Maxine Peake has revealed she was subjected to fat-shaming during her training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where a teacher advised her to "lay off the chips" if she aspired to play roles like Juliet.
Peake, 52, who secured a scholarship to RADA despite growing up in Bolton, recounted the incident in a recent interview on the podcast Sisters of Defiance with Anita Rani. The actress recalled being told by a teacher that her size would prevent her from playing lead roles. Peake's response to the comment about playing Juliet was, "I don’t want to play Juliet. She kills herself at 16 because of a boy."
Before being accepted into RADA, Peake faced numerous rejections, auditioning 13 times for other drama schools and accumulating a folder of rejection letters. "I’ve kept them for years of just rejection letters," she stated.
Peake also shared how comedian Victoria Wood influenced her to change her appearance during their time working on the television series Dinnerladies. Wood, noticing Peake's larger size at the time, advised her that being "fat, blonde and northern" could lead to typecasting. Peake stated that she took Wood's words to heart, significantly losing weight. This drastic weight loss resulted in Peake needing to wear a fat suit for the second series of Dinnerladies when she reprised her role as the character Twinkle.
Following her role in the comedy, Peake went on to secure roles in prominent dramas such as Shameless, See No Evil: The Moors Murders, and Silk.
During the podcast interview, Peake reflected on the societal pressure women face regarding their appearance, particularly within the entertainment industry. She described the industry's standards as "impossible and unobtainable" and noted that the obsession with beauty and youth appears to be intensifying. "It’s our obsession with beauty and youth, isn’t it? It’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And it just seems to be getting worse," Peake said.
Sisters of Defiance with Anita Rani is available on YouTube and other podcast platforms.