Natalie Dormer covers the April issue of Self magazine. She’s wearing a cut-out dress by Prabal Gurung and looks stunning. Self’s shoots are often a little more fitness-y, but Nat does plenty of talking about her exercise habits. She’s promoting Game of Thrones and talks about how she’s been typecast in fearless female roles. But she feels very good and knows there are much worse problems to have. No complaints here at all. Natalie knows that nearly every actor gets pinned into a box, and she’s happy to be working:

On being typecast: “It got to the point where if there was a manipulative femme fatale who was going to be seducing the leading mem, it was ‘Call Natalie Dormer!’ Every actor, wherever they are on the hierarchy, gets put in a box to a certain extent. And isn’t it wonderful when people like Matthew McConaughey can turn around and go: ‘You thought I was this, but look what I can do!’ You have to start challenging people’s perceptions of you, and the perceptions you have of yourself, really.”

On fashion: “I think women should have style, but it should be undermined by a slight casualness. Like they haven’t tried that hard, because the minute you’re self-conscious about it, it doesn’t really work anymore.’”

Running her first 26.2 at 33: “I look back on it now and think, F***ing hell, how did I do that? In Mockingjay – Part 2, I’m basically running around in heavy armor while carrying a semiautomatic rifle. I don’t know how I would have kept up with Liam Hemsworth or Sam Claflin if I hadn’t been in the best cardiovascular shape of my life. This amazing thing happens where people come out of the woodwork. Suddenly someone in the camera department is giving you tips on nutrition, or the catering guy is giving you recipes. And everyone on-set in the morning is, like, ‘How far did you run this weekend?’ The support was really wonderful.”

On cross training: “My yoga mat will always be in my luggage. Yoga is invaluable when you’re on long-haul flights a lot. But I do it for my mind as much as my body. Actually, that’s true of my relationship with all exercise. I’m open to new experiences. I just did aerial yoga for the first time, and there’s a kayak club that I’ve been meaning to try.”

[From Self]

I always enjoy reading Natalie’s thoughts on fitness because she works hard at it. Nat shall soon train for her second marathon in NYC. She’s correct about the strong support network amongst runners, but I’ve noticed it swings in both directions. You can’t talk about running in front of non-runners, or virtual tomatoes will be tossed. I no longer tweet about the sport for that very reason. Local running clubs are a nice refuge, and Nat is lucky to have worked with people who share that interest.

Here are photos of Nat at last week’s Dior and I film premiere in London. At least Dior is still doing coats well on the regular.

Photos courtesy of Self & WENN