For more information on how to support the renovations, go here or call 02083323246
