Lucy Boynton sits with Net-a-Porter to talk Rami Malek and "The Politician"

Actor Lucy Boynton talks to NET-A-PORTER’s digital title, PORTER, about the attention her boyfriend, Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek, receives out in public, and admits she sometimes chafes at a selfie request: “I mean, you’d never grab a complete stranger in the street. And I think there’s a sense of ownership. It’s OK to just come up to someone, with your camera already out, and disregard whoever they’re with. It happened when we were with my mother, and we were just shoved out the way. It’s quite shocking.”

The 25-year-old actor also discusses her new major role in Netflix’s The Politician, the latest genre-bending show from Ryan Murphy [creator of Glee and American Horror Story], with a stellar cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Lange, January Jones and Martina Navratilova. Boynton admits to being star-struck on set: “There were people I didn’t want to make eye contact with.” Although, she “bloody loved” working with January Jones, who plays her mother. Boynton says Jones is a “cool, no-bullshit woman. We have a scene where we both look in the mirror, and our director said to me, ‘Just imagine that you’re looking at her, and she’s so beautiful, and you feel ‘less than’.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t have to, and I’m trying not to cry!’”

Boynton also had to endure the mortification of filming her first proper sex scene in The Politician: “I hated it so much. But I had Helen Hunt directing me. I said, ‘I’m a bit shy,’ and she just looked at me. And it was like, sorry, I do get to keep my T-shirt and tracksuit on. But I was quite embarrassed.”

Boynton reminisces on how an early yearning for fame was strictly managed by her mother: “She was very protective over the scripts I could read. She didn’t want me to do St Trinian’s or The Lovely Bones. She didn’t want to bring that subject matter into my world. When I found out, later, I was furious. I thought she was holding me back. Her 12-year-old daughter! I was so obnoxious.”

For PORTER’s shoot, Boynton was photographed by Nicolas Kantor and styled by Tracy Taylor. The shoot captures one of the key trends for fall and winter with tonal gray on gray, with Boynton wearing pieces by Tibi, Prada, Loewe, The Row and more.

Interview highlights:

Lucy Boynton on feeling embarrassed when filming her first sex scene: “I hated it so much. But I had Helen Hunt directing me. I said, ‘I’m a bit shy,’ and she just [looked] at me. And it was like, sorry, I do get to keep my T-shirt and tracksuit on. But I was quite embarrassed.”

Lucy Boynton on coordinating with Malek at the Critics’ Choice Awards: “I was supposed to wear a different Gucci dress, but it needed tailoring, so I had to swap. And I always leave earlier than him. I get ready with my team, then see him at the event. So it was only when we were sitting down that we did that kind of look across, and it was like, Ha! But really, I don’t think we want to be that couple, the coordinated duo! Being ‘thing one’ and ‘thing two’ is not the trajectory we’re aiming for.”

Lucy Boynton on feeling star-struck when filming The Politician: “There were people I didn’t want to make eye contact with.”

Lucy Boynton on co-star January Jones: “a cool, no-bullshit woman. We have a scene where we both look in the mirror, and our director said to me, ‘Just imagine that you’re looking at her, and she’s so beautiful, and you feel ‘less than’.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t have to, and I’m trying not to cry!’”

Lucy Boynton on Rami Malek’s popularity in public: “I mean, you’d never grab a complete stranger in the street. And I think there’s a sense of ownership. It’s OK to just come up to someone, with your camera already out, and disregard whoever they’re with. It happened when we were with my mother, and we were just shoved out the way. It’s quite shocking.”

Lucy Boynton on her mother dictating her roles when she was younger: “She was very protective over the scripts I could read. She didn’t want me to do St Trinian’s or The Lovely Bones. She didn’t want to bring that subject matter into my world. When I found out, later, I was furious. I thought she was holding me back. Her 12-year-old daughter! I was so obnoxious.”

Lucy Boynton on learning it’s ok to take her time building her career like Malek: “[He’s] been doing it longer. And I think the main thing is to take your time. I want to do this for the rest of my life, and it’s easy to think that you have to keep the momentum going, a phrase you hear a lot. It’s tempting once you’ve done one thing to quickly sign on to something else, so you have something to talk about. I’ve learnt that’s not the case, and that you can take your time to do really good quality pieces, rather than just doing everything.” 

Lucy Boynton on social media and her Instagram account: “More and more, I’m looking away from it.”

Lucy Boynton on how #MeToo has transformed life on-set for female actors: “It’s OK to not be afraid of a reputation for being ‘difficult’.”

To see the full interview, head to Porter or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android