The British actress rose to fame as a child star in Notes on a Scandal, St Trinian’s and Atonement, but thinks that, at 27, she’s now too old to play a teenager and too young to play a woman in her 30s.
“There are lots of parts for people who are younger than that in that period and then there are lots of parts for people who are a bit older than that, in their 30s,” she told the Standard.
“I’m sort of in between. I’m not sure I can really play an 18-year-old anymore, maybe on a good day but honestly, I’m so not 18. So that’s been kind of frustrating this year.”
Temple said that it’s important to tells stories about women in their 20s as “that’s when you’re figuring out who you are there’s so much to write about that.”
“It changes, some years there are brilliant roles and some years there just aren’t,” she said.
Despite being in a difficult age bracket, Temple’s career is going from strength-to-strength after relocating from London to Los Angeles.
She stars opposite Timothy Spall in David Blair’s new Blackpool-set drama Away and has just shot her scenes for Woody Allen’s Wonder wheel.
Temple is used to being in the spotlight, being the daughter of rock documentary filmmaker Julien Temple and starring in her first film, Vigo: Passion for Life, aged just eight.
After nearly two decades in the industry, she said she has grown a thicker skin, but still “cries like a baby” when she misses out on a part.
“I don’t think that will go away, and if it does then I should quit doing this because I think it shows I still really care, which is important,” she said.
“It’s more now trying not to take it personally and just allowing yourself to cry about the fact that you’re not going to be able to step into the skin of that character.”
Temple credits her down-to-earth nature with being “real” and accepting that “nobody’s perfect.”
“It’s really important to be you and be real and hang out with people that you love,” she said.
“You can’t be perfect and that’s so not a message that I’d want to send to any young girl who wants to be an actress anyway.”
Away is in cinemas and available on DVD now.