dress. Iris Yang
boots. Stewart Weizman
opposite
bra. Fililia K
skirt. Jacub Cielecki
shoes. Aquazurra
earrings. Rellik
latex hold ups. Elissa Poppy
Jess Alexander is not a star. Or, at least, that’s what she tells me. “I don’t feel like I’m really a public figure… yet!” she claims. So, the first sentence should actually go like this: Jess Alexander, a British rising star, recently on everyone’s lips, due to Ryan Murphy’s ‘The Beauty’ (telling a story about a new sexually transmitted treatment) and animal attack horror ‘Primate,’ does not consider herself to be a public figure just yet. But, let’s be honest – this one isn’t that catchy, right?
Our interview is scheduled for around thirty minutes. We are supposed to talk about Ryan Murphy’s latest show. She wants to do it, I want to do it, but we simply drift somewhere else right after saying “hi” to each other. It feels organic, a vibe of meeting a stranger at the bar and remaining purely curious. Whoever you are – an actress, a journalist, or anyone else working in the film industry – you have to be interested in other people. Otherwise, what’s the point of taking up this job in the first place? So, you don’t ask about their work hastily. You don’t ask personal questions just like that. You talk about the weather, for instance. In this case, as your icebreaker, you mention an airport, as Alexander is waiting for her flight.
“Heathrow?” I ask. “Yes,” she replies. “I don’t live far from here, so it’s often the least painful part of a journey.” Alexander is not shooting anything new. She is, instead, “flying to Santa Fe for a writing retreat.” For a week, Jess will write and exchange ideas with a few colleagues. I ask her if she considers herself to be a writer. “I suppose so,” she admits. “I’ve actually been writing for the last couple of years. But now, I’m trying to take myself seriously.”
Here we are: Jess Alexander is a writer. “Of course, there are a lot of upsides in the landscape of acting,” she tells me when I mention that I wouldn’t have assumed her being a writer, as acting is already pretty challenging these days. “Today, it’s much more accessible. It’s a good thing that we have many more platforms for accessible careers. But I also think it obviously makes it a more competitive space. When you’re aspiring to anything creative, you’re against so many people. And you need to have your own thing,” Alexander confides. “Yet, what often saves you during those tough moments is community. It’s pressurising, but it’s not like we’re reinventing the world or anything. We’re just playing some dress-up for a living, that’s it!”
coat. Bottega Veneta by Designer Exchange
shoes. Charles & Keith
earrings. Fay Andrada
socks. Falke
opposite
coat. Rellik
shoes. A.W.A.K.E. Mode
earrings. Fay Andrada
tights. FALKE
Actors are often beautiful creatures. And Alexander has had to sacrifice one thing for beauty. It was, as she says, half-joking and half-serious, her “sanity.” “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it comes to acting. It’s taking me away from being more present and open to new stuff. When you get wrapped up in perfectionism, you’re achieving the opposite of what you want to accomplish. It’s a waste of time, isn’t it?”
The question, “What would you sacrifice for perfection?” feels like the main theme of Murphy’s show. By experimenting with beauty, people put on certain masks and become someone else completely. The allegory with acting seems pretty obvious at this point. Alexander says that, as a young actress, she used to put on a certain mask while taking her first steps in this industry. “It was the role of an actress doing some press interviews. I was still figuring out who I am.” Now, after growing up and getting more experience on set, Alexander feels “totally relaxed with myself.” “It’s just easier this way. You’re not pretending, and you don’t have to worry what people are going to think of you!”
It doesn’t necessarily mean Alexander has finally managed to find her “true” self. The actress knows she’s still looking. “I’m a mystery even to myself. Even now, I feel like a completely different person than last year. And, I definitely sense that my frontal lobe has finished cooking, so let’s see what the day brings,” she laughs.
At some point in our conversation, Alexander admits that when she’s not acting, ‘I’m always able to occupy and enrich myself outside of it.” “Like writing retreat?” I ask her, so the topic is, once again, back. She nods and explains that for her, writing is a great escape and a challenge, too. “It can be quite lonely. But acting can be like that as well; it depends mostly on timing. Once you’re on a set with other people and can’t find time for yourself, and another day it’s the other way around.” This is when I tell her that in those kinds of jobs, there is a profound difference between “solitude” and “loneliness.” “So true,” she admits. “I need solitude in my life, and it can be a beautiful thing. I crave it when I finish my acting job. I need no one bugging me!” Jess laughs.
“Maybe I’ll find some solitude in Santa Fe on this retreat,” Alexander says after a few seconds. “What do you think?” “Possibly,” I admit. “I feel like I have been on my phone way too much,” Jess retorts. “And, London is also a lot. It’s just so easy to fall into certain patterns while living in London, isn’t it? Everything is so fast-paced, and whenever I’m back there, I quickly return to my old rubbish habits, like being constantly on Instagram while on the tube. I want to spend this trip in a much better way, and this is why I’m looking forward to it. I guess I just need it.”
So, does she often feel distracted? I mention it’s interesting because, as an actress, she needs to excel in attentiveness. “It’s impossible not to! I just got a short attention span,” Jess giggles “And, there’s so much going on that you often search for something new. I think many people in the creative industry feel that what they’re pursuing is pretty trivial, so they look elsewhere. But a lot of art can shift something in the world, so we need to remember that!” As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.
bra. Fililia K
skirt. Jacub Cielecki
shoes. Aquazurra
earrings. Rellik
latex hold ups. Elissa Poppy
opposite
top + shorts. Viviano
boots. Casadei
As time quietly rushes us, we go back to Murphy’s latest show. Alexander, alongside Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, and Jeremy Pope, is a vital player in “The Beauty.” Hall is specifically worth mentioning, as both actresses play the same character in two different narrative stages (no spoilers, just watch the show). It’s quite ingenious that the showrunners play with the trope of how one actor/actress replaces another. “I believe we are naturally quite similar to Rebecca!” Alexander laughs.
The actress explains to me that Murphy casts strongly off instincts. Hall and Alexander have a similar way of speaking, including humour as well (apparently an important part of the whole equation). “When I realised that’s what I’m auditioning to play, I’ve watched a bunch of Rebecca’s previous projects. And, I just studied her; that was just a part of my research.” Their character, Jordan, evolves throughout the episodes – both physically (casting) and mentally (writing).
‘The Beauty’ is glamorous. So is its cast. Does Alexander believe that certain actors have something “mystifying” about them? “Fashion and glamour have always been a part of the image of an actor. Nowadays, we see much more methodical dressing, which only strengthens the effect,” she says. For Alexander, there shouldn’t be too much glamour, because it “dehumanises actors.” In a way, she misses the time when talents used to have their own style instead of the one already pre-planned by the PRs.
One cannot forget that part of the show takes place in Venice, which, as she puts it, “is the most glamorous place I have ever been.” “But, hey,” she suddenly chips in,” I love a little bit of glamour. There’s nothing in dressing for the premieres, wearing diamonds that aren’t mine… It’s all fun, but we have to remember it’s just a cute fantasy. It’s like putting on a new character for a night.”
A few minutes to go, and we return to her life and habits. “I think I need to fix my attention span,” Jess confesses. “Perhaps I can do it on a plane?” I tell her not to connect to Wi-Fi there under any circumstances. “I disagree with Wi-Fi on the plane!” she retorts. “If you don’t need it, don’t use it. I adore this idea that for the next ten hours, no one can get to me, and I can be solely with myself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like anyone is particularly trying to reach me! You leave your plane, turn on your notifications and see that no one is texting you anyway,” Alexander chuckles.
full look. Louis Vuitton
opposite
coat. Bottega Veneta by Designer Exchange
earrings. Fay Andrada
We touch on the idea that access to culture tends to be overwhelming, especially for younger generations. “Do you often feel like it’s just too much to digest?” I ask her. “I do. I sometimes have this overwhelming fear that I’m never gonna experience everything I want to,” she admits. “Sometimes I feel like I’m doing a certain disservice to my youth by just not doing enough. But it’s just a catch-22 of your twenties, because every new thing is done for the first time. It should be enough, but you’re never present enough to appreciate it fully. You’re always somewhere else, thinking too many steps ahead,” she says. “It’s like this quote in ‘The Office,’” I tell her. “The one when Andy says he wishes there was a way to know you’re in the old good days before you will actually leave them.” “I love this show,” Jess confides. “Truly cerebral.”
And has ‘The Beauty’ changed the way Alexander thinks about herself? “Not really. However, I guess I’m now a more confident artist,” she admits. The 27-year-old actress feels that the show’s scale, its production value and the entire ensemble have shaped her new attitude. Yet, when it comes to the question of eponymous beauty, nothing has really changed. “As a young woman, I still try to figure out the relationship with my own body. The entire world of ads tells me how I should look. And I know that I’m portraying a supposedly stunning and perfect version of my character, but it doesn’t change a damn thing.”
Alexander believes that as a woman, “you can never fully be happy.” For her, trends change every year, and, as a result, women learn to look at their bodies through new and redefined lenses. “You can never really keep up with how you feel you should look.” A lot of ‘The Beauty’s’ heroines could have listened to Alexander talking, particularly the main protagonist of the pre-ultimate episode.
I bring up the idea that she’s also an actress. “Yes, it doesn’t help,” she notices. “This job revolves around how you look. When I was growing up, I kept hearing that the camera always adds three pounds. Can you imagine? Women feel pressure in this industry, but to be honest, men do too. I don’t know any male actor who is superbly confident, either. It’s just a matter of perspective.”
We need to wrap up, as Santa Fe awaits her. “Would you consider taking ‘The Beauty’ in real life?” I inquire, as Jess is kind enough to spend a few more minutes on a call. “No,” she answers. Well, that was fast, no hesitation in her reply. “Why?” I wonder. “Even without any side effects, I just wouldn’t do that,” she explains. “You know what? When you have kids, and they inherit your natural features, the ones that belong to your mom, dad, and ancestors, then why would you like to change them?” Then, she adds, “I look exactly like my mom, so if I were to change anything, that would be an insult to her. And, to my future daughter. Thinking of that already makes me sad. We all need some time to grow and learn how to love ourselves.”
bra. Filipia K
skirt. Hisu Park
shoes. Charles & Keith
hat. Emma Brewin
photography. Annie Noble
fashion. Celine Sheridan
talent. Jess Alexander @ United Agents
casting. Emma Fleming
hair. Isaac Poleon @ The Wall Group using Dyson, got2b + Schwarzkopf Styling
make up. Alex Reader @ One Represents using Lisa Eldridge
lighting tech. Harriet Turney
digi op. Guy Gunstone
production. Clara La Rosa
retouch. Marina Karaskevich
fashion assistant. Amanda Flor
interview. Jan Tracz
