The Crown’s Claire Foy Was ‘Constantly in Awe’ of Unique Costars in H Is for Hawk | Interview
ComingSoon’s Tyler Treese spoke with H Is for Hawk star Claire Foy about her emotional new movie with Brendan Gleeson. Foy discussed being in awe of the goshawks in the film, why working with animals wasn’t all that different than other actors, and more. Directed and written by Philippa Lowthorpe, the film is out in theaters nationwide on January 23, 2026.
“H is for Hawk follows Helen (Foy), who, after the sudden death of her father (Gleeson), loses herself in the memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together and turns the ancient art of falconry—rooted in European tradition—training a wild goshawk named Mabel to navigate her profound loss. But as she teaches Mabel to hunt and fly free, Helen discovers how deeply she has neglected her own emotions and life. What begins as an act of endurance transforms into an intimate journey of resilience and healing,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: The memoir that Helen wrote is so raw and honest. I can’t think of a better guide for that as an actor, but while that book conveys so much that goes on internally, you have the challenge of showing that externally without any voiceover or anything like that. How was it just channeling all those emotions that are on the page into your performance?
Claire Foy: I decided that whilst I was concerned about how that could be done, that that was Phillipa’s job and that my job was to just make sure that I was as much in the experience as humanly possible and to try and be as truthful as I possibly could about. Helen writes very beautifully about the internal experience of this grief and a lot of the time physically, like what it felt like, and mentally, how thoughts started to take on a new kind of form. I knew that the only way of really showing that was to just feel it myself, and hopefully some things came through, or some things made it in, and other things didn’t. But I knew that the responsibility of that internal experience being communicated was basically Philippa’s, so I just trusted her with everything that I know she’s able to do.
There are these beautiful hawks in the film that play Mabe. You’re used to finding an interplay with your co-stars. So, how is it acting with a bird and growing that trust through filming for a couple of weeks?
I mean, it sounds strange, but it’s no different really than working with opposite another actor. Because my approach to acting, anyway, is to focus on the other person as you do in life anyway. Often you focus on what that person is saying, it’s about listening to them, understanding what they’re giving you, what and how you as a character respond to that. That was very similar with the Mabels, really. They’re just in a sort of heightened sense, they’re incredibly immediate. There’s no artifice. The only thing that’s staring back at you as a wild animal, and they have a myriad of different things going on in them.
So I was always really interested in what they were doing, what the Mabels were doing, just as Helen was. Helen was sort of fixated on and obsessed with how the bird was feeling, why the bird wasn’t eating, what the bird was thinking about them, was the bird happy, was the bird, you know, as people do with all the projection that you have with animals. So, um, I was constantly looking at them and, you know, and, uh, engaged with what they were doing, which I suppose is exactly the same as if I was opposite a fellow actor, really. It’s just a goshawk.
Tyler Treese: I imagine it’s kind of pure in a way because there are moments in the film where Helen is just amazed at every moment and aspect of these gorgeous birds, and you’re kind of just doing the same. I imagine that would be your natural reaction, even if you weren’t in the film, that you’d be wowed by that.
Claire Foy: Yeah, I was constantly in awe of these birds. I found them incredibly mysterious and also really deep. I found that they feel very old in all the right ways. So, yeah, I was totally falling in love with them as Helen was, and mystified. It is extraordinary to be that close to a wild animal and for them to permit and to trust you, like there’s something extraordinary in that gift of trust that they give you to be that close to them.
Because they wouldn’t permit that if they didn’t feel okay with you being there, and there’s something beautiful in that transaction almost, which is that you are allowed to be there. You’re allowed to witness them doing this. You’re allowed to be present. You’re allowed to be a sort of custodian of their existence in a way that I did find beautiful. Obviously, it was really helpful that I felt that way when I was playing someone who also felt that way.
Thanks to Claire Foy for taking the time to speak with us about H Is for Hawk.
Source: Comingsoon.net