Hayley Atwell says playing Marvel comic character Agent Peggy Carter has changed her life — by proving that “women can be heroes too”.
The actress said the role, which she first played five years ago in Captain America: The First Avenger, had given her “a new fearlessness”.
Atwell has since been cast in three follow-up films, as well as the US TV series Agent Carter — the first Marvel spin-off to be fronted by a woman.
Agent Carter is a wartime girlfriend of Captain America who becomes a heroine in her own right.
London-born Atwell, 33, said fans often approached her to say they found Agent Carter empowering.
In an interview with ES Magazine, to be published tomorrow, she said: “It is nice to play a role that has a positive influence. I was in Dubai at Comic Con and I met so many women who said, ‘Because of Agent Carter, I know my value and that women can be heroes too.’”
She added: “She’s given me a new fearlessness. I was always a people-pleaser — less so now — and I think it became detrimental to me.”
The actress has previously starred in Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream, The Duchess and the 2008 movie remake of Brideshead Revisited.
Kiss For VE Day: Tom Hardy, Hayley Atwell and Susanna Reid
She said production company Miramax asked her to lose weight for Brideshead, but her co-star Emma Thompson convinced her to say no. She explained: “I thought, ‘Ok, I suppose I should.’ Then Emma Thompson said to me, ‘You’re not a model. You’re an actor.’ In the end, they accepted me for who I was.
“If I’ve ever had an insecurity about myself in this industry, Emma always has an amazing ability to say something to put it all into perspective, so that you don’t hate yourself.”
The actress also spoke about being bullied at one school, where she was nicknamed “Hayley Fatwell”. But life improved when she moved to London Oratory School for A-levels — and discovered rugby. She said: “They called me Hulk Hayley back then. I used to wrestle the boys.”
Atwell, who grew up in Ladbroke Grove, said there were some things she missed now she lived in California. “I am an English pub girl,” she said. “I like my beer.”
Marvel's Agent Carter premieres on Fox on July 12, 9pm
