Nathalie Emmanuel Covers AMAZING Magazine | Issue 2

Nathalie Emmanuel is stepping into her power with a stunning new look and an energy shift to match. The Invitation star chats about exploring different genres, manifesting her dreams and getting back on set with her Fast & Furious family in AMAZING issue 2.

Nathalie Emmanuel has just returned home from a long day filming Fast X, the latest instalment in the Fast & Furious franchise, when she hops on Zoom for our interview. It’s a little after 8pm in London and she’ll be back up at 5am to work again; her scenes only started shooting last week, but Emmanuel tells me it’s “full steam ahead”.

While Fast X is slated for a May 2023 release – more on that later – we have a pressing matter to discuss: Emmanuel’s starring role in The Invitation, out on 26 August. The horror thriller, directed by Jessica M. Thompson and inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, tells the story of a woman (Emmanuel) who is invited to an extravagant wedding in the English countryside. She quickly falls for her host (played by Gossip Girl’s Thomas Doherty), before finding out he has a sinister side, and all is not as it first appears.

“I read the script and I thought it was great, but the thing that really attracted me was that it was a very different telling of that story,” says the 33-year-old, who – like most of us – had grown up with male-centric adaptations and depictions of the original Dracula novel. “It was very much female-centred and it tackled a lot of the themes and issues that we see in society. The way that women are exploited and used and abused, and also being a woman of colour and how that intersects with these power structures that are not designed to care for us in any way. I was surprised at how conscious it was.”

Emmanuel, who grew up in Southend-On-Sea in Essex, England, is British, Saint Lucian and Dominican. She first met director Thompson over Zoom, after being a fan of her previous feature, The Light of the Moon. “I was excited at the idea of working with Jess, because she seemed like somebody who had a real grasp of the kind of issues that were being tackled and a real sense of care. When we finally got on Zoom we spoke for like, an hour and a half or maybe two hours, and her energy was almost addictive. It made me feel safe and she was open to learning from me and my experiences, too. She was so sensitive to any kind of trope or stereotype, in either inverting it or just avoiding it completely. I really appreciated that and, as a director, she was very collaborative. For me, working with female directors more often is something I’m actively working towards as well.”

For Nathalie Emmanuel's full interview and shoot, plus other AMAZING women, fashion and lifestyle features, order your copy of AMAZING issue 2 now.

Nathalie Emmanuel wears Chanel

Photographed by Simon Lipman
Styled by Cher Coulter
Words by Jennifer Lynn
Makeup by Gina Kane at Caren Agency
Hair by Anastasia Stylianou at One Represents
Videographer James Sharpe
Art Director Jeffrey Thomson
Production Director Morgane Millot
Production Assistant Kai Roberts
Special thanks to The Dilly