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Emily Atack has spoken out after her nude scenes in the Disney+ hit Rivals were shared and misrepresented online.

The 34-year-old actor, who became known as Charlotte Hinchcliffe The middlemen, stars in the new Jilly Cooper adaptation as Sarah Stratton, an aspiring TV star.

In one scene, Alex Hassell’s Sarah van Atack and Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black play nude tennis on the lawn of an estate.

While the scene was carefully shot, with two tennis balls cleverly positioned to hide Atack’s merkin (a fake hairpiece), online trolls have taken screenshots and presented the footage as if it were nude leaked footage unrelated to Rivals or an acting role.

Speak with The times in a new interview, Atack said: “I knew something like this would happen, just not so quickly. I’m working, I’m playing a role, that scene is an integral part of the book. I’m exactly where I need to be. I have no control over people’s sexually aggressive behavior, but I can continue my campaign and fight for women’s freedom.”

Atack is campaigning against misogynistic abuse after years of dealing with it on social media. She was critically acclaimed for her 2023 documentary Emily Atack: Are you asking for it?in which she discussed her own experiences with sexual harassment and wanted to learn how something “so grotesque, aggressive, vicious and violent” evolved.

In her new interview about Rivalsshe continued, “I should be able to do a scene like this and not get any negative attention. These two should not go hand in hand. A woman recently said to me on Instagram, “Pick a job. You can’t play such a spicy role and take off your clothes and expect not to receive any messages. Why would you take on that role?’

“And I wanted to say to her, ‘Are you saying I should actually quit my job?’ Why should I? Women have to change clothes; we have to change our routes home. I’m a professional. I will never be able to please everyone.”

Later in the interview, she admitted that she identifies with her Rivals character, Sara.

“I’m not afraid to say that anymore,” she said. “She is incredibly misunderstood. I feel like she was one of the girls who hung out with the boys because she felt welcome there and learned a way to use her sexuality as a coping mechanism. And that’s how it was for me.

“My heart races a little when I admit that, because sometimes I find it quite shocking to hear a woman say that. But I identify with it. I get her.

“At the end of the day you support her – not her bad behavior, but you come to understand that she uses her sexuality to get the things she needs and the security she needs. It’s so much more complicated than just slut-shaming.”