ASHLEY MCGUIRE TELLS DIVA WHY ACTORS ARE SOME OF THE BRAVEST PEOPLE SHE KNOWS

ASHLEY MCGUIRE

WORDS CARRIE LYELL

Ashley McGuire says she has “one of those faces” no one recognises, but we reckon that’s modesty talking because her CV is hella impressive, with credits like Man Down, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. Nah, never heard of it either. But it’s not been an easy ride. She talks to DIVA about the challenges in her career, not watching herself on screen, and why she’ll never take the “fat woman” role again.

DIVA: How did you get into acting?

ASHLEY MCGUIRE: I come from a working class family. My mother was a dancer and a model and my dad is in double glazing. My brother Kirk was a child actor – he is one of Fagin’s boys in Lionel Bart’s Oliver. My mum also danced on that film in Consider Yourself and Who Will Buy. She worked in films and TV all her life. I showed no real interest until I did A Midsummer Night’s Dream at school when I was 15, and after that it’s all I wanted to do. I went to drama school (Rose Bruford College, London) in the early 90s and then had 15 pretty lean years with very little work. It all happened for me after my mum passed away in 2007 and I wrote a play with my friend Octavia about love and loss. It did well and my career finally began to move forward.