The star of a new drama about the Profumo affair says she leapt at the chance to tell the story from Christine Keeler’s perspective, in the wake of the Me Too movement.
Sophie Cookson believes writer Amanda Coe has finally given a voice to Keeler, who was just 19 at the time of the scandal and became “trapped by society’s restraints”.
Sophie, 29, said: “It’s quite a moving thing to say, but it feels like she is being released and she is finally free to tell it how it was.”
“There are so many stories told through a male gaze and Amanda has flipped it on its head to show us the woman behind this incredible story.
Christine Keeler was not allowed a voice.
There were so many men imposing their views and opinions on her and they decided who she was.
“Even when writing her autobiographies, it was with the establishment looking down on her or men telling her what to say – she was constantly manipulated.
“With this third wave of feminism it’s such an exciting moment to be looking at this with a female gaze.”
Model Keeler became a household name in 1963 after the scandal broke of her simultaneous affairs with 48-year-old Tory minister John Profumo and a Russian spy.
It nearly brought down the government and she was hounded by the media.
Writer Coe contacted Keeler about the show before her death aged 75, in 2017.
Coe said: “She didn’t want to be portrayed as a victim, which I believe we’ve honoured.
“To be 19 and at the centre of this seemed like a great starting point for a drama.”
The six-part show also stars Ben Miles as Profumo and Emilia Fox as his wife, Valerie.
- The Trial of Christine Keeler, starts on BBC1, 9pm, on Sunday, December 29.
