Imelda Staunton isn’t here to handhold young actors, she’s here to prepare them.
The legendary 69-year-old actress has been in the game long enough to know that if you’re not ready to handle rejection, you’re not ready to act. Speaking to The Independent, she was crystal clear: “It’s hard, because acting is a business of comparisons. Why am I not doing that job? Well, because you are not. You have to accept rejection, and if you can’t accept it, then get out.” That’s coming from someone who’s built a seriously impressive career in both film and TV.
Staunton, who has won multiple awards and international fame (hello, Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter), isn’t just talking for the sake of it. She’s seen the industry shift over the years, and not necessarily for the better. According to her, acting used to be a much smaller, more elite world. “During the time of Maggie [Smith] and Robert Stephens, you could count actors with that level of celebrity on one hand. Now it’s not unusual for children to have parents who are also actors, simply because there are so many of them.”
She knows what she’s talking about, her own daughter, Bessie Carter, is also a rising star. But that doesn’t mean Bessie got a free pass, and Imelda makes it clear that talent or connections won’t protect anyone from the grind of auditions and the sting of not getting the part. In fact, Staunton is known for being brutally honest with drama students, never once glossing over how tough the industry really is. She told Vogue, “I go and talk to drama students. I say, ‘Listen, I’m telling you this now. You have to deal with rejection all the time. Now, remember: the day you don’t get that job, someone else gets it. It’s their turn that day.’ You have to look at it like that because it’ll eat you up otherwise.”
And while she’s had a long and successful career, Imelda’s never let it get to her head. She told The Independent that “success is a really tricky word. And it should be spelled with a very small S. I think it poisons people.” It’s not that she doesn’t care about her craft, she takes it very seriously, but she’s always been clear about her priorities.
Her marriage to actor Jim Carter, whom she married in 1983, is a perfect example. While both take their careers seriously, they’ve made sure their relationship and their life outside the spotlight always come first. “I feel Jim and I have made our lives work as a marriage within this business, and we take our life more seriously than our jobs,” she said. “Of course, we both take [the job] very seriously. But you go, what’s the most important thing here? That I play another part? Or that we go on a very nice holiday, or that we have that time in the garden, that we have our life?”
Staunton has been doing this long enough to have seen the full range of what the acting world has to offer, from award-winning roles to watching generations of new talent try to break in. She knows that success doesn’t always mean fame, and that sometimes, the best thing an actor can do is remember that it’s not all about the next part.
So yeah, if you’re dreaming of a career in acting, maybe don’t expect it to be easy. And definitely don’t expect Imelda Staunton to tell you it will be. Her message is clear: if you can’t handle rejection, the industry will chew you up and spit you out. But if you can take the hits, stay grounded, and keep going? Then maybe, just maybe, you’re cut out for it.
