Claire Foy said she refused to wear a padded bra for her latest film role in the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The British actress, who on Monday won an Emmy for her portrayal of the Queen in Netflix series The Crown, is starring in The Girl In The Spider’s Web as Lisbeth Salander, a vigilante computer hacker and victim of sexual abuse.
The film was in development as the #MeToo movement rose to prominence following allegations of mass sexual assault in the entertainment industry but Foy said the character is not “a poster girl” of any group.
Director Fede Alvarez said there was “no precedent” to how they approached the film’s female lead, adding it was important Foy “looked real”.
The Uruguayan filmmaker said she was the “guardian” to make sure the character was not exploited and revealed he and the actress had discussions on set to make sure it was not “too sexy” because he is a “white man”.
Speaking at an event for the movie in Los Angeles, Foy revealed: “I refused to wear a padded bra so that was my victory.”
The Girl In The Spider’s Web is based on the novel by Swedish author David Lagercrantz.
The film also stars British actor Stephen Merchant as a computer expert involved in international cyber security.
The past never forgets. Claire Foy is Lisbeth Salander in #GirlintheSpidersWeb – watch the new trailer now. 11.9.18 pic.twitter.com/hKbqN0VsEu
— The Girl in the Spider's Web (@SpidersWebMovie) September 17, 2018
Foy said Salander, who was previously played by American actress Rooney Mara, is a “survivor” of sexual abuse and discussed how the #MeToo movement has impacted film audiences.
She said: “That’s the interesting thing that I never really thought about before, which is what Fede said is that she is now the centre of the film and that now you can trust in an audience loving a difficult character.
“She’s not lovable. She’s not polite. She’s not pretty.
“She’s not everything that you think a female protagonist is supposed to be, soft.
“She’s hard and she makes really terrible, terrible decisions and you don’t know if you can get behind a lot of them.”
Speaking on her Emmy win for lead actress in a drama series, Foy said the last 24 hours had been “very, very strange, and amazing and really, really, really lovely”.
The Girl In The Spider’s Web is due to be released in the UK on November 21.