If there’s anyone who could have found 2020’s silver lining, it’s Lucy Boynton, a rising star who has grabbed life by the proverbial horns with a slew of starring roles, several megawatt red carpet appearances, and most recently as the newest face of the house of Chloé. The 25-year-old Brit had a stacked calendar this year, but when a global pandemic came calling, all bets were off. “Being forced to pause and take a step back has been a really positively eye-opening experience,” she explains from her home in London.
Boynton is the kind of star who has played muse to directors and designers for decades: blonde, blue-eyed, with the classical symmetry that recalls the visage of Grace Kelly. Her style is a welcome antidote to the one typified on Instagram of late, and by that we mean less athleisure, more Peter Pan collars, ruffled minidresses, and monochromatic suits. On the red carpet, her star-making moment was her appearance alongside her Bohemian Rhapsody co-star turned boyfriend, Rami Malek, in a glittering gold Celine gown at the 2019 Golden Globes (where Malek began a Best Actor sweep of awards season for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury). She went for a victory lap at this year’s ceremony in an equally shimmering silver lamé Louis Vuitton dress.
She’s got a bit of grit, too, which can be felt in her fondness for rockstar biopics—first as Mercury’s paramour Mary Austin, and most recently, as Marianne Faithfull in the forthcoming biopic about her legendary life. “I think [my role in] Sing Street was a real catalyst in my exploring and understanding the power and universality of music,” she says of her proclivity for the genre. Looking ahead to her portrayal of Faithfull (she also serves as executive producer on the film), she says, “There is so much information on, and footage of, Marianne and of that period of time, so it’s great to have so many resources to look to. Not to mention Marianne herself is involved, so I feel very fortunate to get to turn to her.” Boynton also co-stars in Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, a Netflix series that pits her character Astrid’s beauty and privilege against her naked ambition. “I think the show serves as a great reminder of the importance of using your voice and staying informed and involved,” she says.
All this to say that Boynton is the perfect face for Chloé’s latest iteration of its signature fragrance, a timelessly feminine and rosy blend which has been reimagined with a hint of tangerine. “I wore it all throughout the campaign shoot, so I love that it vividly brings me back to that time,” she says. “It was October in the South of France— so those beautiful, long days you get at the end of summer but with those crisp evenings and sense of anticipation of newness that comes with the changing season.” While those dreamy days seem so far from reality in 2020 (Boynton has been spending most of her time off taking long walks and eating lots of pizza, for one), freedom can be conjured with just one whiff. “I think it’s about feeling free and comfortable in yourself, and the liberating energy that comes from that, and from not taking oneself so seriously,” she says.
Chloé Rose Tangerine is available at Sephora, Shopper’s Drug Mart, and Hudson’s Bay.