British it-girl Lily Cole doesn’t want to be boxed in: The successful model launched an eco-friendly clothing line, has two upcoming films and a new television series in the works.

“I quite like breaking down this conception of art as this very kind of insular space,” Cole explained in a recent interview. “I’ve worked with a lot of artists through film as a medium… so I’d love to keep doing more within that medium. We’ll see how that manifests.”

The 23-year-old Vogue cover girl, who recently graduated from Cambridge with a degree in art history, will be interviewing top contemporary artists for a six-part Sky Arts series called “Lily Cole’s Art Matters.”

Cole also stars in Mary Harron’s coming of age drama “The Moth Diaries,” available now on Video on Demand and in theaters Friday. Her clothing line is called The North Circular. And in June she’ll share the big screen with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart in the reimagined fairy tale, “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

Cole considers herself lucky to have teamed with directors, like Harron, who supported her studies, environmental activism and busy modeling schedule, but admits she’s not quite sure how she balanced it all.

“I don’t know. I’m kind of surprised I fit it in too,” she mused.

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Mary Harron’s THE MOTH DIARIES (currently available on demand and opening in select theaters this Friday, April 20 from IFC Films) has been described as a vampire movie, but that’s not quite right. It’s just as much a modern Gothic mystery, and at its center is a beautiful enigma named Ernessa, played by Lily Cole, who explored her character in an exclusive Fango interview.

In the film, Ernessa is a newcomer to an elite boarding school for girls who draws classmate Lucy (Sarah Gadon) under her spell—much to the concern of Lucy’s best friend Rebecca (Sarah Bolger). Already grieving her father’s death, Rebecca becomes convinced that Ernessa is a vampire, and responsible for the deaths that begin to occur on campus. And yet, as presented by writer/director Harron (adapting Rachel Klein’s novel), those demises could just be accidents and Rebecca’s suspicions of Ernessa might just be jealousy. MOTH DIARIES is one of a few notable journeys into the unreal for Cole, who previously co-starred in Terry Gilliam’s THE IMAGINATION OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS and later this year appears in the epic screen fairy tale SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN.

FANGORIA: Ernessa is a difficult character to get a handle on, because we see her through Rebecca’s unreliable point of view. How concrete was the character on the page, and in your mind when you were performing her?

LILY COLE: That’s a very good question. I was really drawn to the character because, as you said, she’s unusual and hard to pin down, and I love the ambiguity of the narrative in general. You don’t know how much of it is Rebecca’s projection onto her, or how much to believe of what Rebecca’s accusing her of. I tend toward reality, obviously, in terms of the way I approach a character, because it makes it much more tangible and easier to relate to. And I really like the idea of the vampire as a metaphor for the dynamics in human relationships, where something can be manipulative and dark. We played with how far we could push those dynamics, while still having empathy for Ernessa, in a way, even if it doesn’t come across when you see it.

It was actually very interesting when I first saw the film; I was like, “Oh my God, she’s really creepy.” Because I didn’t set out to play her that way; even if you’re ultimately playing a creepy character, you have to empathize with where they’re coming from, to the point of becoming that person.

FANG: To your mind, is Ernessa a vampire, or is that just in Rebecca’s mind?

COLE: Personally, I like to think that a lot of that is in Rebecca’s head, but I also like to keep it a question mark, because I think that it would be to the film’s detriment, in a way, to say one way or another. I know ROSEMARY’S BABY was one of Mary’s main reference points while we were making it, and I love that film so much. At the end, even though you have that scene that’s quite concrete where you see the witch setup upstairs, you still come away from the film—well, I did anyway—thinking, “Did she just imagine that?” You could compare that to the scene where I’m in the trunk, which is quite definitive visually when you see it. But actually, Rebecca’s gone down this mental journey to such an extent that you don’t know if that’s reliable at the end.

FANG: Then there’s the “shower of blood” scene, which could be a fantasy as well.

COLE: Yeah, exactly. The way I liked to think of it was that regardless of the vampire idea or the reality or whatever, there’s a truth in the metaphor in terms of why she’s playing with Rebecca, and the alter-ego manipulation, that was really interesting to explore.

FANG: The shower of blood also looks like it was very uncomfortable to film. How was your experience shooting that?

COLE: Kind of cool. I like doing stuff that’s surreal, so it was like, when am I ever in a library with red liquid being poured down on me and then watching it. They’d given us these little cameras to film behind-the-scenes stuff, and I just filmed obsessively where it was dripping onto the table and the books, because the whole table became this bloodbath. It was visually quite amazing. I think if I had been doing that every day for three months, it probably would have been a bit much, but as it was, for those two days, it kept its charm in a way. And everyone treats you special when you’re walking around covered in red [laughs].

FANG: Did you go back to the source novel while shooting, or were you familiar with it before you even got the role?

COLE: I didn’t know the book before I got the role, but obviously when I got involved with the film, I read it. And Rachel Klein came up when we were filming, which was great, and I got to have a conversation with her about the characters, the story, etc. I don’t think I went back to it once we were filming, because I kind of went into the space of the film, if that makes sense, but previously I used it as a big reference point.

FANG: Did you ever go to a school like the one in the movie?

COLE: Not as extreme, but I did go to a girl’s school, yeah. So I definitely knew about those tumultuous female relationships, and how some girls can be bitches and some can be more gentle. I had—obviously not as extreme as in the film—but sadly, I did see those dynamics all through school, especially in my teenage years. I was always probably more on the side of Rebecca and Lucy than Ernessa, which was why it was really interesting to play this part. I wasn’t the bullying one, but I definitely saw those dynamics. I was bullied as well when I was younger, so it was interesting to turn it on its head and explore it.

FANG: Actors and actresses often say it’s more fun playing the villain; did you find that was true of Ernessa, even though she’s not as concrete a villain as usual?

COLE: Yes and no. It was definitely very interesting, and I would like to go back to that territory again because it pushes me as a actress. Trying to have empathy and understand somebody who’s cruel is not an experience I tend to have in my daily life, thank God [laughs], so it’s challenging to do that. It expands, potentially, my sense of myself. But it’s quite dark and not something I’d like to repeat right away, so I was quite happy to do SNOW WHITE afterward. To play a character who’s heartfelt and light is a nicer space to be in as an actress.

FANG: MOTH DIARIES was kind of a unique experience: You were surrounded by a cast of almost entirely other women, you had a woman writing and directing from a book by a female author. Was there a different vibe on the set because of that?

COLE: Yeah; I mean, ST. TRINIAN’S, the first film I did, was predominantly female, and I actually came into it slightly nervous that with a lot of young actresses, there was going to be quite a lot of tension. But I became great friends with one of them and friends with the others. It was a nice dynamic, and didn’t feel antagonistic in that way. I love working with female directors—I did RAGE with Sally Potter too—because for one, they’re a minority, so the feminist in me is happy to have a female director. But also, with both Sally and Mary, they’ve got an intuitiveness and a sense of nurturing that’s really nice to work with.

FANG: Your second film was THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, by the mad genius Terry Gilliam. What was that experience like?

COLE: Umm…mad [laughs]. It kind of felt like my first film, because my actual first film, ST. TRINIAN’S, I did because it was a great ensemble to be a part of. There wasn’t huge pressure in the part, so I was able to feel out the dynamics of being on set and remembering to say my lines at the right moment—those things that now seem obvious and easy, but are kind of intimidating the first time you’re actually on a film set. I’m very glad I did that, to get those initial nerves out of the way. But then to go immediately into DOCTOR PARNASSUS and be a lead among very experienced actors was certainly intimidating. And the chaos of the production—I say that with charm and enthusiasm, not with resentment—and how much was going on, and how demanding they were and the lead actors being there every day and every night… I didn’t realize it was…not an anomaly, but it wasn’t like every experience on a film set. In a way, it was a blessing. I look back on it like a baptism by fire [laughs]. I didn’t quite know this wasn’t the normal way.

FANG: Of course, you all had to deal with the tragedy of Heath Ledger’s death during filming. How much did that impact your work on the movie?

COLE: I know how it impacted me as a person, but I don’t know how it impacted on my work. It was, in all honesty, very challenging, and I didn’t realize it until later. I didn’t do a lot of interviews afterward, and nobody really asked about that, but coming back was very difficult for everybody because of the emotions involved. Although, to be honest, in a situation like that, actually having something to do and some sense of…not purpose, but a place to put all this emotion in a way that could be valuable… And I didn’t really think about the dynamic of playing Valentina, my character, against Tony, Heath’s character, with other actors in the role, and that being kind of bizarre, until we actually came to the day and I did my scenes with Colin [Farrell]. I, as myself, was very aware of the tragedy of what was missing and different about the situation, as was everyone else involved, but I was obviously playing a character who was oblivious and trying to play out the same relationship and dynamics. So it was a very weird experience.

FANG: Is fantasy and horror something you want to keep pursuing? Are you attracted to those kinds of projects?

COLE: Probably they’re more attracted to me [laughs]. I don’t mind. I’m totally open to “real” genres too, and hope to do as many reality-based films as fantasy and horror. But I think that within fairy tales and, as we were touching on, the vampire metaphor, those are often loaded with touch-points in reality that really resonate. Not just with me as an actor, but with audiences, and that’s why they still have recurring appeal over the centuries, where you can have this combination of escapism and tapping into, in a subtle way, human dynamics. So yeah, I think a bit of both; the main points that interest me are who’s directing it, who’s the character, who are the other actors and what’s the story. So the genre’s not my prime point of focus.

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Former model Lily Cole has revealed that being part of the fashion world took its toll on her self-esteem and she only pursued modelling because it “paid her way through university”.

The 23-year-old has discussed the ups and downs of her modelling career, which started when she was 13. While she has since turned her attention to acting, the money in high fashion has been great for supporting her way through an art history degree at Cambridge university.

“That’s probably one of the reasons I continued modelling, because it paid my way through university,” she told Style magazine.

However it was not easy money for Cole. The pressure to look a certain way took a toll on her self-worth.

“For sure, it was challenged,” she said.

“Challenged from the perspective that I was in an industry where beauty was prized above all else, and where there’s no insurance policy. You’re self-employed and you’re young, so of course that means insecurity. But, at the same time, I’m much more confident now than when I was 13 – but it’s partially because I’ve used it to my own ends. I saw through it.”

The star believes her university studies “saved” her from the industry. She used to get caught up in the glamorous side of fashion but is now focused on her acting career, with her new film The Moth Diaries now out in America.

“I’ve had moments where I thought fashion was really important,” she said.

“I mean, I was a kid. I would sometimes get swept into that, but studying saved me in a way. I remember being at Milan Fashion Week, in that negative space, and then opening a book on socialism and reading a book about these big movements that changed millions of people’s lives, and suddenly your perspective goes whoop.”

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Lily Cole is has graced the cover of Vogue, gained a Double First from Cambridge and been out with Jude Law. Now she wants to save the environment from the excesses of the fashion and beauty industry.

“I am concerned that when you buy something you are not knowingly or unknowingly causing someone else’s suffering in the world,” she says.

A risky choice perhaps for a multi-national company, The Body Shop, to choose as their first “brand ambassador” but one that surely the founder Anita Roddick would approve of.

Already Lily is burning with enthusiasm for Fair Trade, having just visited Ghana to see for herself where the ingredients for cocoa butter moisturiser come from. Instead of buying from unscrupulous traders, who often use child labour, the money goes straight to the community.

She shows off her new favourite item of clothing, a cape made from Ghanaian cloth designed by Vivienne Westwood.

“It is bigger than just being the face of something, it is much deeper than that. The reason I wanted to do it was because there was a huge amount dialogue that I am part of and I believe passionately in, about where business can be a force for good.”

The Body Shop is adamant that beauty is about more than just a pretty face and Lily is certainly not your average model.

She wears barely any make-up and no shoes and affects a look that is refreshingly bohemian rather than glamorous. Her skin is unfashionably pale and her figure in a floaty Miu Miu dress is pleasingly normal, except for those catwalk legs.

Her slightly terrifying academic and career achievements also set her apart. She recently graduated from Cambridge University with a Double First in history of art and has survived more than a decade in the notoriously cut throat world of modelling, appearing in Vogue, Elle and – controversially – Playboy. She made her name as an actress working with the late Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and is appearing as vampire in The Moth Diaries and Snow White and the Huntsman this summer, as well as presenting a series on art for Sky.

The combination of Cambridge, Hollywood and the catwalk has made for an interesting attitude to her own image and the very concept of beauty.

“The idea is you sell things from your image but that does not necessarily mean you are beautiful it is just, I dunno, a symptom of the system in a way.”

Lily “loved learning” – although she is glad all the hard work is over – and credits Cambridge with giving her the confidence to question the industry she has grown up in

A degree from the world’s smartest university has certainly given her the confidence to dismiss more impertinent questions about her private life.

She was most recently linked with Jude Law – post the latest break-up with Sienna Miller – and male model David Gandy. For the last two years she was going out with Enrique Murciano, the star of US TV series Without a Trace but this reportedly broke up last year and she politely declines to speak more about it.

Lily was bought up by her mother and remains close to her sister, a primary school teacher, both of whom hover in the next room.

She credits them with keeping her grounded amid all the parties and flashing paparazzi bulbs.

Asked if she thinks of herself as a “model, activist or actress”, she replies she would prefer to be known as “a daughter, friend and lover” first.

“I feel like people are questioning superficial values and looking for real values instead. True beauty comes from within, and I feel more and more people are beginning to realise that.”

You get the impression that for her the modelling is the boring bit and she genuinely wants to get her teeth into the complex world of fairtrade.

“I have not thought of it from the visual side because that is something I have done for years and years, I look at it from much more significant side of economics and business structures and how production chains have consequences.”

The turning point for her was being reduced to tears on the tube by a report on cotton farming sent to her by the Environmental Justice Foundation, a charity she now represents.

The growing concern around where our clothes come from or ‘Fashion activism’ will be the subject of a debate at Hay Festival, sponsored by The Telegraph.

Lily has become the poster girl for the movement as someone working inside the business who genuinely understands the difficult decisions to be made if we are to be beautiful and ethical.

In her new role she has rummaged around her own bathroom cabinet and was shocked to find that although most products claim they are not tested on animals, that does not mean that the individual ingredients have not been tested on mice or rats.

Some 80 per cent of countries continue to allow testing and the results end up in our moisturisers and make up.

Animal products are also used in beauty products . Fish scales give the iridescent look to eye shadow, goat hair is used in brushes and beetles shells add colours to all sorts of make up.

“I really feel it is immoral to test products on animals,” says Lily, who only eats free range meat. “Drugs testing is much more ambiguous because it is human life etc but beauty is – at the end of the day – so superficial compared with the lives of the defenceless beings you are treating in that way.”

Of course the ingredients of beauty products also have an impact on humans too. Will people make the effort to read the ingredients on their shampoo to make sure the palm oil is sustainable and not from forests where orangutans are being wiped out, or the emulsifier is not from GM soy grown on deforested land? How many of us are willing to pay extra for organic olive oil or chamomile extract from a British farmer?

With a rumoured fortune of £11 million, Lily can afford to be ethical, but she is careful to emphasise how difficult it is even for her. She says she is still learning about many of the more questionable methods of the industry she is involved in. Body Shop may have managed to sidestep animal cruelty but still uses controversial ingredients like parabens, that are in most beauty products but have been linked with cancer.

“I am sure in my makeup bag there are products tested from animals and maybe even things made from animals,” says Lily.

“Everything is so shaded most of the time. Even if you want to be ethical, it is hard to know if you are making the right choice.”

The Roddicks sold Body Shop to L’Oreal under the proviso it would continue to operate as an independent company and retain its high ethical standards.

Anita always insisted it would be the ‘Trojan Horse’ that could smuggle in a more ethical way of trading into the beauty industry.

However, despite their own slogan “because I’m worth it”, L’Oreal have yet to ban all ingredients tested on animals or start sourcing only ethical products.

As intimidating as it is, as the first face of the Body Shop since Anita passed away, these are the big shoes Lily is stepping into.

She readily admits that her own role promoting a number of brands can clash with her belief that business should be a force for good.

But like most women of her age, she also admits that she is still learning and insists that individual choice can make a difference.

“My personal values boil down to my intention: the intention to be aware, to be kind, to be honest, to make informed choices. The intention is everything, though the reality will inevitably sometimes fall short. No one is perfect….”

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Actress and supermodel Lily Cole reveals her unique thinking on perfection.