“I thought the only thing I’d be good for is horror motion pictures,” 25-year-old BAFTA-winning actress Vicky Knight mentioned, reflecting on the begin of her movie profession.
Vicky, from Dagenham, was trapped in a hearth in her grandad’s pub – the Prince of Wales in Stoke Newington – at the age of eight, and suffered extreme burn scarring throughout 33 per cent of her physique.
She misplaced two cousins in that fireplace, and the pub common who bumped into the flames to save lots of her additionally misplaced his life.
After a childhood of being bullied, getting crushed up in the playground and referred to as ‘Freddy Krueger’, Vicky’s life has been modified by her two unimaginable careers.
Award-winning actress Vicky balances her performing work with her major job the place she works as a hospital healthcare assistant in the burns unit that handled her again in 2003.
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In 2019, she kickstarted her performing profession with the lead function in Sacha Polak’s Dirty God.
The protagonist, Jade, is recovering from an acid assault and Polak needed somebody with actual scars to painting her.
Vicky mentioned: “Acting was nothing I’d ever thought-about – my major job is at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, the similar hospital that handled me for my burns, in the emergency division.
“But I gained a BAFTA for Breakthrough Brits, I used to be named a Star of Tomorrow by Screen International, I used to be up for two British Independent Film Awards – up in opposition to Renée Zellweger for Best Actress.”
Vicky Knight mentioned that rising up with her burn scars “was absolute hell”
(Image: Publicity Picture)
‘When I watched Dirty God, I realised there was nothing incorrect with me’
Vicky credit Dirty God for reworking how she views her burn scars. She mentioned: “Growing up with the scars was absolute hell.
“I used to be bullied, I used to be crushed up, referred to as names, folks put lighters in my face, threatening to burn my home down,” she defined.
“I used to be in a really, very darkish place in class and school.
“When I used to be in school I made a movie about rising up with burn scars to coach folks. It was only a 5 minute video, I put it on YouTube to coach folks about bullying and the injury a hearth can do.
“I awakened the subsequent morning and it had gone viral.”
A casting director noticed the video, heard Vicky’s story and reached out to her, and the relaxation was historical past.
She continued: “When I watched Dirty God for the first time, that was after I realised there was nothing incorrect with me. I did not see myself taking part in that character, I used to be seeing another person however with my scars.
“From that day on all the dangerous ideas about myself, the means I regarded, they only did not hassle me, I simply did not care anymore.”
‘Her scars have been irrelevant, we’re all completely different’
Her newest movie function, nevertheless, has nothing to do with her scars.
A sci-fi drama brief movie directed by London director Stephan Pierre Mitchell, Reshaped is a couple of younger couple who meet on a relationship app, however flip to their ‘plastic pals’ – intercourse toys and intercourse robots.
Stephan Pierre Mitchell, director of Reshaped starring Vicky Knight
(Image: Publicity Picture)
Stephan, who additionally stars in the movie, mentioned: “It explores love from a male perspective, poisonous masculinity, and likewise celebrates folks’s variations. The remaining scene is in a membership, and when the major character arrives there’s all types of sexual revolutions occurring – it is freedom.
“When I used to be doing the casting, I had these unimaginable, huge, established names auditioning. But there was one thing about Vicky, when she walked into that room, the spark, the chemistry, the authenticity that she delivered to the desk – I simply could not ignore it.
“I like to remain true to myself, and that is what was fascinating about Vicky. The qualities she convey to the function, she connects to folks, she will faucet into completely different feelings, and he or she brings that out in her performances.
“Her scars have been irrelevant. We are all completely different. Having her on set was a pleasure, she was unimaginable. She’s an unimaginable expertise, one to look at as nicely.”
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‘In cinema, a nasty man typically has some sort of incapacity or scarring’
Vicky, who has had no formal performing coaching however has developed her uncooked expertise via her performing expertise, mentioned she hopes that somebody with scars taking part in a task that has nothing to do with her look will assist scale back the stigma round scarring.
She mentioned: “I hope it provides folks a platform to face on, to make use of me for example – to allow them to assume: ‘If she will do it, why cannot I?’
“I feel folks should not be judged by the means they give the impression of being.
Vicky and Stephan filming Reshaped
(Image: Yolantha Morrigan)
“When Dirty God got here on the market was an article from the BFI and the BBC: they mentioned that they won’t be funding any movies which have villains which have scarring.
“In cinema, a nasty man typically has some sort of incapacity or scarring. Just have a look at The Lion King – the dangerous man, his identify is Scar.
“The Joker, he has a scar on his face. So they are not funding movies the place the villain has a incapacity anymore.
“I had children that have been scared to come back close to me, asking if I’d completed one thing dangerous as a result of I’ve acquired scarring. That’s due to how they affiliate it with what they see in motion pictures.”
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Vicky mentioned she’s going to by no means surrender her work at the hospital, serving to those that’ve suffered burns identical to hers, however she hopes her performing roles will affect the world to be kinder to these with bodily disabilities.
Sacha Polak, who directed Dirty God, is engaged on a movie that is primarily based round Vicky’s life. Filming will hopefully happen this yr, however in the meantime, Vicky will proceed working at the job she loves in the hospital.
Humbly, the BAFTA-winner mentioned: “If at some point my performing will be a strong profession, then so be it, I’ll be an actress. But at the minute, I’m a healthcare assistant and an actress.”
Reshaped will be launched later this yr.
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