Cressida Bonas' acting career is going from strength to strength. The 28-year-old star is set to play George Orwell's wife Sonia in Mrs Orwell. New photos show Cressida in character, wearing a floral-printed blouse and burgundy skirt in one scene. Another shows Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend in a checked skirt, white blouse and orange cardigan.
The actress will take to the stage at the Old Red Lion Theatre in North London on Tuesday night. She will play Sonia, a magazine assistant editor who married writer George just months before he died in 1950. The play is based on real events and is set in George's final months.
© Photo: PACressida plays Sonia in Mrs Orwell
The official description reads: "1984 has just been published and George Orwell is in the last chapter of his life with a severe case of tuberculosis. He still believes he has at least three novels in him so to keep his morale up he promptly proposes to friend Sonia Brownell, a 30-year-old assistant magazine editor. When Sonia learns that she is his only hope, she must decide whether to succumb to the advances of Lucien Freud or enter a platonic marriage with one of the country's most renowned writers."
Cressida will star opposite Peter Hamilton Dyer, who plays George Orwell. Director Jimmy Walters cast the dance graduate after working with her at Edinburgh Festival, revealing: "We went to [Leeds] university together and I played her father in Othello at the Edinburgh festival one year so I knew she would be great as a person and as an actress. She is just a great actress, she does a lot of research and she read a lot of books for the role so she's really so well informed about it."
© Photo: PA"She is just a great actress," said director Jimmy Walters
As well as her latest stage role, fans can expect to see Cressida in Tulip Fever, which is due to be released in the US in August after a three-year delay. She plays a small role in the film that also features Dame Judi Dench, Alicia Vikander and Cara Delevingne. Speaking to the Evening Standard, Cressida said: "It's such a small part and it happened such a long time ago, but it was a great first film experience and I'm looking forward to it being released. I'm a real home person and close to my family, but would love to go out to LA if the right opportunity came along. I do feel more at home in theatre so perhaps even New York."
