Introduing July Starring Golda Rosheuvel
Golda was photographed in London by Jemima Marriott; she was styled by Jason Rembert and assisted by Mariamu Fundi. Makeup by Kenneth Soh; hair by Dionne Smith. Interview by Alison Engstrom. Photographer assistant Lee Furnival and Kelly Guibal.
above Golda is wearing a dress by ROKSANDA; jewelry by Alex Bittar, and gloves Paula Rowan.
Hi Golda, it’s lovely to meet you, I feel like I am talking to a pop culture icon! I’d love to know what has guided your decisions since you started your career started to bloom?
Good storytelling has always been the bedrock of who I am and where I come from. Growing up, there were loads of stories being told. Our house was always open to people coming in and many visitors from around the world. At one point in his life, my father was a Church of England priest and worked for a missionary society. My mom was a social worker, so it was very much a community. Everybody was welcome, it was, come in, let's hear your story. I remember sitting with the elders, listening to loads of stories.
When I get a script, it's about whether the storyline grips me. Is this a story that I want to tell? Is this a story that the world needs to hear? Then it goes a bit deeper into character. Is it a character that I want to learn things with, go on a journey with, hold hands, experience something, and investigate human nature and us as human beings?
Did the experience of meeting all of these different types of people shape you when you were younger because it opened your mind to the greater world?
Absolutely, it opened me up to different backgrounds, races, religions, and cultures. Both me and my brother are always talking about the fact that we were really embedded into representation, race, and religion. I feel very blessed.
Your career began in the theater. Was it always your goal to transition to the screen? I am sure theater offers so much discipline because it’s so consuming.
I think that discipline helps going on to the screen. Musical theater was where I started so I sang and danced and was in the chorus. It was a great training ground of resilience and stamina of doing eight shows a week. My first opportunity was getting into the Royal Shakespeare Company and I started to do Shakespeare, which again is about storytelling and huge ideas by this prolific writer. There’s so much work to explore and the characters he writes about, explores, and investigates are amazing and they still hold up today.
It was a great training ground to be working at the RSC with amazing actors and an amazing institution that was really grounded in that work. It taught me a lot about crafting dialogue and text. I'm dyslexic, so working with the RSC really gave me the confidence to discover language. I love to talk and I love words but it’s also very difficult for me.The RSC gave me the confidence with my dyslexia because they helped me a lot and that was the first time that I was diagnosed. They sent me away and got me diagnosed so that they could support me as an artist. The language of Shakespeare is so beautiful to speak and investigate. It gave me a lot of confidence.
above and below Golda is wearing a top and skirt by ROKSANDA; jewelry by Stephen Webster and shoes by Christian Louboutin
When did you fully step into your confidence as a performer?
I think I was always confident in the area. Music was in my home; we’d go to see plays and the opera and classical music was always around me. We sang prayers for dinner before we ate to thank God, Jesus, or whoever for our food. While I don't practice as much now, I believe there's something out there. I think because of my upbringing and knowing so many different denominations coming through the house. My father worked with Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, and Hindus. He worked with all of those people at the grassroots level. There’s a real kind of otherness of searching for me, there is not just one religion. It’s more about spirituality, the universe, the earth, and people. There was always that love of the arts that my parents instilled in both me and my brother. My brother is a composer and music producer who went to King's College Cambridge, which is a very prestigious college, and he got music scholarships. We always had that. So it was a natural thing to go into.
above Golda is wearing a dress by R.L.E.
What advice have you received maybe early on or now or as your career has blossomed that you've held onto that's helped you move through life in your career?
I did a production of Jesus Christ Superstar with a wonderful director, Gail Edwards, who was Australian. It was one of my first jobs and my first lead role that I'd ever had. I played Mary Magdalene. We took it on tour and I remember she didn't actually say it to me, but she said it to one of my costars. She said, Golda can actually play anything she puts our mind to. And I overheard it, and it is something that I've definitely taken with me in those times where I have doubts or imposter syndrome.
Was that helpful when you transitioned from the theater to the screen?
It's helped me in every single job that I've done. In those moments of doubt, I'm like, no, Golda come on. You can do anything. You can put your mind to, let's go love.
I love that. You're in the cultural zeitgeist, people know you, people love Bridgerton. People are just so fond of everything you've done. How have you stayed true to yourself since your career has taken off?
I did a podcast the other day with a dear friend of mine and she was saying the same thing. I got so embarrassed because I just live my life and as long as I'm all about community, and the more and more I talk about my family and my past, the more I understand that I am my mother's daughter. My mom was a person who you would walk down the street and somebody would be coming towards her and she'd be like, hello, how are you? She'd have a conversation for about 20 minutes. I'd be waiting there going, we've got to catch a bus train or whatever. We'd carry on our walk and I'd ask, who was that? She said, I have no idea. But they had such a lovely smile.
That's important to me both on and off stage and on and off screen. Somebody was talking about the power that I have now, and immediately I thought, I don’t like that word. It's a strange word to be saying. I think about the power of creating space for everybody to do their best work and creating a space for people from the ground up to excel, from the director of Bridgerton to the DOP, to the person who makes the food for everybody. I make sure that I try and know everybody's name who I pass. It's about all of us coming together to create something. Yes, I'm the face of it but it takes a village and a town and a city to create these things. And I am a person, especially with such grandeur like the costumes and the locations and all of that kind of stuff. I'm a person for the people. I'm a person for the community and that has been instilled by my parents.
above Golda is wearing a coat by Jacqueline Loekito.
What do you hear over and over again about why people love the show?
I hear, it's changed my life, a lot. It's opened up me, my community, and the world to the idea that everybody is valued and relevant. I think it's a special show for that and it’s really resonated with people. I get thanked a lot for the show because it has really touched people far and wide and sometimes saved the lives of people. You have to take stock and think, what I do, what we do really matters. Sometimes it can be seen as this frivolous thing–we're all in fancy frocks and lights, camera, action, with award shows and all that, which is all very lovely. But the work has to say something and mean something. And the work that we are doing in Bridgerton, under the guise of period drama, lavish things, costumes, and wigs is speaking and meaning something to people. Getting to do it through the medium of a period drama is very clever because you have the fantasy element of it. You have the original love story of that time and people coming together. But you have Shonda Rhimes, who is amazing, modern, and quick, with such a great understanding of culture that is now.
Creating and sharing art can really have an impact. I think that's the coolest part about being an artist, as well as the creator of ROSE & IVY. Whenever I create or tell a story, my goal is that it inspires someone.
I think it's an obligation of an artist to speak the unspoken.
Absolutely. I feel like there's so much suffering in the world right now, and everyone needs healing to get out of the darkness, and with shows like yours, it can be a delicious escape. Have you learned anything about yourself by playing Queen Charlotte? Has it been easy to separate yourself from her?
She's become separate now. In the beginning, she was very much based on my mother, both her as a person and her as an energy. But now Charlotte is definitely her own monster. I've created a monster (laughs). But she's become a pal, a mate, and a buddy that when I take the wig off and the costume and I'm in the car being driven home, I think that was a good day, mate, thanks for that. We did some great work today. It’s not, I've done great work. It's a real collaboration between me and the character now. I'm very excited to meet her again, see where she is, and where she's going to go next. But we are best mates now.
What's your favorite part about filming—is it the location, the costumes, etc?
It is all of the above and I love her. I love the character. I think she's really cool. I got to investigate her even more, that's why the spin-off, Queen Charlotte, was great to do. It was another layer to infuse into her.
What do you appreciate most about the arc of the character?
I love all the glitz and glamor, it’s great. But I think the emotional personal side of her has been really lovely to show because it makes her a rounded character. It shows weakness and vulnerability. That's been beautiful to show and I hope there's more of that to come, which would be lovely. Also, working with my best mate, Hugh (Sachs).
If you could take one memento from the set with you, big or small—with permission of course—what would it be?
Hugh, I have him already, so that's fine, he's done (laughs). I think physically I'd probably take one of the thrones. Emotionally, one of the amazing things was filming at Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court. I remember going to both places as a child and there I was filming this amazing show.
That’s such a beautiful full circle moment. How wonderful! How do you stay inspired between projects?
I think it's important to do other work. So I've been really grateful and very lucky to have done shows like Dr. Who. I just filmed a feature film in Scotland where I was the lead. I think work begets work, especially in this industry, it feeds what you do next. And holidays, holidays are always good (laughs).
Is there anything coming next that people should be excited about?
There are a few films coming out that I did just after Covid including a horror film and another I filmed in Scotland that'll probably be out next year. And then, season four!