Entertainment · Celebrity · 2 hrs ago
Maxine Peake says RADA teacher told her to lose weight to play Juliet
Actor Maxine Peake says a teacher at RADA told her to lose weight if she wanted to play Juliet.
Peake, who grew up in Bolton, made the comments in an interview on Anita Rani’s podcast.
She said she replied that she did not want to play Juliet, a character who dies by suicide at 16 because of a boy.
Peake said she had been rejected by 13 other drama schools before getting a scholarship to RADA.
She also recalled that Victoria Wood warned her she could be typecast as a fat, blonde, northern woman, and said she later lost a lot of weight.
Peake said the pressure to meet beauty and youth standards is getting worse and that the ideal being promoted is impossible to attain.
The podcast episode is available on YouTube and other podcast platforms.
Maxine Peake says a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art told her to lose weight if she wanted to play Juliet.
Peake said she replied that she did not want to play Juliet because the character dies by suicide at 16 over a boy.
Before gaining a place at RADA, she said, she was rejected by 13 other drama schools.
Peake also recalled that Victoria Wood warned her she could be typecast because she was fat, blonde and northern.
Peake said she later lost so much weight that she had to wear a fat suit in the second series of Dinnerladies.
- Who
- Actress Maxine Peake described comments she says she received from a RADA teacher.
- What
- Peake says the teacher told her to lose weight if she wanted to play Juliet.
- When
- During Peake’s training at RADA; the date is not stated.
- Where
- The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
- Why
- The teacher linked Peake’s weight to whether she could play Juliet. The teacher’s reasoning is not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Peake said she was rejected 13 times by other drama schools.
Peake said a teacher told her to lose weight if she wanted to play Juliet.
Peake said Victoria Wood warned her she might be typecast, and Peake later lost weight.
Peake said she wore a fat suit after losing so much weight.
- Drama school
- Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)
- Rejections before RADA
- 13
- Role mentioned
- Juliet
- TV comedy
- Dinnerladies
- Podcast
- Sisters of Defiance with Anita Rani
What people are saying
I was told at RADA by a teacher, if I didn’t lay off the chips, I would never play Juliet. Those were her exact words.
I don’t want to play Juliet. She kills herself at 16 because of a boy.
It’s our obsession with beauty and youth, isn’t it? It’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And it just seems to be getting worse.