Elizabeth Debicki brings vicious glamour to her role as film villain

LONDON — Considering how nasty Elizabeth Debicki’s character is in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” it’s clear the Australian native must be one heck of a good actress — since she’s so lovely, funny and warm in real life.

“Don’t be so sure,” said the 6-foot-2 glamour queen quipped as we chatted recently at Claridge’s Hotel in London’s posh Mayfair neighborhood. “Was I acting, or was that real me?”

Playing the villains in “these James Bond type of spy thrillers,” she said, “are the best roles. You get to do and say the darnedest things. I loved being able to purr out some of those lines as Victoria. She’s such a conniving, evil wench, but she sure gets to wear the best outfits!”

Her Victoria Vinciguerra is a clever — if very evil — woman who has married into a mega-rich Italian family. She’s an antiques dealer, but her real business is building a super-nuclear bomb, assembled by a former Nazi scientist, whom she kidnaps and holds on a well-fortified island the family owns.

Like most of her fellow cast and crew members, Debicki was totally unfamiliar with the original “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” when she learned she was cast in the film, based on the old TV show.

“I had no idea what it was all about until I phoned my mum and told her. She became very excited and told me she used to watch it when she was a kid! But she loved it and thought it would be a ball for me to be part of the whole production.”