Dame Meera Syal has revealed that she was sexually assaulted in her mid-twenties by an older actor who had offered to help advance her career. Syal, 65, spoke about the 1980s incident for the first time, stating that the experience had "completely changed my life and the direction of my career."
At the time of the assault, Syal was singing in a jazz band in Covent Garden and seeking waitressing jobs as her post-university acting work had diminished. She was considering leaving London to return to her home in the West Midlands when an actor she knew invited her to a party at his London home. Syal described the attacker as "an older Asian man, almost the same age as her father."
Upon arriving at the house, Syal found only one other person, who soon departed, leaving her alone with the host. She initially felt safe due to his age and ethnicity but stayed for dinner, not wanting to appear impolite. According to reports, shortly after dinner, during a conversation, the man assaulted her. Syal reportedly froze but managed to resist further, though the assault proceeded.
After leaving the house, Syal did not report the crime and told no one. She explained that the thought of her parents enduring a criminal trial was too difficult to bear. "This is the first time I've spoken about this publicly," Syal stated.
Syal said that the assault motivated her to seek out a group of South Asian writers. "They encouraged me to write more, they found me a place to live, they healed me and awakened me politically," she recalled. This experience ultimately influenced her to create the strong female characters featured in the BBC2 sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, which was her career breakthrough. She joined the writing team and took on various roles in the successful comedy series, which aired from 1998 to 2001.
Syal is set to release her first non-fiction book, "Vigilanties: A Memoir - Innit?", this autumn. The memoir explores her family, heritage, and the influential women in her life. "I have sat around so many tables with friends where the conversations have been illuminating, joyous, heart-breaking and sometimes, life changing. And I have walked away thinking, I really should have written some of that down," Syal explained regarding the impetus for the book.
Following a period away from television, with her last screen appearance in the BBC drama The Split in 2022, Syal is currently rehearsing for the play The Children, scheduled to open at the Lyric Hammersmith on the same day her memoir is released.