Adolescence star Faye Marsay reveals she quit social media after threats

Adolescence actress Faye Marsay has opened up about her experience of online abuse, revealing that she left social media after being subjected to threats.

Marsay plays DS Misha Frank in episodes one and two of the record-breaking four-part crime drama, with her character interviewing 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) after he’s accused of murdering fellow student Katie Leonard (Emilia Holliday).

After grilling Jamie in episode one, she visits his school alongside her colleague DI Luke Bascombe (Missing You actor Ashley Walters) and is horrified to learn the realities of teenage boys engaging in the misogynistic “manosphere” online.

Speaking with iNews, the actress recounted her own experiences of vile abuse online, revealing that she was threatened with sexual assault during her time on HBO’s Game of Thrones. 

Marsay played the The Waif, a cruel and vindictive acolyte of the Faceless Men in the fantasy drama, which led social media dwellers to conflate her character with her real life self.

“For me, it was the rape threats. That was pretty intense,” she told iNews of why she had to step away from social apps at the time.

Marsay went on to lament what social media means for children “who are just forming their personalities, creating these vivid memories that will stay with them for life”.

She added: “We can all remember at least one nasty comment that was said to us at school, right? Imagine how it would feel if those were all written down and stored forever.”

Marsay now uses social media occasionally to promote TV shows she’s involved in, including queer fishing documentary series Get Hooked and Ten Pound Poms, but otherwise stays offline.

Adolescence, created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, has become an international smash since its release on Netflix on 12 March. Each of the four episodes was filmed in one take, leaving viewers questioning the mechanics behind filming, while the show’s hard-hitting social message about male violence against women has also struck a chord.

Fellow queer Adolescence star Erin Doherty recently shared how the show has sparked conversations in her personal life.

“That’s what is also so mind-blowing: as a woman who [has] not even begun to venture into the world of bringing a kid up, it’s already, like… My sister, my friends, my girlfriend, we’re already so nervous about that time when it does come,” she told GQ.

“Because we’re like, ‘What the hell? How do we get this right? What can we do to help and save our younger generation?’ I know that sounds so dramatic, but I feel like that is what this show is doing: shining a light on this terrifying subject matter, and it’s hitting everyone.”

Adolescence recently became the most-watched UK series on Netflix, and also topped the weekly audience charts in the UK last week – the first programme on a streaming platform to ever do so.

Adolescence is streaming now on Netflix. 

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