In the two days spent in the company of 28-year-old actress Nicola Peltz Beckham, I’ve gathered tons of news, but friends and colleagues keep hammering me with this single question. They don’t seem interested in knowing the secret of Nicole’s marble face (a pre-shooting sculpting treatment), nor in knowing what surprised me the most about her (perhaps the fact that she doesn’t have a driver’s license), nor in having details about the his friendship with Selena Gomez. Apparently they just want confirmation that this fairytale love isn’t too good to be true. There are the daily posts, the bios on Ig (“Nicola’s husband” and “Brooklyn wife”), and the tattoos (Brooklyn has more than 20 dedicated to her). Then, the huge diamond ring and the much talked about wedding in Palm Beach, which cost millions of dollars. It is enough to raise the doubt: “But will everything be true?”. More and more stars choose to keep their private lives absolutely confidential, Nicola and Brooklyn have made the opposite choice. They share every aspect of their relationship on social media, at events and in interviews. They are one body and one soul, and this union is evident to all. Maybe, for once, we really want to root for them. So is it all true? It seems so. Not only because they are willing to share the limelight, but also because of how they support each other, whatever the project of one or the other is – and Nicola has many. She’s been acting since she was 12 (she most recently played Dorothy on Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales. She’s in fashion shows all over the world. And she’s using her success for good.
You just starred in Chippendales and put the finishing touches on Lola James, an indie film you wrote, starred in and co-directed. Was it always a dream of yours?
“Actually, I’ve always and only wanted to act. And then maybe, in the very, very distant future, direct a film. I write, yes, but only in private. This story about a drug addicted girl who wants to save her brother has been in my head for a while now, let’s say it has many references to my life too, but I had no idea how to write down a real script. Finally I made up my mind, wrote it on my PC and sent it by e-mail to my drama teacher. She really liked her, and even my agent at the time complimented me. I didn’t intend to direct as well, but that’s how it happened. I just hope that people don’t judge him a priori, calling me ungrateful».
What goes through your mind when you read comments like that?
“I just wish people knew me before they judge me. And it’s frustrating, because you want to answer each comment, one by one: “That’s not true. It is not true. It is not true”. But then of course you hold back. You can’t let this stuff influence you. Otherwise you enter a vicious circle. Sometimes it almost feels like all the meanness I heard in high school has spilled over onto my Instagram.”
Cosmopolitan
Have you ever thought about not reading the comments?
“Certain. But sometimes you can’t resist, and then you say to yourself: “That sucks””.
What about the tabloid articles about you and Brooklyn? Do you read them or can you avoid them?
“I never voluntarily read them. But every once in a while they pop up on TikTok.”
Fortunately, the algorithm works properly, creating a page “For You”. But I guess what sometimes appears in your feed is connected to the huge media tom-tam on the relationship between you and your mother-in-law, Victoria Beckham. How is it going?
«I repeated it to exhaustion: there is no feud going on (the Daily Mail spoke of an alleged argument over whether or not Nicola would wear a wedding dress designed by Victoria Beckham, ed). Is absurd. No one ever wants to publish the good news about me. Whether it’s my life or someone else’s, or any subject, knowing the truth and then reading the exact opposite in the tabloids is alienating.”
You and Selena Gomez have been talked about everywhere too. How did you become friends?
«I met her in passing a few years ago and then in September we were both invited to an event, the Academy Gala. We hit it off right away and had a blast. And then we became very good friends. She’s like a sister, one of the most amazing women she’s ever met. She is she the nicest person in the world. I feel like I’ve known her forever.”
Do Selena and Brooklyn get along?
“We are a crowd. Three inseparable friends.
Do you think you are confident?
“Yes, I would say yes. Growing up with six siblings, I think I introjected all of their “You’re amazing. Go big,” especially in relationships. I’ve only had three stories because I’ve always avoided taking the plunge if I really didn’t like the guy. My brothers told me “You deserve better, you deserve better, you deserve better”. But of course I have my frailties, like all of us. Name an in-security and rest assured that I have it or I had it too».
The interview continues in the number on newsstands from 13 April.