Who is Vanessa Kirby? All about the actor who plays Napoleon’s love interest in Ridley Scott’s upcoming film 

Ridley Scott has teased the audience worldwide with the trailer of his upcoming period drama, Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby in leading roles. While the first trailer dropped on Monday, July 10, 2023, the movie is scheduled for a release in the United Kingdom and the United States on November 22, 2023.

Written for the screen by David Scarpa, this epic history drama is about to depict the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) and his relationship with his first wife, Empress Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). The Movie Info section on Rotten Tomatoes summarises the storyline as,

"Napoleon" is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed."

Distributed by Apple TV+ and Sony Pictures Releasing through Columbia Pictures, Napoleon has been granted an R rating owing to strong images, violence, and sexual content.

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The on-screen Empress, Vanessa Kirby's rise to prominence

Vanessa Kirby, the 35-year-old English actress, had been tapped for the coveted role of Empress Josephine following the exit of Jodie Comer from Napoleon, which was originally called Kitbag. As per The Hollywood Reporter, schedule changes and the ongoing pandemic were the reasons behind Comer's exit.

Born on April 18, 1988, in Wimbledon, London, Kirby made her professional acting debut on stage with Arthur Miller's All My Sons (2010). She had an illustrated theatre background having appeared in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (2010), As You Like It (2010), Women Beware Women (2011), Three Sisters (2012), and A Streetcar Named Desire (2014).

Vanessa Kirby made her debut in films with a short role in The Rise (2012). She started gaining attention from the international audience after the role of Princess Margaret in the popular Netflix series The Crown (2016–2017). Her role in this historical drama, which was based on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, got her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Since then, Vanessa Kirby has been spotted in commercial films such as Hobbs & Shaw (2019), Pieces of a Woman (2020), and the Mission Impossible films by Christopher McQuarrie. She has also won a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her role as Martha Weiss in Pieces of a Woman (2020).

Kirby highlighted the differences between the direction techniques and atmospheres in the sets of Christopher McQuarrie and Ridley Scott saying,

"It's completely polar opposite to Chris. You will do 40 or 50 takes, you can do anything, you know, play around, or it might just be in one single shot. He will ask so many different things of you, you'll do that. Then with Ridley, he shoots with maybe six cameras and you'll do a couple of takes because he catches from every angle. He says it's like theater because you can shoot a scene and he'll capture every single image, and then you can move on. So it's almost the opposite, really."

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Ridley Scott's Napoleon will hit the theatres on November 22, 2023.