Joanna Page says she faced predatory behavior in her twenties from directors and colleagues
The Gavin and Stacey star recounts early-career harassment and how she stood up to it, while reflecting on Love Actually and her rise to stardom.
Joanna Page says she was targeted by predatory directors and colleagues in her twenties, facing unwanted sexual attention and harassment as she built her early career. The Welsh actress spent a decade on stage with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company before landing a part in Love Actually at age 23. The 2003 Christmas movie, directed by Richard Curtis, features her as Judy, a shy body double who performs sex scenes with Martin Freeman’s character John.
Page told OK! Magazine that she never felt exploited during those scenes, crediting the film’s preparation. 'It was a lovely experience. There was so much preparation with Richard and Martin beforehand.'
She added that, as a pretty young actress in her 20s, she would often have to call out directors and colleagues who harassed her. 'I would call them out, being forthright has probably got me out of some scrapes because there were no intimacy co-ordinators when I came out of drama school. You read the sex scene and just had to get on with it.'
Born in Swansea, Page trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1998. After a decade on the stage in costume dramas, she appeared in film projects including From Hell, Mine All Mine, Love Actually and Miss Julie. Her breakout came with Gavin and Stacey, the BBC comedy in which she played Stacey Shipman, appearing in all three series from 2007 to 2010 and returning for a Christmas special in 2019. In May 2024, it was announced that the final episode of the show, set to air on Christmas Day, had been written.
Beyond Gavin and Stacey, Page led roles in BBC drama The Cazalets, and provided voice-overs for Kingsmill bread TV and radio ads, as well as a Christmas campaign for Carphone Warehouse. In 2010 she hosted the documentary My Pet Shame and became the face of Superdrug. Her acting credits through the 2010s included The Syndicate (2011–12), Gates and Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger, with a cameo in Doctor Who’s 50th-anniversary special. Seven years later, she shifted toward presenting on BBC One’s Shop Well For Less, co-hosted The Pet Show on ITV with Dermot O’Leary, and became a regular panellist on Loose Women in 2023, while filming the BBC feature Men Up, which follows five ordinary Welshmen through a major medical trial connected to Viagra and its broader implications.