Former Hollyoaks star Rachel Shenton went onto win an Oscar: this is what she did next
It's been a life-changing year for former Hollyoaks star Rachel Shenton. In 2018, the actor and writer won an Academy Award for her powerful short live film The Silent Child, helping to generate awareness and an understanding of deafness - a disability that's seldom seen in TV and film.
The Silent Child, directed by Shenton's now-husband, Chris Overton, follows a six-year-old girl named Libby - played by Maisie Sly - who is deaf and living in a world of silence until a social worker teaches her to use sign language to communicate.
Shenton's experience of the disability arrived aged 12 when her father became deaf after undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Following her father's death, she learned British sign language, and since being named ambassador for the National Deaf Children's Society, continues to raise awareness for deafness in the UK.
Describing Channel 4's Chester-based soap Hollyoaks as "an awesome training ground", Shenton played aspiring glamour model Mitzeee for two years until 2012, before making her debut on US television in ABC's romantic drama Switched at Birth in 2014.
The series was the first mainstream television series to have multiple deaf and hard-of-hearing series regulars, and scenes shot entirely in American Sign Language.
Following her whirlwind win with Overton, Shenton is currently writing a feature film, optioning a female-led TV drama, and starring as inimitable saleswoman Jo Scott in BBC Two comedy series White Gold.
Recalling their Oscar-win, and what happened the moment after she accepted the iconic golden statute, Shenton told Harper's Bazaar UK: "Everything goes in slow motion... You get the statue and then I remember walking backstage to do press, and I remembered Kobe Bryant high-fiving us and saying 'well done', and thinking 'this is a bonkers moment.'"
"And then it goes kind of crazy for the next 24 hours - people wanting to talk to you, and learn how you did it, I still don't know - we're still not sure! It's a bit of a whirlwind. Chris and I are really boring, we went to the Vanity Fair party because that's where the press do the interviews, and we wanted to speak to the British outlets and channels who been supportive of our film from the start.
"And then we went in and grabbed a burger and then left. We went back to the apartment where our mums were and the crew was because they helped make us the film so we just wanted to be with them really and we are quite boring and don't like to party much."
Shenton also revealed that she and Overton are now lifelong memberships of the Academy, which enabled them to vote for this year's nominees. The star was also pointed out that while winning an Oscar helps start the right conversations in the industry, it doesn't make any subsequent project a guaranteed done deal.
"We got to vote this year, and it's weird to think of someone voting for our film last year," Shenton continued.
"It does start conversations and helps to initially get into certain conversations, yes that's easier, but ultimately you've still got to absolutely work hard - that's what it's always about. So, it's not like a golden ticket but it certainly helps."
On her role in White Gold - in which she plays a rival to Ed Westwick's shady Vincent Swan who demands equality in a male-dominated workforce corrupted by causal sexism, Shenton said: "I love the fact that she seems totally unfazed that it's 1985, and she's the only woman in a male dominated world, and that's loads of fun.
"I don't think Jo sees herself as anything less than any of the men. I think she's giving Vincent a run for his money and I've never seen that before. He always gets away with it, he gets away with everything, and he always lands on his feet but she's out with an intention.. She wants to be equal particularly with Vincent, she wants to be equal in every capacity.
She continued: "The '80s is a great decade to set a series, because there was so much of that casual sexism that we think is shocking now. It makes for a really interesting series."
Production on the second series of the show was paused in November 2017 following allegations of sexual assault made against Westwick, which Westwick vehemently denied. The cases were dismissed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney in July 2018, and no charges were brought against him.
"We had got a good chunk done [before production was halted] and we took a break which was needed, and then we all go back and we felt as energised and passionate as we had before," Shenton said on the unique situation.
"It was great coming back - that was testament to the material and also to the team and I think the director really sets the tone on the show, and I couldn't have worked with a better director, and everyone was super excited to make season two as good as it could be and we were all really passionate about it."
Having previously lived and worked in LA, Shenton added that she loves the weather and sense of humour in Britain too much to make a permanent move to Hollywood.
"We're [Overton] quite boring and we're quite normal," she commented. "We're both from the midlands, we're both from working class backgrounds. I loved my time in LA when we're out there - [but] I love Britain, I love our comedy, and I even quite like the weather!"
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old star couldn't disclose too much information about her forthcoming feature film which she is writing, although she confirmed that it's not a follow up to The Silent Child, but will deal with the issue of deafness.
"Disability needs to be included in the conversation we're having about about diversity, and we all have a responsibility, and as a creator, I have a responsibility to have the world reflected in what I write and make it accurate," Shenton ruminated.
"I do still feel like there's a long way to go and I do still feel that disabilities and people with disability are underrepresented and/or it's not done in the right way, and sometimes I feel like its done as tokenism.
"It's so important that the conversation about diversity is as loud as ever and it's so important to remember that disability is diversity. Disabled people are still hugely underrepresented in TV and film, which are supposed to mimic real life, so let's make it real life!"
Watch Rachel Shenton in White Gold on BBC iPlayer now.
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