What happened when Felicity Jones met the incredible woman that she portrays in On the Basis of Sex? Well, she was starstruck to say the least! When having dinner with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in December, Jones was “insanely nervous,” she told Us Weekly exclusively.
“I felt like I wanted to curtsy,” the Oscar nominee, 35, continued. “Ruth was incredibly welcoming. We went to her office first and it felt like a very warm environment – covered in photographs of friends and family and all sorts of mementos that had been sent to her by her fans.”
The British actress added, “She doesn’t take her position or her fame lightly. She has a great humanity. We all trust that she’ll always do the right thing.”
When asking the 85-year-old for advice in the film, Ginsburg assured the Rogue One star she had nothing to worry about. “She simply said, ‘I’ve seen your work, I know you can do it,’” Jones revealed. “It gave me enormous confidence.”
As for transitioning into the Supreme Court Justice for the film, which follows Ginsburg’s journey as a new mother and a struggling attorney fighting for equal rights, Jones said she “wanted to become her in every way.”
“I worked very closely with the brilliant hair and makeup team to create Ruth’s look. We used hair pieces, changed the color of my eyes with contact lenses, the color of my hair, had my teeth capped to get the shape of Ruth’s mouth,” she shared. Jones also studied the justice’s Brooklyn accent.
“I listened very closely to early recording of Ruth’s voice from when she started speaking in court and mimicked that accent very closely,” she said. “There is such integrity and power in her voice, that’s what I wanted to capture.”
The movie is perfect for the current climate, the Theory of Everything star added: “Never give up. You always have a voice no matter where you’re from or who you are.”
On the Basis of Sex is in limited theaters now and released nationally on Friday, January 11.
