The Rivals and The Inbetweeners actress Emily Atack has previously spoken out about being sexually harassed onlined but has faced other horrific behaviour on set
Emily Atack is calling for a change in behaviour in television after revealing she was sexually assaulted at work.
The Rivals and The Inbetweeners star says there is a defensiveness about the use of intimacy co-ordinators while filming, but that they are an important source of support when shooting sex and nude scenes.
Emily, 35, has previously spoken out about being sexually harassed online, and made a BBC documentary about the subject in 2023.
In Emily Atack : Asking For It? she looked into why she was harassed on social media on a daily basis and sought to understand why the blame for unwanted sexual attention is so often put on victims.
Asked by the Radio Times if she would like to do another documentary, Emily said: “Yes, I want to do one on intimacy co-ordinators, and I’m going to start having conversations about it soon.
“I’ve seen people roll their eyes about them and say, ‘I don’t need one’. There’s a defensiveness about it, because they feel like they’re being accused of something they haven’t even done yet.
“Intimacy co-ordinators are there for support if you feel uncomfortable, whether you’re a man or a woman. I’ve been sexually assaulted at work throughout my career, whether it’s on the actual set, or at a wrap party. And since the #MeToo movement, it shows that people are listening and that there has to be a shift in behaviour on sets.”
The mum, who gave birth to son Barney last June, is this month starring in the Channel 5 psychological drama The Rumour, playing a mother in a tense marriage.
Based on the bestselling novel by Lesley Kara, the series explores how a single whisper – about a child killer – can shatter an entire town.
Filming began in Budapest just 11 weeks after Barney’s birth, and both her son and her fiancé Alistair Garner joined her in Hungary. The star says the experience helped boost her confidence around mixing work and family time.
She says: “It was very tiring, but I loved it. I felt very happy going to work every day. Then I’d go back to our apartment, give Barney a bath and put him to bed. I proved to myself that I can do that juggle. For a woman it’s the scariest thought when you go back to work.
“You think, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do it all’ but I did. It made me look forward to future jobs. It helps as well that I have an amazing partner who is so hands-on and wonderful.” The series also stars Rachel Shenton, Joanne Whalley, Samuel Anderson, Ellie Haddington and Lucy Speed.
Emily says: “We had such a laugh. Most of them are mothers and they were talking about their own kids. Everyone was very supportive of each other. It was lovely to have strong, brilliant women at the helm. I will always push for more of that.”
The star reveals she has plans to create her own TV project. She says: “I’m a very keen writer. I had a meeting with a writer who I love and who is doing very well, and I would like to work on that idea more when the Rivals schedule calms down a bit.
“I think we are slowly stepping into a time where women are allowed to be written in a flawed, nuanced, interesting way.” For now Emily is working on series two of Rivals, playing Sarah Stratton in the adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1980s bonkbuster.
Fame, she says, feels different now from when she made The Inbetweeners when she was 17. Emily, who finished runner-up in I’m A Celeb in 2018, says: “It was amazing and it changed my life forever, but it was quite scary.
“Whereas now there is so much structure to it. I have an amazing team around me that organises everything. I’m 35 now. I am older and wiser.”
And she sees no reason to stop playing the kinds of roles that made her name. She adds: “If the writing is good, who is to say that the blonde, flirty funster must be one-dimensional? There is so much fun to be had there and it’s something I am very good at. I’m very proud of that.”
*If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
* The Rumour starts on Wednesday September 10 at 9pm on Channel 5
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