The actor, producer and activist is a real force for change

It’s the hottest day of the year so far, and Gemma Chan and I are climbing a hill on Hampstead Heath in search of the perfect picnic spot. Chan, summer-fresh in a light charcoal Cos jumpsuit, slips off her white Birkenstocks and settles down under a cluster of trees in the dappled shade to help unpack the food. Her eyes widen when she happens upon the macarons (“I’ve got my eye on these”), but she goes in for a scone– cream first, then jam; a just reward after our ascent.

It isn’t every day you have a picnic with a superstar, as Chan unquestionably is: this year alone, she is in one of the most anticipated films of 2022, Don’t Worry Darling with Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, and Extrapolations, the climate-change series with an all-star cast on Apple TV+. She recently achieved what could be considered the holy grail of Hollywood: landing the lead in a Marvel film – Eternals, a blockbuster that grossed £330 million– after being personally sought out by the studio boss Kevin Feige. As Sersi, she offered an empathetic, unconventional take on a super-heroine in a performance that came swiftly after her turn as the voice of the villainous Namaari, in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon.

Chan is at her best when inhabiting characters whose veneer of perfection disguises deep emotional scars, as she did in Crazy Rich Asians with her portrayal of Astrid Leong, the billionaire heiress broken by her husband’s affair. She created someone wholly compelling in her vulnerability – so much so that there will now be a spin-off dedicated to Astrid. In Don’t Worry Darling, she plays Shelley, the wife of a cult-like leader (Chris Pine at his most charismatic and sinister), who runs the Victory Project, a utopian community in mid-century America. Chan thrills with menace, armed with a smile that betrays her icy core.

“For the role, I needed someone with an almost Cleopatra-like aura, exquisitely composed with a ferocity brewing underneath,” the film’s director Olivia Wilde tells me. “I was stunned by Gemma’s otherworldly grace, combined with her wicked sense of humour, which disarms you so you’re capable of speaking to someone so intensely beautiful.”
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