Kaya Scodelario has revealed there was no safeguarding on the set of E4 teen drama Skins.
The actress, 32, rose to prominence on the show where she played teen runaway Effy Stonem alongside Nicholas Hoult who played her brother Tony.
Skins told the story of a group of teens as they embarked on their sixth form education in Bristol, though many of them were more concerned with having sex and taking drugs than actually studying.
The controversial teen drama ran from 2007 to 2013 and it also tackled issues such as mental illness, eating disorders and substance abuse.
Speaking on the Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Harnett, Kaya recalled her time on the show and said: ‘Back then there wasn’t the same amount of safeguarding with young actors, there wasn’t anyone checking if we were okay.’
Kaya Scodelario has revealed there was no safeguarding on the set of E4 teen drama Skins
The actress, 32, rose to prominence on the show where she played teen runaaway Effy Stonem
The cast have kept in touch over the years and Kaya previously enjoyed a reunion lunch with Nicholas and fellow actors Joe Dempsie and Larissa Watson.
Kaya’s role in Skins came about after open auditions for the show were held near her school in Finsbury Park.
She recalled: ‘So my school had a fax saying they had open auditions for this show called Skins, and they wanted teenagers, but they wanted actual teenagers.
‘They didn’t want to do what the Americans had done for a long time, which was have twenty-five year olds, or in Grease, like, thirty-two year olds. Yeah. And so I wanted to just see what it looked like.
‘So I went after school and stood outside the building, just watching the queue of teenagers going in. But so the creator of Skins, Bryan Elsley, came outside for a cigarette, and he came over and he said, ‘Do you want to come in and audition?’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’
Kaya, who is half English and half Brazilian, was shocked to receive the role and didn’t think she would make it given she had no connections in the TV industry.
She said: ‘And I did, and I remember it being a really great experience, but thinking, this doesn’t happen to people like me. You have to have a family that’s really well connected, or you have to be English and I never felt English. And it happened.
‘I got the part on Skins and that part grew over time and, and I was lucky enough to then get a US agent and, and work over in the US quite a lot, and yeah, it was a weird sort of right place, right time, but it was always a passion.’
Skins told the story of a group of teens as they embarked on their sixth form education in Bristol, though many of them were more concerned with having sex and taking drugs than actually studying
The controversial teen drama ran from 2007 to 2013 and it also tackled issues such as mental illness, eating disorders and substance abuse
Kaya’s most recent role is in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen where she stars opposite Theo James and Ray Winstone.
The actress insisted she has a ‘no a******s’ policy when it comes to the jobs she accepts after bad experiences on set in the past.
She explained: ‘I just make sure they’re not an a*******. I have a genuine no a******* policy.
‘I will not give my time to people that think they can behave like that anymore, because I’ve met so many incredible actors and directors that don’t behave like that, that are kind, good people and also produce good work, so there’s no excuse for it.
‘There used to be, when I started out, it was like, oh, it’s, you know, it’s Jack the Lad behaviour, or it’s because he’s intense, and no.
‘No, be a nice person, be respectful, be kind. I’m too long in the tooth, Nick, I can’t be a****. I don’t want to be around bad energy. And I’m too aggressive, I’ll kick off.
‘It’s not good. It’s not good. I’ve been lucky, I’ve had really good experiences in the industry and I’m happy to say that I’ve never kind of worked with someone absolutely awful. It’s very nineties.’
Kaya’s most recent role is in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen where she stars opposite Theo James
The actress insisted she has a ‘no a******s’ policy when it comes to the jobs she accepts after bad experiences on set in the past
Despite her career in front of the camera, Kaya said she is actually quite shy and suffers from imposter syndrome. She was full of praise for her co-star Ray Winstone who helped bring out her confidence during filming.
She said: ‘I have huge imposter syndrome. I think that’s being British, right? We’re told, don’t get too cocky, don’t- and I’m very socially awkward and quite shy, and I still on the first day of set will be like, ooh, and then realise I’ve been doing it for seventeen years and I probably have more experience than a lot of people there.
‘And Ray was really good at helping me step into that. He was very good at helping me, he really grew my confidence, where he was like, ‘Go on kid, just go for it.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, Ray!’
