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Rivals star Katherine Parkinson has opened up about a frightening experience from earlier in her career, revealing she was once attacked while walking home after a theatre performance.
The actor, 48, who recently won the BAFTA for Best Female Comedy Performance for Here We Go, spoke about the incident on Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast, explaining it happened while she was working on a stage production outside London and staying in budget accommodation.
She said that in 2005, she was walking home with a colleague one evening when they were approached by a man, and things quickly escalated after he became involved in an argument with her co-star.
Katherine said she stepped in to try to calm the situation, but it turned violent.
“I said, ‘Leave her alone,’ and he knocked me out cold, broke my nose and everything else,” she recalled.
She added that the man was later arrested and convicted of actual bodily harm.
Looking back, Katherine admitted the experience stayed with her, particularly how she felt in the aftermath. She said she struggled with a sense of shame and found it difficult to process what had happened at the time.
During the podcast, the Rivals actor became emotional as she remembered being in hospital and overhearing comments that made her question how the situation was being viewed by others.
She explained that, over time, she’s come to realise those feelings of self-blame weren’t fair, but they did stay with her for a long time.
The IT Crowd star also reflected on how becoming a parent later in life changed the way she thinks about safety and vulnerability, especially when it comes to her own children.
"I did have quite a serious assault that had repercussions, I'm not going to be cross with myself for being a really neurotic mum" she told Eizabeth Day.
"I'm giving myself, now I'm 48, just a bit more licence to realise that your experience informs who you are… your recalibration in a world where I used to just feel so confident and sure. Unfortunately, a literal smack in the face changes you."
She added that attitudes towards difficult experiences were different when she was younger, with more of an expectation to just “get on with it” rather than talk things through.
While she doesn’t often speak about the incident, she said revisiting it now has helped her understand it from a different perspective.
Katherine Parkinson spoke on Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast, available on all major podcast platforms.
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. A devoted bookworm and TV fan, she’s always immersed in the latest shows or catching the newest films and theatre productions. When she’s not writing, Arabella enjoys cooking and exploring the outdoors with her dog.