Kaya Scodelario might not have said a word for her first few episodes on Skins, but regardless, she made an impression on E4 audiences from the jump.
Her character Effy Stonem has come to embody the indie sleaze aesthetic, with heaps of eye makeup and a sullen attitude toward those around her.
But Scodelario has also been frank about how entering the TV industry as a teen wasn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. The 33-year-old made headlines last year when she said that safeguarding ‘wasn’t really a thing back then’.
In a new interview with Pluto TV’s Yellow Couch series provided exclusively to Metro ahead of its release on Thursday, Scodelario has spoken about filming an infamous scene in the first season of the show, in which her character Effy spoke for the first time on Skins, having been injected with drugs.
Speaking to the series host, Jeremy Lynch, in the fourth episode, Scodelario explained why she had been both excited and nervous to film the scene, which sees her pass out at the end (admittedly, onto a crash mat behind her).
‘I was supposed to faint like a normal person, but for some reason, I went straight back. My first ever stunt. I don’t know what I was doing,’ laughed Scodelario.
When she watched the scene itself, she visibly cringed and even stuck her fingers in her ears as she bemoaned her ‘horrific’ accent. But she also said she appreciated the insight it gave into her character.
‘It’s the first time we learn something about her and her mind and how it works,’ said the mother-of-two. ‘I was nervous about it.
‘I’d never seen a needle before. They didn’t actually stick me with it, but still feels like it.
‘I remember my guardian, that was on set with me at the time, crying while we were filming it, because she freaked out about it.’
The best ever Skins scenes
- Cat Stevens’ musical number (series 1, episode 9). Singing Cat Stevens’ Wild World after Tony is tragically hit by a bus, it was the show at its bold, surprising best.
- Chris’s death (series 2, episode 9). The death of beloved party animal Chris was a harrowing shock for anyone who followed the show.
- Cook’s Ace Of Spades arrival (series 3, episode 2). Marking his proper arrival in the second generation cast.
- Naomi and Emily holding hands through the cat flap (series 3, episode 6). One of the most touching moments of the series.
- Chris’s funeral (series 2, episode 10). A fitting swansong to the character and the original cast of the show.
Read more entries on the list here.
She continued: ‘My big memory of it – I went to a tough school in north London, so no one ever acknowledged I was in Skins. It wasn’t cool. If anything, it was the opposite.
‘But when we were doing our GCSE exam, I noticed on the desk someone had written that speech out in pencil. It was the first moment I realised Effy affected people and there was something in her that people could relate to.
‘Because she was complicated and damaged and not necessarily the most positive representation of a teenager, and I think that’s what people liked, that she’s a bit messy.’
Skins is available to watch on Channel 4.
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