Ellie Kendrick on Whisky Galore and her survival in Game Of Thrones

Ellie Kendrick might only be 27-years-old, but she has fond memories of echoing catchphrases from 1949’s Ealing comedy film, Whisky Galore, while growing up in Kent.

‘It was a firm favourite in my family,’ Ellie says to Metro.co.uk. ‘When they say, “there’s no whisky!” – we would say that all the time. It was weird because I ended up auditioning and saying that line.’

She was particularly excited however to star in Gillies MacKinnon’s remake of Whisky Galore, which saw her star alongside Eddie Izzard, Gregor Fisher and now close friend, Naomi Battrick, purely so she could share this part of her childhood for a new audience.

‘I remember watching the black and white version and only half understanding it because I was only six or seven,’ Ellie says.

‘A lot of people of my generation don’t know about the original film and that’s one of the reasons why it was exciting, to bring it to a whole new audience and have it in its full technicolour glory.’

The film is set during the Second World War when whiskey rationing has taken effect, with a group of Scottish islanders attempting to plunder cases of whiskey from a stranded ship, to the dismay of Captain Wagget (Eddie Izzard) who’s determined to stop any looting.

While the thought of filming in the far reaches of Scotland may sound like a battle against the elements, the whole experience has left Ellie, who plays Catriona Macroon, sounding like a member of the country’s tourist board.

‘It was amazing,’ Ellie says. ‘I was prepared for it to be baltic temperatures and really gruelling in far north Scotland, but we were incredibly lucky – it was a really beautiful part of the world.

‘We didn’t film it on an island, but a remote part of Scotland in a town called Portsoy. We were out there for a few weeks, in beautiful weather, incredible sunsets on the coast. It was actually a dream job.

‘You get a longer period of time to film TV, so you get into the character a bit more. But in terms of team spirit, independent films are often the most exciting for getting behind a common goal.’

TV however has been a fruitful endeavour for Ellie, having starred as Bran Stark’s right-hand dragger, Meera Reed, on the biggest TV show in the world, Game Of Thrones.

She made her first appearance back in season three and has defied expectations by managing to survive to the upcoming final eighth season – an impressive feat considering the show’s reputation for slaughtering its characters.

Ellie is just as surprised, saying: ‘It’s pretty amazing considering Meera’s faced off zombies, and starved in a cave and battled through the ice, I’m proud of her.

‘I mean, I always knew Meera was pretty tough. My suspicions of her toughness have been confirmed. But you know what, I’m not going to lie, I do feel very lucky to have survived so far for four seasons. It feels like a rare privilege.’

As a fan of the show too, does she have any hopes for the final season?

‘Absolutely no idea what’s going to happen,’ Ellie adds.

‘All I can hope for is Meera is going to come back on a dragon and be the new queen. That’d be pretty sweet for me. But somehow, not quite sure that’s how it’s going to turn out.’

Whisky Galore! is out on Blu-ray & DVD now.