Essex-born Juliet Stevenson is one of the UK’s most well-established actresses. Known for films such as Truly, Madly, Deeply and Bend It Like Beckham, she studied at stage school Rada and swiftly found success performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has appeared on stage with lead performances in Burn This and Death and the Maiden, for which she was awarded an Olivier Award for Best Actress. Stevenson currently plays therapist Dr Helena Goldberg in Professor T on ITV. She is a human rights campaigner and ambassador for charities such as Amnesty International UK. Stevenson, 69, is married with two children and lives in London.
I met my husband, Hugh, at a dinner party at 36. I arrived very late and felt excruciatingly embarrassed, but when I was introduced to him, I just looked at him and felt something. I have no words for it. It was just like, “Oh, there you are. Fantastic.” He was sat opposite me and we talked all evening. He’s an anthropologist and had just returned from India and told stories of how he walked to tribal villages in India. I had never met someone as interesting. He was the most beautiful human being I’d ever laid eyes on.
We married in lockdown after 29 years together. I’d grown up in that wave of the women’s movement which was questioning convention. I mean, what the hell are women doing taking their husband’s surnames? What is that about? It’s about something so ancient… such a patriarchal sort of bloodline craziness. None of that made any sense to me and it still doesn’t. But we decided to get married for tax reasons – to not leave the kids with huge tax debts and all that stupidity. But my feelings about marriage changed significantly when same sex marriage was legalised. It was a progressive move and liberated this institution from its historical origins. But I also wanted to marry because he’s the love of my life. I love him as passionately now as I ever did.
