“Actresses Face Catch-22 in On-Screen Sex Roles,” Says Emily Atack

Nudity and sex scenes have played a large part in her career as an actress.

And Emily Atack, famed for her role as Charlotte ‘Big Jugs’ Hinchcliffe when she was just 17 in the Channel Four series, The Inbetweeners, has argued actresses ‘can’t win’ when it comes to on-screen promiscuity.

The 34-year-old actress said: ‘You can’t win whatever you do. If you keep your clothes on you’re a frigid nun, if you take your clothes off you’re a tart.

‘But I love my job and if a role I’m playing requires nudity and it’s integral to the story and I’m safe, I’m exactly where I should be.

Emily Atack, famed for her role as Charlotte ‘Big Jugs’ Hinchcliffe when she was just 17 in The Inbetweeners, has argued actresses ‘can’t win’ when it comes to on-screen promiscuity

‘I’ve learnt it’s not my behaviour that needs to be looked at and changed, it’s other people’s. I’ve learned to take back the narrative that was taken from me, my sexuality, my body.’

In Rivals, an upcoming Disney Plus series based on the Jilly Cooper ‘bonkbuster’ novels, Ms Atack plays the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Sarah Stratton, and appears topless in multiple scenes throughout eight episodes.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Ms Atack said: ‘The whole cast were warned early on that there would be nudity and sex scenes, so you knew what you were getting into.

‘These kinds of roles are fun. I’m still young and it’s OK to feel liberated. I enjoy what I do. And it’s Jilly Cooper – it’s an honour to do it.’

Her role as a sexually liberated topless Tory comes after she fronted a ‘provocative’ campaign using the slogan ‘I’m asking for it’ which was slammed by sexual abuse survivors for the ‘tone-deaf’ message.

In response to criticism of her seemingly contradictory views, the mother-of-one yesterday [MON] said: ‘I know lots of people will say, ‘Hang on a minute. One minute she’s talking about violence against women, the next she’s getting her kit off in a show.’

‘That doesn’t correlate,’ but what I’m trying to show is that it should not matter at all.’

The 34-year-old actress said: ‘You can’t win whatever you do. If you keep your clothes on you’re a frigid nun, if you take your clothes off you’re a tart

In Rivals, an upcoming Disney Plus series based on the Jilly Cooper ‘bonkbuster’ novels, Ms Atack plays the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Sarah Stratton

Emily soared to fame as schoolgirl Charlotte in comedy show The Inbetweeners, in which the character was nicknamed ‘big jugs’, with the star going on to recent a torrent of online abuse [pictured on the show with co-star Simon Bird] 

Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times

Ms Atack, who gave birth to her son Barney three months ago, also presented a documentary last year Asking For It in which she detailed the daily sexual harassment she faced on social media.

At one point she suggested her previous television roles such as Charlotte ‘Big Jugs’ Hinchcliffe – the sexual awakening for the four lead boys in the Inbetweeners – played a part in a sexualisation online.

Ms Atack said: ‘It’s horrible because it’s out of control now, I feel so embarrassed and angry because I feel like I’ve allowed it.’

Meanwhile, she went on to reveal how ‘perfect’ the role of Sarah Stratton was for her and said: ‘As soon as I read it, I got the same feeling that I got when I first auditioned for Charlotte from The Inbetweeners; the same little thrill in my stomach of, ‘Oh my god, this is perfect for me’.’