Samantha Morton admits 'it's an absolute miracle I'm not dead' after childhood sexual abuse whilst she was in care, homelessness and trauma
Samantha Morton has admitted it's 'an absolute miracle' she is still alive after her traumatic childhood which saw her abused by employees at a children's home.
The actress, 48, spent a decade in foster care and children's homes before she was 'saved' by acting - describing seeing Ken Loach's Kes at school as a lightning bolt moment that inspired her to pursue it as a career.
In 2024 she dedicated her Bafta Fellowship 'to every child in care, or who has been in care and who didn't survive' and has also made Bafta-winning TV drama The Unloved about a girl growing up in the system.
Alongside her childhood trauma, Samantha has had to deal with health issues stemming from a car accident aged 12 and a stroke at 30 after a head injury when her hallway ceiling collapsed on her. This accident led to her 18-month break from acting so she could learn how to walk and talk properly again.
Samantha found solace in her career and reflecting on her 30 years of acting says 'the older I get, and the more I reflect, the more I'm like, it's an absolute miracle I'm not dead.'
'Knowing friends who have died or taken their own life due to the trauma, the effects of it,' she told The Sunday Times Style Magazine.
Samantha Morton has admitted it's 'an absolute miracle' she is still alive after her traumatic childhood which saw her abused by employees at a children's home
The actress, 48, spent a decade in foster care and children's homes before she was 'saved' by acting (pictured at age 18 in her break out role Band Of Gold)
After her parents split up, Samantha lived with her abusive father while her mother, a factory worker, was in a relationship with another man.
At the age of eight, she was placed with several foster families, then she and her siblings were 'passed like an unwanted parcel' between care homes over the course of the next few years.'
In 2009 she made The Unloved for Channel 4, about children in care. It mirrored her own harrowing experiences, when she was made a Ward of Court because of her mother's neglect and her father's violence.
As an adult she revealed that she had been sexually abused by residential care workers at the age of 13 and that the police took no action when she reported the abuse.
She has been a vocal activist for rights of children in care, acknowledging that 'a lot of actors won't talk about their own personal experiences but while it may seem like just something to fill a newspaper for one person, you never know who's reading that story and what they will get from it, or if it will help them to think differently about their life.'
'I feel that I'm allowed an opinion as an actor because I have experience of these things,' she added.
'Everyone's called a celebrity now. I don't feel like [one], but people don't want celebrities. They're fed up with being told what to do, people standing on their soapbox. But I come at it from a different angle — from experience and compassion and a desire to highlight and educate, not finger-wag and tell people what they need to do or believe.'
Samantha has long stated that acting saved her. At 13 she joined the Central Junior Television Workshop and soon her talent was noticed, earning her several TV roles including in Soldier Soldier and Cracker.
Despite the early roles, Samantha found herself homeless when she came to London from Nottingham at the age of 16, sleeping rough at St Pancras station.
Samantha went on to receive an Oscar nomination for her role in Woody Allen's 1999 movie Sweet And Lowdown, and became a Hollywood name in 2002 after starring in Minority Report alongside Tom Cruise - pictured
She has been a vocal activist for rights of children in care, acknowledging that 'a lot of actors won't talk about their own personal experiences but you never know who's reading that story and what they will get from it'
At the age of 18 she won the part that made her name - as teenage prostitute Tracy Richards in Kay Mellor's gritty TV drama Band Of Gold.
In 1997 she took on the leading role in the independent drama Under the Skin where she played Iris, a woman coping with the death of her mother.
Impressed by her performance in the drama, Woody Allen cast her in his 1999 movie Sweet And Lowdown. She went on to receive an Oscar nomination for the performance and became a Hollywood name in 2002 after starring in Minority Report alongside Tom Cruise.
She has also turned to directing. In 2009 she made The Unloved for Channel 4 about children in care which mirrored her own harrowing experiences.
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