Will Gore

Interview Naomie Harris: It was hard playing the dark side of Winnie Mandela

'Nelson was considered a hunk in his young days,' says the actress, who's keen to reprise her role as Miss Moneypenny in the next Bond

Fallen angel: Naomie Harris as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela [Getty Images/Shutterstock/Alamy/iStock] 
issue 04 January 2014

How do you solve a problem like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela? Perhaps it wouldn’t have legs as a format for a BBC Saturday-night talent show, but it’s a question that Naomie Harris has been trying to answer ever since she agreed to play her in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

I meet Harris at the Soho Hotel in London on the day before the UK première of the film, which tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s struggles against apartheid.

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