Samantha Morton branded ‘difficult’ for refusing to do explicit scenes as teenager

Samantha Morton was labelled ‘difficult’ for not wanting to do a revealing scene (Picture: Getty)

The actress recalled one of her earliest roles at the age of 16 in the drama Band Of Gold, where she had to strip off for sexual scenes.

Samantha, who stars in upcoming BBC drama Harlots, shared she was ‘very vulnerable’ on set and would end up ‘sobbing in my trailer’ because of the explicit scenes she would have to do.

She told press: ‘The really lovely wardrobe girls would say, “Listen if you just put corn plasters on your nipples, then you won’t have to show your boobs”. I was just 16 and some of the scenes Tracey had to do…the writing was brilliant but quite vague.

‘It would say, “Tracy was giving a blowjob” or “Tracy is doing this”, and now I’m a director in my own right, I know that when I approach directing you don’t always have to see everything. There are ways to do it.’

When she once refused to do something revealing, Samantha feels she was tarnished as being tough to work with as result.

Samantha was 16 when she starred in the drama Band Of Gold as Tracy (Picture: REX)

‘These were the days when people were smoking on set and just a different world and I was very vulnerable,’ Samantha said, ‘and I got a reputation quite quickly for being a bit tricky because I came from Nottingham, I came from a bit of a rough background, and the only way I felt that I could hold my own was by being a bit tough back try and find some toughness that I didn’t have.’

It wasn’t until she started landing bigger roles that the actress felt she could be more vocal about what she was and wasn’t comfortable with.

Samantha as Margaret in Harlots (Picture: BBC)

The Minority Report star said: ‘I think the industry is changing for the better.

‘No one was mean on purpose, that’s just how it was. You have to toughen up even though you might not have wanted to do that, but you want to act.

‘No one told me I could say no, because once I said no then I was difficult. Saying no to something you’re uncomfortable with is okay, because there’s a way to work out ways to do it where everyone is happy.’

Harlots starts 5 August at 9pm on BBC Two.

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