We love Maisie Smith – the perfect example of triumph over adversity; continually pushing herself, refusing to be typecast, and constantly throwing herself at new things.
Currently starring in her first play The Talented Mr Ripley, at Oxford Playhouse next week, the actress has thrown herself into the role of Marge, as immortalised by Gwyneth Paltrow in the iconic film, and making it her own.
‘whenever I’m too critical of myself, I look back and realise how far I’ve come. Because I love working in the theatre, it’s a lot of fun’
Having been in EastEnders for 13 years, and made her screen debut as a young Queen Elizabeth in The Other Boleyn Girl, alongside Scarlett Johansson and Eddie Redmayne, she has quite the acting pedigree under her belt.
But one senses there was still a sense of imposter’s syndrome at play when Maisie accepted the role in The Talented Mr Ripley, and yet she surprised herself with how quickly she became immersed in her character.
“At the beginning I thought ‘these are big shoes to fill’ but you have trust in the casting. They wouldn’t have picked me if they didn’t believe in me, and that’s all the reassurance I needed. I knew I could do it,” she says, “so it’s been easy to lose myself in the show every night.
‘They wouldn’t have picked me if they didn’t believe in me, and that’s all the reassurance I needed’
“I spent so many years questioning whether I was good enough to do other things and turned down a lot of opportunities – things I now regret – out of pure fear. People kept telling me it was a brutal world out there and that I’d have to jump into the deep end. So it was scary to leave EastEnders, but over the past few years I’ve learned to trust my gut instinct. So yes, I do think I’ve been brave, but I’m loving it,” Maisie adds.
Having tested her mettle on Strictly in 2020, finishing in second place with professional partner Gorka Márquez, Craig Revel Horwood’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, British gangster comedy Bermondsey Tales: The Fall of the Roman Empire and most recently Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds, she was more than ready, despite any self doubt.
‘I spent so many years questioning whether I was good enough and turned down a lot of opportunities – things I now regret – out of pure fear’
“Strictly was so crazy but I loved it. It was also really scary because it was the first time I’d had to be Maisie Smith rather than play a character, so it was a really new experience. I was only 19 and kept worrying that people might hate me, or that I’d fall on my ass on live TV, but I pushed myself and was really proud of how far I got,” she says.
And Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins? “Physically SAS was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was only two weeks but it felt like months. It was brutal, but afterwards I was mentally and physically so much stronger.”
All of which set her up perfectly for Maisie’s latest adventure – The Talented Mr Ripley. So is it very different? “I loved EastEnders, but I was itching to get up on stage and see what I was capable of. So being able to focus on my part in The Talented Mr Ripley and having months to rehearse has been really enjoyable and much more exciting than I expected,” she says.
Judging by the reviews, it’s all paid off: “I’ve been adapting to having thousands of people watching me on TV to seeing the audience on the front row. On TV you can just raise an eyebrow to convey emotions, but this is a completely different skillset.
‘Playing Marge is such a gift. It’s a very intense part but I’m really enjoying the process’
“But playing Marge is such a gift. She is a sweet, endearing, progressive, independent, creative, elegant and classy woman to play who’s loving life in Italy where everything is swell. But then all hell breaks loose and her world falls apart. It’s a very intense part but I’m really enjoying the process.”
For those of you who haven’t seen or read it, The Talented Mr Ripley is a psychological thriller where Tom Ripley is sent to find playboy Dickie Greenleaf in the mediterranean and bring him home. But Tom becomes intoxicated by Dickie, Marge and their lifestyle and slowly worms his way into their lives with fatal consequences.
With so much hype around its previous incarnations, most recently the Netflix series with Andrew Scott, is there a pressure that comes with that? “Well, this script is nothing like the film or the series. It’s our own adaption and we have created it as a collaboration, so it feels really new and exciting,” Masiie says. “So this is my own interpretation of Marge.”
‘I’m really lucky that The Talented Mr Ripley was my first play. It gave me the chance to try something completely new’
“In fact, the biggest compliment I’ve had came from my parents who said they completely forgot they were watching their daughter on stage, and that’s when you know you’re doing it right, and really nice to hear.
“So I’m really lucky that The Talented Mr Ripley was my first play. It gave me the chance to try something completely new. So whenever I’m too critical of myself, I look back and realise how far I’ve come. Because I love working in the theatre, it’s a lot of fun.”
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY runs at Oxford Playhouse from Mon 13 – Sat 18 Oct. Book here https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/the-talented-mr-ripley
