From Summer Issue 66
Ellie Bamber reflects on stepping into Kate Moss’s world in Moss & Freud, the upcoming film about what happened when the one-time party girl posed for the no-nonsense artist Lucian Freud
British actress Ellie Bamber started her stage career at just 12 years old in Sir Trevor Nunn’s production of Aspects of Love and since then theatre has been the focus of her work. She received an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination for High Society at the Old Vic before taking third prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for The Lady from the Sea at the Donmar Warehouse in Kwame Kwei-Armah’s production.
Named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow early in her career, she soon moved into the realms of film and television, taking roles in Les Misérables and portraying Mandy Rice-Davies in The Trial of Christine Keeler, the BBC series revisiting the ’60s Profumo Affair. The stage has continued to call her back, most recently in Michael Grandage’s stage adaptation of The Line of Beauty at the Almeida Theatre last year.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
With such a varied background behind her, it was Kate Moss who chose Bamber to play her in Moss & Freud. Premiering at the London International Film Festival in October 2025, the film focuses on the months Moss spent sitting for Lucian Freud in his Holland Park studio in 2002 during her pregnancy with her daughter Lila, resulting in a portrait that captured a very particular Y2K London moment.
Directed by Academy Award-winning writer-director James Lucas and with Moss serving as executive producer, the film explores the relationship that developed between Moss and Freud (played by Derek Jacobi) during those sittings, resulting in her greater maturity. And whatever happened to that painting? Well, it was later sold privately to an unknown buyer and has largely remained out of public view.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
What was your first instinct when Kate Moss came your way as a role?
My first instinct was, oh wow, and what on earth am I going to do? And how? Are you sure? I think there was definitely a bit of imposter syndrome, like, are you sure you want me to do this? And then it kind of got to a place where it was just so scary. But I think that when you’re really scared by something, it becomes exciting and you can really grow, too.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
Where did you begin in finding your version of Moss?
Kate and I both started in creative industries at around the same age. Because I shared that similarity, that was where I found an entryway. I was like, oh, OK, here’s a similarity and it’s something that I can really relate to and understand. After that, it was about watching videos, listening to her, looking at photographs, really understanding. I worked with an amazing movement coach, Polly Bennett, and I also talked to Kate herself about her own experiences, which was really invaluable.
Did you think of Moss primarily as an icon, or as someone at a turning point in her life?
Seeing her as Kate Moss, a fashion figure or the London girl, isn’t really getting to the heart of the journey within the story. I would say I definitely approach her as a young woman with a turning point in their life. When you begin to really see someone as an icon, it’s quite hard to get into the humanity of the situation that they’re in. It was definitely about the turning point in her life and about her journey and how the relationship with Freud changed her.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
How did you understand what she and Lucian Freud were to each other?
Well, there’s a conversation about artists and muse, which is really interesting. But I do think that here were two people who had an incredible friendship and who both got something really beautiful from each other. Freud was approaching the last years of his life and Kate has this incredible sense of joie de vivre, where she takes life and grasps it and is so strong, so understanding, so dynamic. That was exciting for Freud. Kate learned so much from him in the sense of the hours that she was there – she really learned the discipline. She was also enraptured by his stories and learning from him about art. I think that they really both gave each other a lot.
Did the studio begin to feel like a refuge for her?
Yeah, I really saw it as like a cocoon, a sanctuary. That all stemmed from actually going to Freud’s studio that David Dawson [Freud’s assistant] had so beautifully kept. The paint that he flipped on the walls actually comes out in this kind of 3D way. So, it does feel like, not a web, but a cocoon because there’s all of these textures and soft lighting. But when he puts the lights on for the painting, the lighting’s quite stark and it’s very, very quiet inside. I think that it was a refuge for Kate and it gave her a lot of peace and allowed her time.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
Did the pregnancy change how you approached the story emotionally?
Yes, it did. I obviously researched into how a woman feels when they’re pregnant. I spoke to my mum a lot and it definitely affected how I approached it emotionally, the fact that she is guarding this beautiful creation that’s inside of her and how sensitive she would be to protecting that. And also, again, just the element of it being a turning point in her life, she’s becoming a mother – Kate is such a beautiful, beautiful mother to Lila. Really highlighting that was super important.
How did you interpret the portrait leaving the pregnancy out?
From the research that I did and the chats I had, the pregnancy wasn’t necessarily left out – Kate was just halfway through her pregnancy. So, it kind of looked like something in between.
Was having Kate’s support reassuring or a bit daunting?
It was reassuring because it was amazing to have her support and to get the chance to talk to her. Her best friend, James Brown, was also on set with me nearly every day and to get his advice as her really close confidant was amazing.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
Was there a moment when she suddenly made sense to you?
When Kate quickly turned around to me and she was, like, “You’re playing Kate Moss – smoke out the window.” And I remember thinking, oh wow, yeah that is who I’m playing. I can allow myself the freedom to be naughty and to be a rule breaker.
What did Derek Jacobi give you as a scene partner in the studio sequences?
Working with Derek Jacobi was just the most extraordinary experience. The life that he has lived within film and theatre is just so incredible. I learned so much from him on set watching him, seeing his confidence in playing the character and the version of the character that he wanted to portray. I felt that some of the moments in the studio were really approached as in a play. So, to be with such a theatre king was really exciting.
Did stepping into early-noughties London feel nostalgic or like entering history?
Stepping back in history sometimes would start for me with the costumes and things like that. However, a lot of the clothes that I was wearing in the film were quite bang on trend because trends come back around.
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
Was recreating that atmosphere important in finding the character?
It was definitely important, and to focus on the ‘90s as well, because that was when Kate grew up. There was an incredible sense of attitude in the photographs that she took when she was younger and the music that was being played, such as Nirvana, and the art, which was so influential, even today. Summoning up the early noughties’ atmosphere was of course important. We had a VHS camera on set for a lot of the time. That really helped because it felt like I was being Kate in a quite informal way, using a VHS camera, the phones, all of that.
After playing someone as recognisable as Kate Moss, what kinds of roles are you drawn to next?
I would love to play a spy or a detective. I’d love to work with some of the directors that I’ve always dreamed of working with like Joachim Trier and Ruben Östlund.
Is maintaining variety across genres important to you?
I really love the variety more than anything. I love being able to go on set one day and do some comedy and then go on set the next and do the total opposite.
by Felicity Carter
Photographer: Anya Holdstock
Senior Fashion Editor: Lily Rimmer
Hair: Christos Bairabas using ORIBE
Makeup: Anna Payne using CHANEL Rouge Coco Gloss and No.1 De CHANEL Body Serum-In-Mist
Manicurist: Emma Adaoui using CHANEL
Production: Beauty Projects
Photography assistant: Pawel Herman
Digi assistant: Benjamin Meredith Hardy
Styling assistant: Amber Cox
Production assistant: Holly Raphael
Lighting: 123 Lighting
Location: Woods Quay
Talent: Ellie Bamber
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