All That Glitters...

To  the outsider the experience of being directed in a movie by Madonna would seem daunting enough. On top of that there’s the  challenge of playing one of the 20^th century’s most famous, reviled and – in this telling – misunderstood women. 

Yet in W.E. Andrea Riseborough delivers a remarkable performance as Wallis Simpson, the divorcee who came between a king and his throne, but is at pains to point out that any nerves about working with such an illustrious figure as Madonna had to be overcome very quickly.

“There’s no time,” he says. “If you were to allow fear to engulf you, you would paralyse yourself artistically. The other thing is that it would also be like life reflecting art, because we were dealing a couple who were both revered and hounded in the press. It would have been naïve for me to assume that I had any prior connection to the woman who was going to be my director .”

Both Riseborough and her co-star James D’Arcy – Edward VIII in the film – speak as one in their admiration and affection for Madonna.  But Riseborough has another reason to be grateful, for the relaxed attitude she showed after the accidental loss of a key prop, a piece of imitation jewellery that was washed away in the surf after Wallis and Edward share a torrid embrace in the sea.

“It will have been very valuable,” Riseborough nods, “but of course not as much as the real thing which was one of the most expensive pieces of jewellery on the planet. The cross that was lost in the scene is red, which was changed by CGI because it was actually green when we were filming it.

“One day somebody might find it and think it’s the real one, because it was made by the same people at Cartier, and it has the same inscription on the back. They might just think they’ve struck gold and try and auction it.”