‘I NEVER THOUGHT I WAS FAT, BUT PEOPLE TELLING YOU THAT YOU ARE MAKES YOU THINK IT’S TRUE’
screened in 2008. The cast were recognised everywhere, invited to parties, instantly famous, which, at 18, is pretty overwhelming. Emily became an FHM magazine favourite, a gossip column regular (a fling with Harry Styles in her early 20s was of particular interest). It must have been pretty rough, I say, to be so scrutinised all of a sudden.
‘My life has always been a bit like that,’ she shrugs. ‘At school, I was the girl that everybody gossiped about, because I was different. Being thrust into the industry was similar to school, only instead of people writing about you on toilet walls, they were writing in newspapers. There were elements of that time that were so fun, being 18 and going to all these parties and hanging out with really interesting people. ‘But, deep down, I like being at home and sometimes I just want to be in my pyjamas with my friends, and I think that’s what has saved me really. I never turned into a tabloid girl falling out of nightclubs with different blokes. If you want to do that, great. It does actually look fun, but I was never that person.’
The one thing that did bother her – and still does – are comments about her size. ‘My weight has always been a “thing”,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘I’ve been a size 10 or 12, a 14 every now and then. I love food and I love wine. Other actresses are tiny, I was always the bigger girl at castings and it never troubled me. But if I go out and I feel nice then a photo gets put online and everyone starts saying that I’m fat, it’s really difficult. There are worse things in life but, as a woman, having your weight criticised is rough.
‘It shocked me when I was younger because I’d never ever had a weight issue. I never thought I was fat, I thought I was fine. Then to be told by more than a handful of people that you aren’t fine and actually you’re too fat makes you think, “Well, it must be true and I’ve just never noticed it.” But I have got so many amazing people around me who constantly tell me how lovely they think I am and I’ve got a mum who smothers me with love and thinks I’m the most beautiful girl in the world, so that’s all that matters.’
Emily’s family – her mother, father and younger sister and brother – are incredibly close to her. She also grew up surrounded by aunts, cousins and, intriguingly, Paul McCartney. ‘He is