Fast Five with Sarah Gadon
Meet the Canadian actress who becomes Princess Elizabeth in A Royal Night Out
FACT FILE
NAME Sarah Gadon
BORN April 4, 1987 in Toronto, Canada
FILMOGRAPHY A Dangerous Method (2011), The Moth Diaries (2011), Cosmopolis (2012), Enemy (2013), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Maps To The Stars (2014), Dracula Untold (2014)
1. CRONENBERG CRONY
This elegant Canadian blonde has been acting since the age of 10 but did not get much notice outside her country until she snagged a role in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method.
The Canadian film-maker became her mentor and subsequently cast her in Cosmopolis as Robert Pattinson's wife and Maps To The Stars as a movie star ghost haunting Julianne Moore's character.
2. ROYAL HIGHNESS
Gadon's aristocratic good looks make her a fitting Princess Elizabeth in A Royal Night Out.
Opening here tomorrow, the drama revolves around the misadventures of a young Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret (Bel Powley), who get permission from their parents King George (Rupert Everett) and Queen Elizabeth (Emily Watson) to venture out on Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8, 1945, as the country and Europe celebrate the Allied Forces' victory in WWII.
The princesses go incognito and have a wild night. The movie is supposedly based on true events.
3. MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Gadon's British accent is so convincing that many have thought the 28-year-old is English.
She told the Mail Online: "I was in Los Angeles in February and every meeting I sat down in, everyone was like 'Oh my God you're not British. I just told my office I was meeting with this lovely British actress.'"
Gadon said that she puts her accent to good use whenever she is in London and has to take a taxi.
"When I get into a black cab to say where I'm going, I use the accent because I know if I don't, they'll give me the run around."
4. BECOMING QUEEN
She took up etiquette lessons, watched news clips and read Elizabeth The Queen: The Life Of A Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith in preparation for A Royal Night Out.
She told The Telegraph her research included learning about "the iconography of the (royal) family". "A lot of what I was doing was breaking down the icon and playing the girl behind the princess," said Gadon.
5. ENGLISH ROOTS
One thing that attracted her to the role was having roots in the UK. Gadon's British grandmother was in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during WWII, which is where she met her future husband, Gadon's grandfather, who was in the Royal Navy.
She told The Independent: "They married during the war and emigrated to Canada afterwards. They were both in Trafalgar Square on VE night.
"So when we were recreating that scene in Trafalgar Square, it was pretty powerful to know that they had been there at that moment in time."
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