Wiltshire


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="Actress Maisie Smith " class="wp-image-41311" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>We’ve seen her dazzle on the Strictly dance floor and enjoy a whopping 13-year run in EastEnders, but now Maisie Smith has turned her talents to the theatre. She&#8217;s currently touring in the stage adaptation of <strong><em><a href="https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/events/the-talented-mr-ripley" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Talented Mr Ripley</a></em></strong>, in which she plays sharp-witted Marge Sherwood alongside Ed McVey [The Crown] and Bruce Herbelin-Earle [Free Rein]. </p>



<p>On 26th April, the slick psychological drama arrives at Salisbury Playhouse as part of its sell-out national tour, ahead of a West End run. Muddy caught up with Maisie to chat about being a &#8216;little madam,&#8217; putting pressure on herself and the one thing she can&#8217;t travel without. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley" class="wp-image-41309" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Maisie Smith as Marge, with Bruce Herbelin-Earle [Dickie Greenleaf]. <br>Image: Mark Senior</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-hooked-you-in-about-the-play"><strong>What hooked you in about the play?</strong></h2>



<p>The story is timeless. It&#8217;s been told a few times but our adaptation is very different and very new, so it was just irresistible to me. Plus this is the first time that it&#8217;s been done on stage.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-would-you-describe-marge"><strong>How would you describe Marge?</strong></h2>



<p>She&#8217;s so much fun to play because she&#8217;s very smart, intelligent and intuitive. And she&#8217;s an asset to the story, since she&#8217;s one of the only characters in the show that doesn&#8217;t completely fall for Tom&#8217;s facade. She&#8217;s different to any character I&#8217;ve played before and she&#8217;s a very progressive woman for the 1950s. She&#8217;s a writer and a photographer, and she has her own house in Italy. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-you-relate-to-her-in-any-way"><strong>Can you relate to her in any way?</strong></h2>



<p>No and that&#8217;s what I find so exciting about playing her, because she&#8217;s nothing like me. She&#8217;s very smart and very good with her words. She&#8217;s very upper class, posh, wealthy and smart. [Laughs] She&#8217;s everything that I&#8217;m not.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-re-an-aspiring-writer-and-painter-like-marge-how-s-that-coming-along"><strong>You’re an aspiring writer and painter, like Marge. How&#8217;s that coming along?</strong></h2>



<p>[Laughs] Oh gosh, I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever finished anything yet, but when I&#8217;ve got a little bit of free time I always try and do something creative. My brain doesn&#8217;t ever quite shut off, I can&#8217;t relax. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-Marge-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley" class="wp-image-41310" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-Marge-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-Marge-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-Marge-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/Maisie-Smith-Marge-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Maisie Smith stars in The Talented Mr Ripley<br>Image: Mark Senior</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-act-dance-sing-write-paint-what-are-you-rubbish-at"><strong>You act, dance, sing, write, paint&#8230; What are you rubbish at?</strong></h2>



<p>Sport. What&#8217;s annoying is that I&#8217;m really competitive, but I&#8217;m also bad at sport. It&#8217;s an awful way to be, because I want to win but I never do. When I do bowling, darts or anything physical I&#8217;ve got no coordination, especially if there&#8217;s a ball involved.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-you-landed-the-role-of-tiffany-on-eastenders-your-mum-said-the-character-was-a-little-madam-just-like-the-young-you"><strong>When you landed the role of Tiffany on <em>EastEnders </em>your mum said the character was a little madam, just like the young you&#8230; </strong></h2>



<p>That sounds about right. I think I may have got the part of Tiffany based off of me, because apparently I walked into the room and just chucked the script to the side and said, &#8216;I don&#8217;t need it.&#8217; That&#8217;s when they were like, &#8216;OK, I think we&#8217;ve found Tiff!&#8217;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-your-memories-of-eastenders"><strong>What are your memories of <em>EastEnders</em>?</strong></h2>



<p>I had such a fun time. It was hard work, we did 10 scenes a day most days, whereas in most other jobs you wouldn&#8217;t ever do that many. I didn&#8217;t go to drama school so it was challenging, but I felt like I learned so much from being around such talented people.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley" class="wp-image-41313" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ed McVey [R] with Bruce Herbelin-Earle [L]. Image: Mark Senior</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-your-takeaway-from-doing-strictly-come-dancing-in-2020"><strong>What was your takeaway from doing <em>Strictly Come Dancing </em>in 2020?</strong></h2>



<p>I can&#8217;t believe I even got paid for it! I got to stretch myself more than I even knew I could, and that lead to me being in the <em>Strictly Ballroom </em>musical &#8211; which Craig Revel Horwood directed.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-you-kept-up-the-dancing-since-strictly"><strong>Have you kept up the dancing since Strictly?</strong></h2>



<p>I try to. I go out a lot when I can, because I just love dancing. What would get me on the dance floor? Anything. Even elevator music. I can find a dance that will match it.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-about-at-gigs"><strong>What about at gigs?</strong></h2>



<p>Luckily, I went to watch my boyfriend [Max George from The Wanted] in his band. They were doing a tour of America and I had a bit of time off, so I flew out to New York and got to watch him on stage. That was a pretty fun gig and yes, I spent the whole time dancing.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-you-pick-a-few-career-highlights"><strong>Can you pick a few career highlights?</strong></h2>



<p><em>Strictly Come Dancing </em>was a big highlight, because I&#8217;d only ever done acting before and it was my first time being Maisie Smith on anything. I&#8217;d only ever done acting before, so that was really fun. And with <em>Strictly </em>it&#8217;s a once-in-a-lifetime experience learning so many different styles of dance from world champions. So that was definitely a career highlight, as was doing my first musical with <em>Strictly Ballroom </em>and now doing <em>The Talented Mr Ripley</em>, which is my first play.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-Ed-McVey-1-1000x667.jpg" alt="Maisie-Smith-in-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley" class="wp-image-41312" style="aspect-ratio:1.4992503748125936;width:640px;height:auto" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-Ed-McVey-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-Ed-McVey-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-Ed-McVey-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2026/04/The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-Ed-McVey-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ed McVey [R] with Bruce Herbelin-Earle [L] in The Talented Mr Ripley. Image: Mark Senior</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-lessons-have-you-learned-in-the-biz"><strong>What lessons have you learned in the biz?</strong></h2>



<p>I&#8217;ve learned what I am capable of and I&#8217;ve learned how much pressure to put on myself. The last few years have made me realise that I used to put way too much pressure on myself, but I&#8217;m now learning to find the joy in everything rather than focusing on the things I got wrong or the things I wasn&#8217;t happy about.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-can-t-you-be-on-tour-without"><strong>What can&#8217;t you be on tour without?</strong></h2>



<p>An extension lead. I&#8217;ve got so many devices, like my laptop and my iPad. Otherwise, I try to pack light because I don&#8217;t want to be lugging things about. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-you-had-any-memorable-stage-door-interactions"><strong>Have you had any memorable stage door interactions?</strong></h2>



<p>It&#8217;s funny when people give me a photo of someone else to sign, like when someone handed me a picture of my sister on <em>EastEnders </em>(Shona McGarty). I signed it anyway! Afterwards I was thinking to myself, &#8216;So I basically just committed fraud.&#8217;</p>



<p><strong><em><a href="https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/events/the-talented-mr-ripley" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Talented Mr Ripley</a></em> is at Salisbury Playhouse, Mon 27 Apr – Sat 2 May.</strong></p>


Maisie Smith chats pressure, her competitive streak and starring in The Talented Mr Ripley

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