As her Hulu biopic about Catherine the Great drops, we speak to the 22-year-old star about the women who inspire her, and her life as both the series’ lead and producer.

Before the global pandemic, when human contact is still an everyday occurrence, we meet Elle Fanning in one of her favorite restaurants in the Valley, where she was born and raised, to talk about her latest role. With a script by Australian screenwriter Tony McNamara of The Favourite fame, she jumped at the chance to work on a TV series about the young Catherine the Great, who became the Russian empress after overthrowing her dastardly husband, Peter the Great, played by Nicholas Hoult. Following the coup d’etat, she went on to rule the nation for 34 years, embracing the European ideas of the Enlightenment, extending its borders and governing during a period that became known as The Golden Age. We ask the actor what it was like to embody one of the most powerful female figures in history in The Great, available to stream May 15.

What appealed to you about Catherine’s character?
She’s a beautiful character because she’s very curious, and she always has a second plan and a third and fourth and fifth plan. And she makes mistakes. And she doesn’t claim to know everything. She’s open to learning from other people and even Peter, though his style of ruling is horrible. And she’s a great manipulator.

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The two actors talk about ‘The Great’ on Good Morning America.

Elle video chats with Jimmy about celebrating her 22nd birthday in quarantine, explains how she ended up with Bob Dylan’s harmonica and breaks down the importance of supporting Children’s Miracle Network.

With all 10 episodes of The Great arriving on Hulu on May 15th, Collider recently got the chance to chat with Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult about a little bit of everything! They talked early inspirations, getting involved in franchises, The Great, and loads more. They’ll share the full chat closer to the show’s big debut, but for now, here’s a brief tease of the conversation.

Of course there’s a ton of Batgirl fan casting happening right now, and that likely has a lot to do with, one, the character being super popular and, two, the fact that Warner Bros. has had a Batgirl solo film in development for quite a while now. The funny thing about Fanning’s name being tossed around for the title role is that her Neon Demon director, Nicolas Winding Refn, has expressed interest in directing a Batgirl movie, so they her about it.

Update

Full interview: