Maisie Williams (‘The New Look’): Catherine Dior ‘ultimately wanted to turn the pains of her life into something good’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“It’s so important that women like this are not forgotten from history,” declares Maisie Williams about her role as unsung hero Catherine Dior in the Apple TV+ prestige drama “The New Look.” Catherine was best known as a French Resistance fighter during World War II and who is often attributed as her brother Christian’s muse and inspiration for his iconic Miss Dior perfume that he launched in 1947.

For our recent webchat she adds, “if we’re going look at Catherine being one of the original muses of the Dior fashion house, you really have to understand how it is that she inspired Christian. And in order to do that, you have to really understand her life,” she explains. “I feel really grateful that more people are going to learn about her because she’s not someone that we think about when we think of the history of fashion. She wasn’t someone who is particularly glamorous or fashionable, but her essence and her femininity and the way she conducted herself in life; that was who Miss Dior was supposed to be and I think it’s just a beautiful message.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

SEE With ‘The New Look,’ Juliette Binoche is looking to add an Emmy to her awards collection

“The New Look,” which was created by seven-time Emmy nominee Todd A. Kessler (“The Sopranos,” “Damages”), explores the rivalry between a then-emerging fashion designer Christian Dior, who rose to stardom with his first collection in 1947, and established design icon Coco Chanel during World War II-era Paris. The 10-part series stars Emmy winner Ben Mendelsohn (“Bloodline”) as Dior and Oscar winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) as Chanel, alongside two-time Emmy nominee Williams (“Game of Thrones”) as Dior’s younger sister and muse Catherine Dior, two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy winner John Malkovich as French couturier Lucien Lelong, Claes Bang as Nazi spy Hans von Dincklage, and eight-time Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy and Tony winner Glenn Close as fashion doyenne Carmel Snow.

Perhaps the best example of Catherine’s inner strength and resilience is when she reportedly responded to a question about her experience during the war with a simple message: “Love life.” Williams loved that about her and what her story stood for. “I feel like we can read so much into that,” she says. “I always thought it was interesting how she never spoke about the horrific things that she saw and I feel like to speak these things into existence, or to speak about these things after the fact; it’s almost like keeping a little bit of that evil present within the world, and I feel like in order for her to survive like she really had to leave a lot of this pain behind. It shows someone who’s incredibly mentally resilient and someone who ultimately wanted to turn the pains of her life into something good.”

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