Emily Atack – Eight things we learned when she spoke to Rylan about How to Be in the Spotlight

1. She always knew she’d be famous

Atack grew up in a family in which fame was normal. Her mum is Kate Robbins, a very well-known impressionist and comedian, and her dad is Keith Atack, who was a guitarist for Bonnie Tyler. “I always knew we were a little bit different,” she says. “Some people compare us to the Kardashians, but it’s more the Osbournes. Absolutely chaos.” She always thought she’d be famous in some way, “but fame to me wasn’t what it is now. You can sort of be famous for anything. It was about celebrating the things you’re good at. I wanted to be a famous actress.”

2. She doesn’t mind being called a nepo baby

Rylan asks Atack about her parents’ fame helping her on the path to her own celebrity, and she doesn’t reject the idea of being considered a nepo baby. “I guess there are elements of nepo baby vibes,” she says, “but I take that as a good thing. It gave me the tools to learn about rejection and learn about the difficulties of the industry from a really young age. I wasn’t just naively going in and assuming it was all going to be perfect.”

3. Her first ever audition led to a job

“I was a bit cocky,” Atack says of her start in the industry. She left school at 16 and, following her parents’ divorce, moved into a flat with her sister. “I needed to pay the rent,” she says. So she spoke to her mum’s agent, who sent her out to get some audition practice. “He said, ‘You’ve got your first audition tomorrow. It’s for a crime drama on ITV called Blue Murder. Realistically, you’re not going to get it, because it’s your first ever audition’… Then I got the part.” She knew immediately this was for her. “It felt terrifying, but so thrilling. I was just completely born to do it.”

4. Nothing could prepare her for the attention of The Inbetweeners

Simon Bird and Emily Atack as Will and Charlotte in The Inbetweeners. Photo courtesy of Channel 4.

In 2008, Atack was cast in The Inbetweeners, which became one of the biggest comedy series of the decade. It made her immediately famous, when she was just 17. “Little things about it felt overwhelming,” she says. “I’ve always been the centre of attention, even at school, so genuinely the recognition and fame and people talking about me in newspapers, that wasn’t really the scary bit. It was [other things].” Emily hadn’t considered her body image before, but after being labelled as ‘curvy’ by the press, was forced to confront this label. “I’d never had an issue with my weight, then The Inbetweeners came out and people were so nasty about my weight… That was quite jarring and confusing. I was being labelled as the sexy pin-up and being highly criticised for my weight.”

5. She struggled when The Inbetweeners ended

The Inbetweeners was only Atack’s third role. When it was over she found it tough to secure more roles. “I got to a point where acting work was slowly starting to dry up,” she says. “I was in an unusual position where I was not quite young enough and slim enough any more to do the sexy schoolgirls. Nobody knew what to do with me… I realised I was going to have to do something that took me away from the pin-up image. Sadly, with a pin-up image, what I’ve learned is that if you want to show your talent and be smart and have interesting things to say, you can’t do both.”

6. I’m A Celebrity was her way to reset

When Atack was offered the chance to take part in the 2018 series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, she jumped at it. “I was a jobbing actress. I didn’t have enough money. I’d gone through a break-up. I was going through a bit of a ‘life-changing, finding myself kind of vibe,’” she says. “I wanted people to know who I was as a person and realise I’m not Charlotte [from The Inbetweeners]. Yes, I’ve done lads’ mags, but I’ve got so much more to say.” She finished the show in second place. “It went exactly how I wanted. Then from there, you have to go, ‘Right, I need to make some really big decisions.’”

Yes, I’ve done lads’ mags, but I’ve got so much more to say.

Emily on her decision to do I’m A Celebrity

7. She doesn’t want to be put in a box

After I’m A Celebrity, Atack wanted to “write my own things and be in the writers’ room” but she was steered towards doing “the same old stuff”. She pushed back. “I wrote my own stand-up tour, Talk 30 To Me, and from there got my series The Emily Atack Show, which is impressions, stand-up, everything. But the annoying thing was, that was met with eye-rolling again. People saying, ‘Stay in your lane’. But men do it absolutely fine. Men get given a ladder, women get put in a box. I refused to let that happen.”

8. Impending motherhood has changed her focus

Atack says she has always had intrusive tabloid attention but thought it would change now she’s pregnant with her first child. “I naively thought that being pregnant… would protect me in some way,” she says. “It hasn’t at all. People are always going to want to know about your private life. Of course, there are certain things about the industry you have to accept: if you are in the spotlight, there is interest in your private life. But I know what I signed up for and what I didn’t.” But after all she’s been through, she says she feels “more content and not so lost. In my life I’ve felt very lost and lonely. I’m now living for something other than myself.”