While dramatized before, this new series penned by Oscar-nominated writer Deborah Davis views the child bride who became a woman in the public eye from a modern lens, dispelling the common myths and giving all these French court characters a profoundly entertaining and authentic presence that other efforts in cinema have not.

“Marie Antoinette” stars the captivating star Emilia Schüle as the child bride queen whose slender shoulders carry the weight of Austria anxious to ally with France. Marie eventually develops a friendship with her reticent husband, Louis XVI (Louis Cunningham), who also balked at his assigned spousal duty. Unfortunately, their physical love took seven years to consummate, and during that time, the French court was sharpening their knives against her presence.

This TV series is a stunningly dressed and staged presentation of a deeply misunderstood queen who was foisted into the unwilling arms of Louis XVI (Cunningham), who was most unhappy at his position — thanks to an older brother’s death — to take over the throne of France from his lusty, larger-than-life grandfather Louis XV (British actor James Purefoy). This whirlwind adventure is addictive to watch of an Austrian high duchess who knew nothing of real life. Marie is sent into a vipers’ pit of French royalty, all betting on her to lose, save for a friendship with Princesse de Lamballe (Jasmine Blackborow), who becomes an island of sisterly affection for the young Marie.

But Marie’s politically astute formidable enemies include the king’s mistress, Countess Du Barry (Gaia Weiss), and the king’s two daughters, Adelaïde, played by Crystal Shepherd-Cross, and Victoire, played by Caroline Piette. Not just the women were plotting against our Austrian teenager, but also the “spare,” Provence (Jack Archer), Louis’s embittered brother who revenge-marries Joséphine of Savoy (Roxane Duran) in a race to produce a Bourbon heir for the throne.

The Idaho Press spoke exclusively with Emilia Schüle about her breakout performance as Marie Antoinette. This series was created, written, and executive produced by Deborah Davis and directed by Pete Travis and Geoffrey Enthoven.

Louis barely speaks in the first four episodes. And slowly, he finally warmed to you. You both, in character, fostered a friendship before you became lovers as husband and wife. Talk about that and that building of friendship and love with Louie Cunningham’s Dauphin.

Emilia Schüle: Yes, you got what we intended to do there. So they were just two kids, and sex was a matter of pressure for them — a duty. But, of course, then it’s not fun for them. So they would run away from it. And, living in this vast palace, it’s pretty easy to avoid each other.

So, Marie Antoinette had to use different techniques to establish a relationship with him. It’s one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever played. It’s charming that they are so awkward with each other that they don’t talk to each other. So I appreciated how Deb Davis wrote that, and I enjoyed playing this. And I think it really comes to a great climax when they finally get intimate in episode six.

Your character Marie and the king had incredible chemistry. This character’s virginal, yet she’s very physically drawn to this king, and he was a big fan of yours, until a particular Countess Du Barry incident where he was a bit nasty with you. Talk about working with someone like James Purefoy and how your Marie approached this lover of women and life, Louis the 15th.

Emilia Schüle: So for Marie, when it comes to (life in) Versailles, she is not educated at all about what sex is, so she’s just a teenager and can’t read what the king, James Purefoy, what his intentions are, and she is just looking for a father figure.

And, apart from the king, her best friend is Princesse de Lamballe. In this family, they are the only friendly people in the court for Marie. So I do understand that she’s looking for his comfort. But James, he’s very funny, very British, and very smart. He’s a great colleague and a fantastic actor. The tomato scene that he has with Louis. Wow. He took that to the next level. It’s just so hilarious how he gets turned on by that tomato!

Most of the crew you worked with were French, so how hard was it for you to communicate with the team and prepare for Marie’s frustration in a French court with all these inside jokes? Was that helpful for your character?

Emilia Schüle: In the beginning, it was traumatizing because when I got the part, I would fly out to Paris and have hours of wardrobe-fitting, and none of the crews spoke English. I didn’t speak French, and the French — there is a shame that they can’t speak English, and then they don’t even try, and they keep speaking French, which is rude, you know?

It was intimidating, but I could see the parallel to Marie Antoinette coming to a foreign country and being treated weirdly. So yes, it did help me with the character. But, eventually, everyone just warmed up, and I just realized it was how bad their English was.

Were you aware of how historically deep the Austrians’ and the French biases and preconceived notions ran about each other and how they were rude about each other’s society, culture and ways?

Emilia Schüle: I had no idea. And it doesn’t even come across enough. For example, in history or in all the films or books that are out there about Marie Antoinette, there are different theories about why Marie Antoinette and her husband didn’t have sex for seven years.

In the (Sofia) Coppola film, there are some theories that Louis had a physical problem (phimosis) and needed an operation. Then we used a theory in our show: they were just kids running away from duty and had no idea what they were doing. No one taught them.

And then another view that I read was because of this centuries-long hate between those two countries, Louis had difficulties being turned on by an Austrian. The enemy, do you know what I mean? So that’s one theory I understood, like how deep this hate and tension must be between those two countries.

Hair department head Sebastian Quinet told me that he oversaw a team of nine hairdressers. Tell me about the rigors of becoming Marie, the corsets, the fashion, the fussing over your distinct makeup. Marie’s eyes were unadorned. What did you have to go through physically as an actor?

Emilia Schüle: I tried to calculate how many hours I spent in the chair over those five months. I wrote down that it was 400-500 hours or something close. I tried to count. And the costuming, I was sick in the beginning. I felt ill when wearing the corset. So that was a learning curve because then I understood that you have to warm up the corset before you close it up and to wear it unclosed for 45 minutes, and the body heat would warm it up, and then it’s less painful.

And I had to adapt my way of eating. I had to eat more often, but less. Then you’re so dependent on others to dress or undress you, it’s just (agghh)!

And then, luckily, the wigs were heaven because they were hollow inside. So no weight on my head, thankfully, as I was worried as sometimes it can be a lot of pressure on your head because of all the pins. And luckily, my head was shaved because I had just played a different part in Germany — that’s why my hair was really short. And maybe that helped too.

I was scared at the beginning of the long prep times. So they prepped me every morning, two and a half or three hours, but then I got used to it. And I loved it because that was the only time I had to myself for over five or six months to prep for everything coming up.

You had some formidable women against you in the French court, the Mesdames, Louis XV’s awful daughters. And Gaia Weiss as Countess Du Barry. Who did you love playing in scenes with?

Emilia Schüle: Gaia (Countess Du Barry) because this friendship that turns into a villain (for Marie) is predominant in the first four episodes. And it builds up.

You see a transformation within Marie Antoinette’s character, how in the beginning, she is lost at court and hurt by what Gaia’s character has done. But then Marie gets in control and learns her power and place in the court. So that (transfer of power) was fun.