Reviving the iconic role of Elora Danan from the 1988 George Lucas sensation Willow, at just 25, Ellie Bamber is the newest addition to the British it girl cohort.

Following her work in The Serpent and in Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals alongside Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, the budding actress is now leading the latest Disney+ release. From her early days in the theatre, to becoming the face of Chanel, and gracing the British Fashion Awards wearing custom Vivienne Westwood, Bamber has established herself as an all-rounder and she’s not going anywhere, anytime soon.

We caught Ellie on a day off, when she’s not wielding her powers to save her “prince in distress”, trading fantasy costumes for sweatpants, and asked for the 411 on her most recent project and the much-anticipated sequel.

How’s life now that everything’s finally out and how hard was it to keep everything a secret?

You know life’s good, I feel so lucky and so honoured. Most of that has to do with the people around me, hanging out with friends and family. As for the secret, it was very hard not to drop the E-bomb.

How would you describe Willow to a first-time viewer?

Willow throws the fantasy tropes that you usually see on its head. It's about this group of unlikely heroes who don’t have strong relationships to begin with, but they set out on this quest together, learning a lot about each other and themselves in doing so.

Left Dress **N21**
Right Coat **Zadig&Voltaire**

What drew you to Elora, the character you played? And how did you prepare for this role, in comparison to previous roles?

I think what drew me to Elora is that she’s so unafraid to be herself, to voice her opinion and is determined beyond belief. I just loved her character arc, to be honest. There’s something really interesting about having to reconcile with the fact that you have magical abilities. And to me, it was a huge metaphor around creativity and coming into your power as a woman, figuring out who you are and where you land in the world. So that’s why I was really excited to take on the role I think, and also cause it’s Elora fucking Danan, and I was like, ‘Shit, yeah I’m down!’ We had a four-week boot camp before we started and it was just really epic. It also gave us the choice to really get to know each other and we formed this beautiful bond as a cast.

Definitely! I was gonna mention that you could see that you were very close, in your friendship with Tony for example, and I heard that your cast mate Dempsey played a prank on you about spoilers being leaked to The Sun. How did it feel to work with such a tight-knit cast?

It definitely made the project more enjoyable, it made it such a laugh. And you know, when Dempsey, the one who played a prank on me, whenever he writes stuff on the group chat now I’m like, ‘Are you pranking me?!’ It's so interesting because we’re all really close but we all have very different friendships with each other. I feel like they’re gonna be people who will be in my life for a long time.

How was it working on something that was so highly anticipated? Did you feel any pressure or expectations from the Willow fandom?

There was definitely pressure. I went into this thinking that not only did we have to do the fans justice but also how well Jon Kasdan wrote the characters - we were having to do him justice as well because he’s the most incredible writer. Maybe it's because I started in theatre but I see nerves and excitement as quite close together, so I hopefully managed to translate one into the other. Also, we had such great support… The amazing team and producers made me really feel like I was in safe hands.

Left Jacket & bag **Zadig&Voltaire**, shirt **Acne Studios**
Right All **Zadig&Voltaire**

And this was such a huge project! Which one of your projects that would you say has challenged you the most?

I would say the upcoming project with Oorlagh George, The Sniper’s Daughter, about a young American girl who comes back to Northern Ireland and slowly unravels her family’s involvement within the IRA. She is dealing with complex trauma and PTSD and that was a really interesting thing to showcase. It was [very] challenging because I had to figure out the headspace of this young woman.

And which character would you say you relate to the most as Ellie?

I think because I’ve been thinking about Elora a lot [lately], it would have to be Elora. And not because I think that I have magical powers or anything. But I relate to her journey and how she tends to have major impostor syndrome within her journey. That’s a thing we all wrestle with and I’m definitely still trying to figure that out, my path, my journey, and how that relates to the world around me as a woman.

What do you feel you want to see more of in the industry?

I feel like we’re maybe heading in the right direction but of course, more could always be done. To see such unique storylines within Willow is really special and to have 3 well-rounded female characters, who are strong in their own right, is really great.

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Interview by Gabrielle Valda Colas

Photography by Gregory Derkenne

Fashion by Marco Drammis

Casting by Imagemachine cs

Hair by Bjorn Krischker at The Wall Group

Make-Up by Neil Young at Premier Hair & Make-Up using 111SKIN