October 2006

Starlet Lucy Griffiths is poised to rise of obscurity this month when she makes her television debut as Marian in BBC1’s lavish Robin Hood. Forget men in tights: this take on the age-old tale, produced by Dominic Minghella, has been described as Spooks meets Pirates of the Caribbean, and is designed to advance the trend for family teatime TV.

As Maid Marian and her Merry Men, a Nineties BBC series that saw Marian leading the motley band, this latest incarnation of Marian is a thoroughly modern miss. Griffiths describes her character as a bit of a clown: “not your average fairytale princess”. The “Maid” has been dropped in line with her shiny new image, and you get the feeling that she keeps Robin, played by brooding newcomer Jonas Armstrong, on his toes. “Marian’s definitely got her own ideas about how Robin should be doing things,” she laughs.

It’s easy to see how Griffiths won the role. Quietly composed, with porcelain skin and long dark hair, she has a suitably medieval air. At just 19, she’s remarkably unfazed by her imminent burst onto our screens and took the prospect of seven month’s filming in Hungary in her stride. She compares the experience of being the only woman on set to having “a big set of charismatic brothers”.

Griffiths began her career as Annie at the Dome theatre in her hometown, Brighton, aged 11. Then, instead of choosing university or drama school, she worked with the National Youth Music Theatre. Their production of The Man of the Mode at Brighton’s Pavilion Theatre, in which Griffiths played an eccentric 40-year-old, was the breakthrough that led to her audition for Robin Hood.

Clearly, acting comes naturally to her—along with a talent for accents. So what would her dream role be? “Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice,” she beams without hesitation. Spoken like a true English rose.