OPHELIA Lovibond
Star of HBO Max series
MINX
Interview by
TESSA SWANTEK
Photography Sami Drasin
Stylist Blair Cannon
Ophelia Lovibond stars in HBO Max’s new comedy series, Minx, about Joyce Prigger [Lovibond] teaming up with Doug Renetti [Jake Johnson], a pornography publisher, to create the first erotic magazine for the female gaze in the 1970s. Lovibond’s character, as we meet her, is fiery and self-assured as her shirt’s pussybow is tied tightly against her neck holding her head high despite the challenges she faces as a woman. As she begins working with Renetti, who she originally sees as sleazy and unreliable, she (and her trademark pussybow) starts to loosen up to the team’s ideas as they work together to “hide the medicine in the peanut butter,” or hide the feminist message within spreads of naked men. The camaraderie of the cast is one of the many reasons the show is truly a joy to watch, along with the crew’s behind the scenes effort to create a world that holds the characters perfectly. The series is Ellen Rapoport’s very well-loved brainchild, much like Minx is like Joyce Prigger’s child that she holds closely. Rapoport, alongside the production design crew, costume design team, and set design team among others, created the world of Minx with all its 1970s vintage cars, pussybow blouses, bell bottoms, and sex toys. It is so well developed in episode one making it possible for the characters to thrive as if they had always been there and are just now being filmed. In our interview with Lovibond, she tells us about the camaraderie on set, talks about her own memories of scrapbooking, shares what input she put into making sure the female gaze was highlighted in the series, and hints at what’s next for her. Read below for our full interview with Ophelia Lovibond!
A question I think is fun to start off with before getting into Minx is, if you could go back to a moment in your career to experience again fully, what moment would you choose?
Hmmm. Stepping onto the West End stage for the first time after having dreamed of doing so since I was little was a pretty magical moment. Although to be honest, that feeling returns each time you do it, so I ought just to do another play!
Now getting right into your recent main role as Joyce in Minx, I first want to say that I genuinely love the series so much! Something that I personally enjoyed about your character was in the idea that she wasn’t meant to be this sort of preacher who was always entirely correct and above everyone else. There are many times in the series where she realizes her own preconceptions. What attracted you to Joyce as a character?
Well, precisely what you highlight: that she is well-meaning, but flawed and therefore more interesting to play and, I hope, to watch. Although she’s stubbornly determined to get her ideas out there (and had to be in the face of so much rejection and sexism), she’s not above evolving in response to the differing perspectives to which she’s now being exposed, which makes her a more endearing person. As soon as I read Ellen’s pilot script, I just loved Joyce – the combination of her neurosis and her goofy, boffin-y nature made me laugh and I couldn’t wait to play her.
Top & Shorts: Claudia Li
You seem to have had some experience in magazine making of your own- that old Leonardo Dicaprio scrapbook that you posted on your Instagram was pretty well-made haha! If you could make your own magazine today about a current obsession, what would it be about?
– That weird little book is one of my most treasured possessions, not because I’m still obsessed with Leo! but because it’s such an authentic snapshot into my goofy tweens. When my friend Heidi saw it on Instagram, so many memories of us hanging out in my bedroom cutting out images came flooding back to her. It’s a keeper. But a current obsession? Well, frankly it’d be sausage dogs. I cannot get enough of them. My miniature dachshund, Frank, is smothered with love and he’d be thrilled with his own mag.
I’m not sure if you would consider yourself an activist, but I know you post a lot about social issues on your Instagram, and like your character in Minx, you’ve talked about gender equity and women’s rights. Now, if you were to make a magazine that amplified a particular social issue that you are most passionate about, what would it be?
– It would be Minx! Well not far off anyway. Many of the issues that are discussed in the show, such as gender equity and gender stereotyping, remain issues today, so it’s fundamentally important to continue amplifying them. I’m not sure I’ve earned the right to be termed an “activist”, but yes I’m certainly vocal. As well as Gloria Steinem (of course!), I’ve learned a lot from the incredible Marai Larasi and Sarah Sophie Flicker.
The show is full of 1960s-1970s style cars that look gorgeous! If your personality were a funky 1970s car, what would it be?
– A 1970 Mercedes 280 SL Roadster in a navy blue metallic finish with cream leather interior and chrome accents. It’s my dream car.
I also loved the magazine publisher’s studio set, was there a particular element of the set that was your favorite?
– Talk about stepping into a whole other world! Our production design team were just fantastic, so imaginative and creative; you’d open a drawer on set and it would be filled with papers and files and nik-naks appropriate not only to the period, but the environment of a publishing house. Walking into the layout room and seeing how Ellen’s ideas had been brought to life all around us always drew oohs and aahs from the cast. The random sex toys and Bottom Dollar photo-shoot props that dressed the set were excellent. The wooden cake large enough for a person to jump out of and the live snake spring to mind. Oh but the CARS! I loved all the vintage cars.
We also have to mention the ‘70s fashion in the show! Joyce is the queen of pussybows and pant suits and her pussybows sort of loosen as she loosens up a bit. Can you tell us a little bit about the costumes in the show, and if you had a favorite piece that you wore?
– The costume design by Beth Morgan was so impressive. The level of detail that went into every single look on Minx, from the blouse covered in pictures of Shakespeare that Joyce wears to the pitch-fest, to the safari suit Dough wears to the mob house so he’s dressed “smart”, to the King Dong shirt that featured on one of our supporting artists and the (fake) goldfish in the heel of Richie’s platforms – it was sumptuous. Beth created a world so rich in personality that it helped tell the story of each character and therefore the show as a whole.
As for a favourite piece, it’s too difficult to choose one – I genuinely loved everything Beth selected, but some highlights are the pink three piece suit in the pilot, the glitzy dresses in episodes 7 & 8 and the teal suit with the enormous bell-bottoms.
Minx also discusses the “female gaze” a lot and I think it’s really important that the show is created by a woman, Ellen Rapoport, who came into HBO Max offices carrying 70s porn magazines. In entertainment, sometimes the concept of the “female gaze” still comes from male-dominated teams but that was not the case for Minx. Working on the show, did you feel a sense of a distinctly female perspective?
– Yes absolutely. When you change up the creative talent behind the camera, it will inevitably alter what we see on camera, which is why it’s so vitally important to have broader representation across all fields. In terms if the female gaze, there was scene in one of the early episodes where Joyce has a fling with Shane the fireman and when it came to discussing with the director how we ought to stage it, I felt strongly that Joyce should remain clothed and we focus on his naked body. It’s about her active desire, about her sexual appetite, so let’s feed it!
With the show being a comedy, I imagine the atmosphere when creating the show would be very fun especially since the whole cast seems amazing. What is one of your favorite moments from working on the series?
– Honestly shooting this show was so ridiculously fun. Ellen really set the tone with her exuberance and approachability. There was such camaraderie between not just the cast, but the entire crew and the producers too, that the making of Minx felt like a day at the spa. I would love it when the excellent Oscar Montoya (who plays Richie) would slip into this little character he made up and start performing weird dances which Jess Lowe would film and put to music. Or when we’d take Jake’s chair and put it in the corner facing the wall when he wasn’t looking. Or when you’d see Ellen strutting toward you twirling a dildo…
Moving to future projects, you are set to play Carrie Johnson, Boris Johnson’s wife, in This Sceptred Isle, depicting the actions of Johnson and the government in the face of the pandemic. Can you tell us a little bit about what we should be looking forward to about this, and any other future projects you are working on?
– What struck me about the writing in This Sceptered Isle is how it simply presents what happened in chronological order and contrasts what our government was doing in the face of the pandemic compared to other countries and the general public and invites the viewer to make their own deductions. I’m curious to see how people respond to it, not least to Ken’s uncanny portrayal of Johnson!
As for future projects, there are always irons in the fire…
