Eight years after self-doubt, anxiety, alcohol and grief caused her to unravel, the Olivier-winner is now playing an actress trapped in a similar nightmare. She explains how she is taking back control of her ordeal
It is late morning and a major star is kicking off. “Turn the lights on, for fuck’s sake!” she rages at a stagehand. Her fists are clenched, her tanned, tattooed arms are sticking out of a royal blue sleeveless dress, and her locks have been dyed a burnt brunette. Once her demand has been met, the star pivots to face the wide, high-ceilinged room and switches to a gentler register. “Humilia-ting!” she trills, making the last syllable ring like a bell. As laughter fills the air, she slips out of character, her body visibly relaxing. This woman is no longer Myrtle Gordon, the sozzled Broadway legend cracking up on the eve of her latest show, but Sheridan Smith, the double Olivier-winning star of the Legally Blonde musical, whose own recent troubles have left her feeling she has something to prove.