The actress Romola Garai has called for childcare to be offered on TV and film sets in order to tackle the under-representation of women in the performing arts.
Garai, who now has a two-year-old daughter, said she would not have been able to work on a series such as The Hour – the Cold War BBC drama that gave her mainstream recognition – because of her commitment to bringing up her daughter.
“On The Hour, I was being called [to set] at 5.45am and never home before 8pm,” she told The Independent. “That’s routine. I cannot do that any more unless I’m prepared to relinquish raising my child to someone else. That’s not my choice.
“I’m not criticising women who do choose that – but the industry is not allowing parents to work and be involved in raising their children.”
“Sets never have childcare. I think it doesn’t happen because it hasn’t occurred to anyone,” added Garai, among the stars of the new film Suffragette. “It’s stymying women’s careers. In an industry that has such a big problem with female representation, it would be such a support.” She noted that anti-social working hours affect not only the cast but everyone involved in productions.
Her comments come after actress Geena Davis called for gender equality in the industry as she launched a global symposium on gender in media at BFI London Film Festival earlier this month.
Garai is supporting the work of Parents in Performing Arts (Pipa), a new campaign group which launches today at London’s Young Vic theatre, where she is currently performing in Measure for Measure.
