Downton star Tuppence Middleton has revealed her OCD gripped her so fiercely that she had irrational fears about kissing scenes with co-stars.
While portraying Elizabeth Taylor alongside Johnny Flynn’s Richard Burton on stage, Ms. Middleton was fearful that her coworker’s children could infect their father with norovirus, leading to her contracting it during their close interactions.
In her memoir, titled Scorpions, Ms. Middleton shares her struggles with OCD, revealing that she has a ritual of opening and closing doors eight times before leaving.
She also shared how OCD is a ‘constant background noise’ in her life which has affected her career significantly.
In fact, it led to her not wanting to do kissing scenes.
During an interview with Bryony Gordon on her Life of Bryony podcast, set to be released on Monday, the 38-year-old actress recounted the challenges of rehearsing in close proximity to Johnny Flynn, involving frequent physical contact and kissing.
Downton star Tuppence Middleton has revealed her OCD gripped her so fiercely that she had irrational fears about kissing scenes with co-stars (pictured in the Motive and the Cue 2023)
While playing Elizabeth Taylor, she was scared her colleague’s children would give norovirus to their father, who would then give it to her (pictured November 2023)
‘And one of my big worries at that time was, well, I told him, and he was very open with me about it.
‘I said, ‘I’m worried that maybe your kids are going to get norovirus, and then you’re going to be up all night taking care of them.’
‘And then you’ll have it before I even know that you have it, while it’s incubating in your system.
‘And then, when we’re rehearsing, you’re going to pass it to me, and a few days later, you’ll get symptoms-and I’ll already know that I have it.’ You know, this kind of spiral of madness.’
‘If you use tongues, there’s more chance for infection… that’s a high-risk area for someone with OCD,’ she added.
The pair starred together in Sam Mendes’ National Theatre production of The Motive and the Cue in 2023.
Ms Middleton, who welcomed her first child in 2022 with Swedish film director Måns Mårlind, revealed that the condition can become so overwhelming that she has had to ask her partner to check whether she has shut the stair gate for their child-despite knowing she has already done it.
She said: ‘The thing with OCD is that you can get to a point in your life where I’m sure there are people out there who have been completely cured of it but I feel like it’s something that I just live with at varying degrees at certain points.
Ms Middleton’s memoir, Scorpions, (pictured) describes how she has been so struck down by OCD that she opens and closes the door eight times before she goes out
Speaking to the Mail’s Bryony Gordon on her Life of Bryony podcast which is on Monday, the 38-year-old star said: ‘I had to be in rehearsals very close to Johnny Flynn and you have to be touching them all the time, and you have to kiss (pictured left with Laura Carmichael in Downton Abbey)
‘The problem is that there’s always something new, always a new environment..
‘Every job I take on comes with a new set of people, a new setting, and new routines I have to establish, which, for me, means new checking behaviours.
‘Then, having a child became a new thing to fixate on. Is she getting ill? Is the stair gate shut?
‘I’ll stare at it for so long that I eventually have to ask my partner to check because my brain just won’t trust what my own eyes are seeing, even though I know I’ve shut it, I convince myself that I haven’t, and the fear spirals from there.’
