Skins Star Kaya Scodelario Explains the Major Difference Between U.K. and U.S. Productions

The Big Picture

Kaya Scodelario says making U.K. television shows was a very different experience from making American projects.
Scodelario avoided stereotypical high school roles to diversify her roles.
Transitioning to American projects liberated Scodelario from U.K. class barriers in roles.

The work you do as a young actor can influence your work, and the way you approach that work, for the rest of your life, and Kaya Scodelario, widely recognized for her captivating role as Effy Stonem on the British series Skins, certainly fits that bill. Scodelario recently spoke with Perri Nemiroff for Collider Ladies Night and, during the interview, Scodelario opened up about her experiences on Skins, her career decisions post-show, and her reflections on the acting industry.

Skins, a British teen drama, is known for its raw and unfiltered portrayal of adolescence. The series follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, tackling issues like mental illness, substance abuse, and identity. Scodelario’s character, Effy, is the enigmatic and troubled younger sister of Tony Stonem (Nicholas Hoult), who evolves into a central figure in the show’s second and third generations. Reflecting on her breakout role as Effy, Scodelario acknowledged the unique environment of working on a successful British show, and spoke with humorous admiration at how little the British public care about how famous you are.

“I think there is a real privilege that comes from being in a successful show in the U.K. versus in the States because we aren’t as glamorous in any way, shape, or form. I think the Harry Potter actors have discussed it in the past before, that when you’re on sets in the U.K., you aren’t treated like a star. You’re treated very normally. And even out walking the streets, London’s a tough place, they don’t care if you’re famous. If anything, that’s actually a negative. You’re gonna get a can of beer thrown at your head.”

Kaya Scodelario Wanted to Be More Than Just the Love Interest

Scodelario was determined to diversify her roles after Skins, consciously avoiding the stereotypical high school roles or being cast merely as the love interest.

“I knew that I was at an age where it would be very easy for people to want me to slip into high school roles or playing the girlfriend or the love interest, and
I’ve never been interested in being just the love interest. Ever.
I just don’t know any women that I have ever met who are just one thing. I have never met a female who is just a love interest or just the wife.
Every single woman I know is complicated and nuanced and beautiful
and everything that comes with that, so I’ve only ever been attracted to characters who were like that. That’s my experience of women and the world.”

A significant part of her career trajectory involved transitioning to American projects, which Scodelario found liberating due to the absence of class barriers often present in the U.K., barriers which limited her to specific types of roles:

“In the U.K., we still do [see class]. I was very much considered a working-class actor in the U.K., so a lot of the roles that would come my way would be for the maid or the cockney geezer!
Even though I’ve kind of gone full circle by playing Susie [in

The Gentlemen

, the series from
Guy Ritchie
],
I really actively wanted to be in the room with all the other actors who had been to drama schools or came from families with money and were established within the industry already.”

Despite her success, Scodelario remains humble and driven by the fear of it all “disappearing.” That mindset keeps her eager to learn and grow with every new project, ensuring that the industry continues to excite and challenge her.

“I don’t think that I’ll ever have a moment where I sit there and go, ‘Okay, I’ve made it,’ and I like that. It hasn’t come yet. [Laughs] Genuinely, I never thought it could be a career, especially for someone from my background. I grew up very working class, I had an immigrant parent and a single-parent family household. I didn’t think it was a possibility in my world. I remember seeing a documentary about West End kid actors who were, maybe, eight years old, and I was 11 at the time, and I was like, ‘Damn, it’s too late! See? They’re out there doing it.’ [Laughs]

Then, I started working on
Skins
from a very young age, and I was very lucky in that that ended up being successful, and I have been able to build a career from that since. I don’t know if it’s an immigrant-parent mentality, but I still want to work all the time, and I’m still terrified of it disappearing… I don’t ever want to get to a point where I feel as though I’ve made it.”

Skins is available to stream now on Hulu. Watch Nemiroff’s full conversation with Scodelario on Collider Ladies Night below.