Over the years, there has been no shortage of Jane Austen adaptations, from period pieces like Pride & Prejudice to modernized twists like Clueless. Director Autumn de Wilde mixes the two styles with Emma., a film that hews closely to the original text and spirit of the classic novel while bringing a palpable cinematic energy and modern sensibility that makes the story feel relevant to today’s society, where appearances are more all-too-often valued more than the substance of a person’s character. The original Emma story is arguably the prototypical romantic comedy and is consistently lauded as one of Austen’s finest works.

Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the eponymous Emma Woodhouse, the “handsome, clever, and rich” wannabe matchmaker whose meddlesome misadventures and aloof nature keep her from discovering true substance in her own life. Mia Goth co-stars as Emma’s wide-eyed best friend, and Miranda Hart plays the long-suffering and mildly insufferable Miss Bates. Josh O’Connor and Johnny Flynn play Mr. Elton and Mr. Knightley, respectively, while Bill Nighy steals every scene with his portrayal of the delightfully oblivious Mr. Woodhouse.

While promoting the release of Emma., Taylor-Joy sat down with Screen Rant to discuss her work on the film, from building a rapport and friendship with first-time feature director de Wilde to the original story’s uniquely timeless charm. She also discusses her castmates and shares her thoughts on the pending release of New Mutants, the long-delayed X-Men spin-off film that is finally scheduled for release in April 2020.

Emma. is out now in select theaters, and expands nationwide on March 6.

So, how was making the movie?

That’s always my anxiety, trying to come up with something you haven’t been asked a thousand times just this week! And that’s what I came up with.

How was making the movie? Hmm, I’m actually going to think about it, because sometimes we get so used to saying the same things.

I got to chat with Autumn, and she was amazing. I don’t know if it was her fault or my fault, I’ll have to check the tapes, but nearly every question and answer turned into a tangent about a rock and roll band. She’s a real rock scholar. Did you get to pick her brain or share notes about different bands?

How was making this movie? This movie was a joy from start to finish. Autumn de Wilde, our director, is the antithesis of Emma, in the sense that she’s a really really good “friend matchmaker.” She brought in a whole bunch of people, and none of us really knew each other, apart from Mia and I, and we all just became a gang. Like, a real family gang. And there’s so much love in this film. There’s so much love for each other, and just going to work every day to work with your best pals is just a dream. And then you look around and you’re filming in these crazy beautiful English estates and getting to say beautiful dialogue, I can’t say more wonderful things about it.

Totally. And that shows in the movie. It’s so true to… If not the text, at least the sensibilities of the era the text comes from. I’m not sure how much of it is verbatim from the book, actually…

Absolutely. And the thing about Autumn and I is that our working relationship, in a nutshell, is that we adopted each other. There was no such thing as inappropriate boundaries. The amount of conversations that we’ve had, both of us lying in her bed talking about Elliot Smith and then jumping into, “What do you think Emma feels in this scene?” And then, “Wait, did you see that guy walking across the street? I really liked him. Maybe he could be one of the footmen.” Do you know what I mean? We just have this girly bubble that we sort of exist in. We’re just friends who happen to get to make really cool art together.

It has this energy that I guess a layman wouldn’t expect from this type of period story.

Most of it, I think, if not all of it.

The costumes in this movie feel so different from your typical period piece. They’re beautiful, but done in such a realistic way. You actually get to see people getting dressed, and it’s such an odd ritual by today’s standards, you really don’t see that in the movies. There’s no underwear!

A warmth. Yes. The warmth and the love. Autumn kept saying, “I want, when people see photographs of this, I want them to wish they were here,” because we were having so much fun. And we were really having that much fun. Things would be delayed on set because someone would crack a joke and the rest of us would end up sprawled out on the floor in our beautiful dresses, and then Autumn is screaming, “don’t wrinkle the dresses!” and trying to figure it all out. It was like Summer camp.

Is every second you get to spend with Bill Nighy a gift?

You learn something every day! We wanted the audience to get new information! Yeah, the costumes were unbelievable. Our head of department, Alexandra Byrne, she’s everything I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a combination of her and Autumn. They’re the coolest people ever. It definitely added something to each of the characters. Emma is vain, and each of those clothes were made on my body, so whenever I saw what outfit I was wearing that day, I was like, “Okay, so this is the coat that has a really great back, so I’m going to deliver all my lines over my shoulder, so the camera is looking at the coat back and seeing that.” Because that’s what Emma would do. I think we all had a lot of fun playing around in our costumes and seeing how they could help tell the story better.

What was your first exposure to Jane Austen?

Yes. Yes is the answer to that question. I am so lucky to count that man as one of the most important people in my life. I love him so dearly. To get the combination of getting to work with him, but also getting to be such close friends, it’s a wonderful addition to my life.

Were you a big fan of Clueless?

I read Emma for the first time when I was eleven. Then I followed that with Pride & Prejudice. I couldn’t read until I was eight years old, because I was transplanted from Argentina to England. I learned to speak English through reading. So I started reading all of the Harry Potters, and that’s where I developed my lexicon, and then I moved quickly to the other English greats. I wanted to acclimatize to the new place I was in. So I read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and more Austen. I love reading it again as an adult because it really rewards the re-reading. The first time you read Emma, you can skim over a bunch of stuff that actually has a lot of important information. I re-read it before we started filming, but then I didn’t read it whilst we were working, because at that point, the script becomes your god.

I definitely saw that Clueless DNA in your movie, and not just because they’re both based on the same story. It’s like, despite being so period accurate, it feels so hip and current… I can’t stress enough how much I liked your movie!

I was a big Clueless girl, yes! That’s the one adaptation I’d seen, and possibly the only adaptation I’ll ever see… It’s too strange at this current moment, for me, at this current point in time. I hadn’t watched the other films prior, and I won’t watch them now. It’s too weird. But Clueless, I love that movie.

It reminded me more of Clueless than, say, something like the movie of Pride & Prejudice, which I also really like, but it’s just a whole different vibe. This doesn’t feel… old-timey, I guess is the phrase.

Oh, thank you! I’m so glad, genuinely.

I also feel like this is a great entry point for Austen for girls and boys. Autumn said she really wanted to articulate that, that she didn’t want Austen to be seen as only for girls.

Our Emma is young. She is young. It’s first girl crush, first real crush, first feeling of, wait, you’re not actually that good of a person, so I’m not going to crush on you anymore. First feeling of, oh dammit, I did a bad thing and now I have to apologize. I also love how, every time Emma apologizes, she apologizes with a goose. Anytime she does something wrong, she just shows up at their house with a basket and a goose and is, like, “here is my apology.” (Laughs)

Right, even if a guy doesn’t actually feel that way, he’ll say he doesn’t like Austen just to be cool.

We’ve got some beautiful ladies in this film, we’ve got some hunky men in this film. It’s funny, it’s bright, it’s light, and it’s got an important moral message to it. And it’s romantic, but not in a way that makes you want to throw up in the bathroom. It’s genuine. I think, all of my guy friends who have seen it, loved it, and they’ve all said, “Austen’s not usually my thing,” but then they come out and they say, “That was amazing!”

Right? “I don’t really know Austen, but that part in page 82… I mean, I’ve heard.”

“It’s not really my thing, but…”

Autumn said there was something about casting hot guys in every single role. She wanted everyone to be able to have a crush on someone in the movie. You’ve got Johnny with his feathery hair and rugged scars, and Josh is just super cute, and Bill is so dapper and dignified. I can’t get over how gorgeous Bill is.

“I’ve heard. Supposedly!”

Did you feel a certain joy at being surrounded by every type of hot guy? If that’s not too silly of a question?

He’s amazing.

Awesome. I want to shift gears a bit. I believe you were, like, 12 or 13 when you shot New Mutants.

I felt very lucky to be surrounded by people who I was such a fan of. I’d always had feelings about certain people, and maybe when I was, like, nine or ten, I remember seeing Bill on TV and turning around to my mom and going, “I think I’m going to be friends with that guy someday.” And when I was 14 and first heard Johnny’s music, I kept having this feeling. Like, “You’re going to mean something to me in my life at some point.” And they both know this. And so to be in a scene and looking at them, I was like, I kinda knew this was going to happen. It was super weird to know it was going to happen, but I’m grateful.

No, it wasn’t that long ago, but it’s funny re-watching that trailer. You’re all kids! But it’s finally going to be coming out next month. When you learned the new date, were you like, “It’s about time!” Or were you, by this point, wondering if the film was ever going to come out at all?

(Laughs)

From what I understand, they’re not including any reshoots, right?

I keep referring to it as… It’s like when you have an imaginary friend and you’re trying to convince people that it’s real, but nobody else can see it. I feel like my imaginary friend is now going to have its big coming out party. We did film it, it did happen… It’s just taken a little while to get where it’s supposed to be. So much has happened since then, but I’m very pleased that it’s coming out. I’m very pleased.

Okay, that’s good to know. I think there was some bouncing back and forth on whether those ever happened or not. Thanks so much for your time in talking to me today!

From what I’m aware, there were no reshoots.

More: 10 Most Historically Accurate Costumes In Period Pieces

Emma., is out now in theaters nationwide.