The thick mane of chestnut hair, pouty lips and piercing eyes – Gala Gordon has got the whole ‘60s Jane Birkin style meets Angelina Jolie glam down. But while it may be easy to label the 25-year-old model and actress as another stylish ‘It’ girl of the moment, the drama school-trained star is ready to steal the spotlight in her debut feature film Kids in Love released 26th August, opposite an ensemble cast of up-and-coming talent including Will Poulter, Skins star Seb de Souza and Jamie Blackley. Oh yeah, and Gala’s long-term pal IRL Cara Delevingne, plays her mischievous sister on-screen.
Grazia caught up with Gala Gordon to talk squad goals, girl power and going all out in fancy dress…
Hi Gala! So tell us a little bit about what we can expect from Kids in Love and your character you play, Elena?
It’s a really lovely British coming-of-age film which follows this young guy Jack, played by Will Poulter. It raises that question a lot of us come across when we finish school, which is ‘what are you going to do with your life?’ At the beginning of the movie he seems to have his life mapped out, [but] by chance he meets this beautiful French girl [Alma Jodorowsky] who introduces Jack to this bohemian side of London, where he meets myself and Cara Delevingne’s character, Viola. We play sisters in the film and kind of lead him astray.
Did you relate to that awkward Inbetweener phase growing up?
I think the pressures young girls experience when they graduate school is so difficult. You don’t know what to do. And your parents sometimes want you to go down a more secure path, which is something I experienced at a young age. I left school and was adamant I wanted to go to drama school, I was fortunate to get into Guildhall when I was 18, so luckily that next step was decided for me after a vigorous amount of auditions. But I definitely picked up on things during filming – like mine and Viola’s fun attitude. They’re both very spontaneous – that’s something Cara and I really wanted to capture – seizing every day as it comes.
You and Cara have known each other since you were 13 years old. That must have been amazing working on this together…
We met through mutual friends as teenagers. Cara’s been passionate about theatre from a young age, she used to go to Edinburgh Fringe Festival and put on plays and see stuff. It was so funny – we had no idea the other one was even auditioning, so it was so great when we found out.
Did you both lean on each other for support?
The thing that was so brilliant was that it was the first film role for both of us [Kids in Love was filmed three and a half years ago], so we could really share the experience together and share the safety net the whole way through. It was always nice to know there was someone there to catch you when you fell.
There’s a lot of cool party scenes in the film. Was it just as much fun off set?
We’d finish filming and then we’d all go and boogie, wake up and be together again. We spent all our time together! We’ve all become such good friends which is so special. I can definitely relate to that collective sense of friendship in the film – that’s something I’m so lucky to have with my friends – we all support each other in all our different careers.
Where do you stand on the ‘Squad’ phrase. A fan?
[Laughs] I can’t say I’ve ever used that term. I think friendship is about being really honest. I’m lucky to be acting, but sometimes it can be difficult. There are a lot of ups and downs and having a good group of girlfriends who are always there for me helps.
It must be lovely to see your mates Suki Waterhouse and Poppy Jamie launching their accessories line this autumn?
Yeah, I’m so excited! I like to be very supportive, especially when it comes to British fashion, there’s so many cool young designers at the moment. I’m really fond of Shrimps, Hannah [Weiland] is only 25-years-old and doing so well. It’s all about girls taking risks.
Talking about risks, we love your Maleficent makeover for Halloween...
I made it myself. I was running late so I did it in 20 minutes! I love fancy dress.
Your face always looks flawless. What are your go-to makeup products?
I love Charlotte Tilbury – her highlighter is amazing and she has a shimmery primer Wonder Glow which is great too. I’m quite bad because I don’t really wear that much makeup so a couple of her things sort me out. And then if I’m going for a red lip I love Ruby Woo by MAC.
The wardrobe in Kids in Love serves up some pretty awesome festival inspiration. How would you describe your personal style?
The most important thing for me is to be comfortable. On Kids in Love we took a lot of our own stuff and ask the wardrobe department ‘please can we wear this?’ I wear this blue flower dress I bought from Reformation in a lot of the Notting Hill Carnival scenes. It’s so nice whenever I wear it, it brings back lovely memories.
READ MORE: First Look: Cara Delevingne In Teen Drama 'Kids In Love'
READ MORE: A Brief History Of Cara Delevingne's Acting Career