My magical, feral childhood – by brave Samantha
HOLLYWOOD star Samantha Morton insists she had ‘the most magical, feral childhood’ despite suffering abuse.
The Oscar-nominated actress has previously revealed how she was beaten by her father and sexually abused in a care home. But today she tells Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne that she has ‘absolute forgiveness’ for her tormentors and is busy embracing the joys of life.
Morton, 43, adds: ‘I had the most magical, feral childhood as well as some of the horrible stuff happening. When I was little… I would do anything for a laugh. The world is tough enough. We have got to smile and invite the light in.’
The mother-of-three says: ‘I think joy, I get it from my kids, I get it from my husband. The world is a beautiful, magical place and people are amazing.
‘Joy is everywhere. You just have to see it, you have to be open to it… Life is full of colour.’
Last year she played a single mum in Channel 4’s I Am Kirsty, which she co- wrote and which saw her nominated for a Best Actress Bafta. She has also starred in the hit films Minority Report with Tom Cruise and the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, as well as a brothel-owner in the BBC2 drama Harlots.
Morton tells Laverne that she still loves her father, even though he would repeatedly beat his children.
‘I think about the levels to which we got good hidings and it wasn’t right, it wasn’t normal and it wasn’t safe. So there’s these great positive memories of him being an incredible dad and these dark memories about him being poorly… I wish him no illwill and I love him dearly,’ she says.
‘I think I have absolute forgiveness for everybody, but I do not forget that when you become an adult you are in a position of power, certainly over children. I just wish certain individuals would put their hands up and say we were wrong, we could have done better.’
● Desert Island Discs is on BBC Radio 4 today at 11am.