Tuppence Middleton: 'I had begun to build up a bit of a fear of theatre'

Tuppence Middleton won the Evening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer in 2010 for her role in short film Connect. Since then she has starred primarily on the big and small screen, taking roles in British sitcom Friday Night Dinner, film Jupiter Ascending, TV series Sirens and the 2016 hit TV drama War and Peace. She returns to the stage for the first time in almost a decade this month to star in Vicky Jones' searing black comedy The One, which originally starred Fleabag writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Gender politics and power talk were bubbling as subjects when The One first opened, but now they are at the forefront of our minds. So it feels like a very good time to be putting the play on. Some of the language must have felt more shocking before, but many of the questions are things we are talking about now. It's very relevant.

Vicky Jones is very brave to have a character like Jo, who I'm playing. There's no apology that her leading character is aggressive, or says quite hurtful things. Often there's some backstory about how a woman came to be like that. But the play says that women can be difficult and confrontational and they can be in a relationship which makes them behave in a destructive, manipulative way, but that doesn't necessarily reflect a personality – or women as a whole.

The One is essentially an exploration of a very toxic, dysfunctional relationship. It's set over one night where Jo and her boyfriend are waiting in their flat for Jo's sister to give birth. You watch two people push each other to their limits. But though there are a lot of things in the play that are very extreme, the characters are very relatable.

I had begun to build up a bit of a fear of the theatre because I hadn't done it for so long. It was eight or nine years and I was waiting for the right play and the right theatre. As monstrous as this character can be, I really related to and admired her strength. It also made me laugh from the beginning. Now I'm actually doing it, I've realised the fear was just in my head. The cast is great, the director is great and I feel in safe hands.

There's nothing so thrilling as live performance. I fell in love with acting through theatre when I was younger. I tried everything but theatre was one thing I kept doing and suddenly realised: 'Oh, I haven't given [drama] up'. When I came to choosing university options, I decided I would give acting a try. I couldn't believe when I got into drama school. While there, we trained mostly for theatre, so it was surprising to leave and go into mostly screenwork. Doing this play makes me remember why I wanted to do this as a career.