Alison Steadman opens up about 'horrible' bullying that nearly made her quit showbiz
ok.co.ukGavin & Stacey star Alison Steadman has revealed that she almost quit television after being "bullied horribly" by a director early in her career.
The 76-year-old, who is reuniting with her Gavin & Stacey co-star Larry Lamb for a new travel show, opened up about the horrific experience, which happened as she started out in acting on the BBC drama Z-Cars. "There was a time very early on when I was doing an episode of Z Cars which I was probably totally miscast in the role looking back," she told OK!
in an exclusive interview. "The director was not a very nice woman. She bullied me horribly and I really thought, ‘If this is what television is like I don't want to do it, forget it!’" Alison added that fortunately, her next TV job was completely different. "Luckily, I didn't work with her again.The next person I worked with was extremely nice.
And the majority of people I've worked with over the years have been really nice directors but it's inevitable. "There's always one or two, and she was a particularly nasty woman.” Alison appeared in a 1973 episode of the police procedural drama, playing W.P.C Bayliss alongside star James Ellis, who starred as Inspector Lynch.
