Rupert Friend on being Albert
Rupert Friend has revealed how close he came to not getting the part of Prince Albert in new movie The Young Victoria.
While co-star Emily Blunt, who plays the Queen, chased the part from the early stages of development , Rupert said, "I was the last-chance saloon guy. I was doing something else in Hungary and I was asked if I wanted to come and do it and I said yeah but they [the casting team] didn't really want to and my agent, in quite a pushy way, said 'Will you give him two minutes at the end of the session because he's coming all the way from Hungary?'"
Rupert failed to dress the part though and took a casual approach to wardrobe for his audition.
"I had dyed blonde bleached hair in a short-back-and-sides and ripped jeans and that's why I have to take my hat off to the director because he saw that and thought: 'Yeah, he could play Albert'," he said.
When he was finally cast, Rupert fully embraced the role.
"No one knows anything about him. They think he's the co-owner of a museum in South Kensington but they don't know anything about him and his contribution to the country. I hope if anyone gets interested they find out as much as I did 'cos I think he's fascinating."
And the actor, who is going out with Keira Knightley, won't rule the couple making a movie together in the future. "Who knows?", he said.
:: The Young Victoria is out in cinemas on March 6.
