The actress behind a shocking new movie about a woman
who was drugged and sex trafficked in London has revealed
the horrifying real-life experience behind her performance.
Frida Farrell stars in new film Selling Isobel, based on what
happened to her 14 years ago when she was approached by a
photographer on London's famous Oxford Street.
Then 22, Frida was living in London and looking for work as
an actress when she was stopped by a man in his early 50s.
The well-dressed and softly-spoken man, known only as Peter,
invited her to his flat on Harley Street the next day to take
some photos
Frida was delighted when he said the client loved her and was
offering £7,000 for half a day's work.
But when Frida went along the next day, she was held at
knife-point and drugged before passing out in the flat.
“I would love to say there were loads of things going through
my head but there wasn’t," she told the Telegraph
"There was panic, like, ‘How am I going to survive this? What
do I need to get through this?'"
Frida asked to use the toilet – but was told to leave her phone
and bag with Peter.
There was a small window in the bathroom but Frida was on
the fifth floor and couldn't escape.
She was then told to put on used underwear and drink some
milk which she believes was drugged.
"I thought, ‘What’s worse, the glass of milk or the knife?’ she
said.
"So I drank the glass of milk."
She was then ordered to perform a sex act on him before
passing out and finding herself in a different flat, with her
underwear scattered next to her.
Bars covered the windows, there was no seat on the toilet,
and all that was left in the stripped flat was a wooden-framed
bed.
Frida was given food and drink before passing out again.
Over the next three days, Frida, originally from Sweden, was
raped by up to five men while being reportedly drugged before,
one day, Peter forgot to lock the door.
"I became instantly sober from whatever drugs I had in my
body and I slowly opened the door," she said.
She grabbed her clothes and ran as fast as she could to her
friend's house.
It took Frida four days to tell the police and she couldn't bring
herself to explain what she had been through to her then-
boyfriend, and their relationship ended abruptly.
Now 36, Frida still doesn't know if Peter was ever caught.
"I was silent about it for so many years," she said.
"But then my husband convinced me that I should not only
write it down, but write a film to help other women ."
The result is Selling Isobel, directed by Rudolf Beitendach,
which recently won the Indie Award at Raindance Film
Festival, Britain’s biggest independent film festival.
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