Molly Windsor Leads Netflix’s Unchosen
bra, skirt & blazer MITHRIDATE
Molly Windsor travels from Derby to London for her PIBE cover shoot with a quiet ease. She is grounded, kind, warm, and happy to place herself in the hands of the team. There is a calm strength to her, and those sharp blue eyes are incredibly expressive.
She first came into wider attention with Three Girls, a BAFTA-winning role that carried real emotional weight and purpose. Now she’s stepping into Unchosen, the Netflix series, leading the show as Rosie, a woman who slowly begins to question the limits of her world and her place within it. Molly shares with PIBE reflections on this new chapter, the joy and chaos of life on set, why sometimes the best plan is not having one at all, and her new blonde look after Unchosen.
Left: dress ROKSANDA • Right: blazer DOLCE & GABBANA, earring ALEXIS BITTAR
First of all, congratulations on leading the new Netflix series Unchosen. If this marks a new era for you, how would you describe this moment in your career and life right now?
Molly Windsor: It really does feel like a new era! I feel happy and excited about my career and life feels good. I am very lucky.
What did you have to erase from yourself to make Rosie feel real on screen? Were there any scenes you had to give more of yourself to when filming?
MW: I think you draw on parts of yourself that can empathise with a character. I haven’t grown up in a religious community, but I know the feeling of faith, love and the desire to do the right thing. I can also empathise with the experience of it being one rule for men and another for women, the frustrations and injustice of that. I think the journey that Rosie goes on is very human and I hope this makes her feel real on screen.
Rosie lives in a world where desire is sin and curiosity is dangerous. Did playing her change what freedom means to you?
MW: I think it highlighted to me how important it is to have freedom. Originally the security of the Fellowship seems like a real positive, you don’t have to worry about what you’re doing each day, where you will live. But then that also becomes the struggle that Rosie is up against, she has no power or control over her life. The security that she is given can also be taken away. She has no freedom. It can be extremely difficult to stand up for yourself and what you think is right, but playing Rosie and seeing her bravery in fighting for her freedom is inspiring.
blazer & dress ERDEM, earrings ASTRID & MIYU
Asa Butterfield plays your husband. What was the energy between you, on camera and off?
MW: Asa is wonderful! We had such a laugh together, despite the heavy content.
If you met Rosie now, after everything she goes through in Unchosen, what would you say to her?
MW: I would struggle to put anything into words and would give her the biggest hug instead.
You were brunette in the series and now you're blonde. Does that shift in look reflect stepping out of Rosie's world, visually as much as emotionally?
MW: Yes, weirdly! After 6 months wearing wigs and headscarves, plain and practical costumes, I felt the need to do something new and different. I was surprised how different it made me feel.
Left: top HUISHAN ZHANG, earring MARGAUX STUDIOS • Right: denim & top HUISHAN ZHANG
Winning a BAFTA for Three Girls at such a young age, did it land in the moment, or was it something you only made sense of later?
MW: It definitely didn’t land in the moment! The BAFTAs were an incredible experience, but as a team our focus was always telling the important true story in the best way we could. I am really proud of Three Girls for opening a difficult but necessary conversation and giving a voice to the young girls who were not listened to by the local authorities.
What about your younger self on set still catches you off guard?
MW: Being on set still feels so much fun to me. The days can be long, there’s so many challenges that you’re up against, but suddenly I’ll feel like a kid again. I’m playing pretend with a bunch of strangers that very quickly become like family. It’s absurd and magical and I love it.
Left: body, skirt & belt TOGA, ring by ALEXIS BITTAR, ear cuff OTIUMBERG, mesh pump DEAR FRANCES • Right: top & skirt TEMILY, ear cuffs OTIUMBERG
That window when the work is done but not yet released, did you travel, or did life just surprise you? What filled the gap before the noise?
MW: I had a big sleep and didn’t plan anything for a while. I had a wonderful holiday in Crete, where I sat in the sun playing tavli and eating as much tzatziki as humanly possible.
What does the rest of your year look like? Any personal plans, or a role you're being drawn toward, or are you just playing it by ear?
MW: I am 100% playing it by ear!
Interview / Lucas Pontidas, Managing Editor, PIBE
This PIBE exclusive has been produced by:
Photography / Iakovos
Styling / Miranda Almond
Make up / Faye Bluff
Hair / Mark Francome Painter
Talent / Molly Windsor
Photographic Assistant / Christopher Gowar
