FIRST LOOK: Natalie Dormer Talks Marathons, GOT & Keeping Up With The Hunger Games Boys 

Reaching to turn off my tape recorder, having spent the best part of the last hour trying to get to know Natalie Dormer, I pause for one last fact check: "So you don’t have a personal trainer?" I ask. 

"No," she confirms, standing up and proffering a business-like handshake. "I’m entirely self-regimented."

For all the tactical questions and tentative probing, sometimes it’s the benign asides that perfectly sum up a person – or at least confirm their defining characteristics.

Dormer and I may have spent our time together curled on the sofa of a Soho hotel suite, but it’s been obvious from the off that the 33-year-old star of

That goes for her fitness, her career and, you suspect, every other element of her life. She’s sleek and groomed, in smart silk blouse, black skinny jeans and spike-heeled Tabitha Simmons boots. 

Sharp cheekbones sit above a lopsided smile that frequently transmutes into a booming guffaw.

A few weeks from now, Dormer should have been running the New York marathon, but, because of promotional commitments for

It’s a missed opportunity to settle an old score – when she crossed the 2014 London Marathon finish line, the sun beat down and the clock ticked just past the three hours and 50 minutes mark. She laughs: “When I saw that time, all I could think was that I was aiming for the forties [as in 3hrs 40something minutes].

I place high demands on myself. After all, if you want to do something, do it properly, else what’s the point?” 

So donning army fatigues to play Cressida, Jennifer Lawrence’s Capitol-overthrowing compatriot, wasn’t a problem. In fact, the marathon training helped to get her into the shape of her life so that she could “keep up with the boys”.

She says: “When you have the likes of Liam Hemsworth and Sam Clafin standing next to you, you have to be able to keep up.

I’m the kind of person who gets a kick out of physical exertion, when the endorphins kick in. I felt like I’d pushed my body and that’s quite refreshing in a role. Especially when I’d been playing Margaery Tyrell [in

] for the previous six months, sitting around talking machinations in a silk skirt.” 

When she’s not fitting in marathon training around a blockbuster filming schedule – how do you even do that? ‘Focus,’ she says, blue eyes steely – Dormer relies on yoga to keep body and mind in shape.

She lives in Richmond, London, with her partner, TV director Anthony Byrne, and when she’s home will practise at her local studio three times a week. And when she’s away? “Whichever city in the world I’m dropped in for shooting or promotion, I’ll find somewhere close by.

That’s the secret with looking after yourself: convenience. If you need 30 minutes to get somewhere, you’re not going to do it on the days you feel sluggish. For me, I’ve had to shift around what I do over the years to find the nearest place.”

Even with chakras fully aligned, Dormer’s alpha side shows through. “My downward dog is the best it’s been for years,” she grins. 

Find out what Natalie had to say about those famous GOT sex scenes, body confidence and the changing beauty that comes with age - For the full interview pick up our December issue on sale November 5th.

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