Your head is half shaved. Your baldness is covered in greenish vine tats.
Does that mean you can skip your morning workout?
The odds were not in Natalie Dormer’s favor while filming “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1.”
“There is plenty of horrendous s— going on in the world. Shaving half of your head for a dream role is no big deal,” says the 32-year-old blonde with cascading curls (her own) on a cold day in New York City at the Park Hyatt Hotel.
“We shot ‘Mockingjay’ in Atlanta at the same time I was training for the London marathon. I absolutely couldn’t stop my training, which was running around the city.”
What was the fan reaction to seeing the actress — who also plays Margaery Tyrell on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” — during a hard jog through the local parks? “I did get some heads turning, but mostly it was, ‘Is that Margaery running around in a little beanie with a bald head with tats underneath?’ ” she jokes.
“It’s true that you usually don’t see Margaery in an athletic jacket.”
She stays healthy with a goal-oriented workout. “I love to run because it just clears your head,” says the Brit. “Let’s just say that I got to know Atlanta very well. My usual day was running 19 miles around Atlanta, which was a lot of cardio combined with the physical work we were doing walking and climbing around the ruins of all the districts in ‘Mockingjay.’ ”
Her best workout tip is simple. “I’m a big believer in cardio interval training, where you ramp up to fast movements and you do them again and again.”
She knows that you can’t live by running alone. “I added yoga to the mix to really tone my body, plus it’s so amazing when it comes to relaxing.”
In “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1,” she plays Cressida, who stands strong next to Katniss as the revolution is planned against The Capitol. “I was a big fan of the first movie. When I heard there was an opportunity to audition for Cressida, I sent in an audition tape and got the role,” she said.
She was in Belfast shooting “Game of Thrones” when she got the good news. “I sent one of our drivers to the bookstore immediately to buy the entire ‘Hunger Games’ book series,” she says.
She found Cressida appealing because “she’s a straight-talking, focused professional with political convictions. She wants to overthrow a tyrannical government. She’s a Capitol resident who wants to change things.”
She needs to do that with only half a head of hair.
“When they shaved my head, it didn’t involve tears. I had already gone through that process in my mind,” says Dormer, also seen in “The Tudors” and “Elementary,” and in the film “Rush.” “Hey, hair grows back and this is an incredible saga. You’d be a fool to turn down a movie like this because you have to shave your head.”
Training for the marathon was helpful on the “Mockingjay” set.
“I had to do some SWAT team training and basic gun work,” she said. “On a cardiovascular level, I was stronger than I have ever been in my life. I felt like I could run with a semi-automatic and keep up with Liam Hemsworth and Sam Chaflin thanks to my marathon training.”
As for her work with Lawrence, she remarks, “I love her. She’s absolutely no ego and no BS. Working with her is a dream.”
What about her other dream role … on “Game of Thrones?” Any plot hints?
“I just finished shooting season five. We’re tipping closer to where George has left the published books. So the story is now in flux. I honestly don’t know what will happen to my character. I really have no idea.”
