Elizabeth Stonem | |
---|---|
Skins character | |
Kaya Scodelario as Effy Stonem
|
|
First appearance | "Tony" (episode 1.01) |
Last appearance | Fire (episode 7.02) |
Created by | Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain |
Portrayed by | Kaya Scodelario |
Seasons | 1, 2, 3-4, 7 |
Centric episode(s) | "Effy" (episode 1.08) "Effy" (episode 2.07) "Effy" (episode 3.08) "Finale" (episode 3.10) "Effy" (episode 4.07) "Fire" (episode 7.01) "Fire" (episode 7.02) |
Information | |
Occupation |
Student |
Family | Jim Stonem (father) Anthea Stonem (mother) Tony Stonem (older brother) David Stonem (grandfather) |
Significant other(s) |
Freddie McClair (boyfriend/future husband ) James Cook (ex-boyfriend) |
Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem is a fictional character in the television series Skins, played by Kaya Scodelario. She appears in all of the first four series, as well as the seventh series. Kaya Scodelario was included in Entertainment Weekly's 2009 "Summer Must List", being named "Bad Girl" for her portrayal of Effy. She was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters.
Effy is Tony Stonem's runaway sister and one of a few people he truly cares about. Effy usually goes to social events with her own group of friends therefore leaving Tony uninvolved in most of her social life, although he helped her on more than one occasion to deceive their parents of her unknown whereabouts. The official website characterizes her by placing the primary cast as "sugar and spice and all things nice" compared to "Tony's little sister and her shadowy ways." Up until the first season's eighth episode ""Effy"," she does not speak at all, instead sitting silently in the background of the scenes in which she appears, usually sporting a cold stare or a wry smile (a trademark of hers). In her first speaking appearance, she describes how she feels towards others, in which she laments:
Tony sarcastically comments that she is participating in a sponsored silence, and when asked by Michelle why she never speaks, she simply doesn't answer. On her blog she reveals that her parents had her see a counselor for withholding speech, however the incident proves ineffective. Following Tony's life-threatening accident in the finale of the first series, Effy begins speaking again. After expressing her feelings of misanthropy to Tony, however, her brother snidely remarks to her that she "doesn't fool [him]", suggesting that she is more vulnerable than her guarded and apparent aloofness may lead others to believe. She also proves to be perceptive and sly, as she almost single-handedly mends both Tony and Michelle, and Sid and Cassie's romantic relationships, a task which seemed essentially hopeless.
In the third series, for which Effy became a central character, she developed into something of a femme fatale, and the rebel of Roundview College. Despite Effy's usual composure, she soon becomes "off the rails" after her parents' split, and the love triangle created by herself between classmates Freddie McClair and James Cook, once close friends before their rivalry over Effy pushed them apart. Of the two, she loves Freddie more, but is afraid of dealing with real love, so she instead goes after Cook. Her mother, Anthea Stonem, justifies Effy's behavior to JJ Jones by saying, of Effy, that "showing her cards, scares her to death". Effy's state is also exacerbated by Tony's absence, as he had proved to be a stabilizing force in her life, as also shown in a blog by Effy posted on the official Skins website. In her eponymous episode in season three, Effy is depicted at her most fragile state: she appears completely withdrawn from the world, participates in mindless sex with Cook and takes uncharacteristically little care in her appearance, appearing tired and fatigued. These factors hint at the development of Effy's depression, which will descend into full-blown psychosis in the next series.