COVER Yours chats to Vera star Brenda Blethyn
In an exclusive chat, Vera star Brenda Blethyn chats to Yours about interesting plans for 2019
She’s a hoot is Brenda Blethyn. There’s no other word for it. Sitting and chatting with her over tea and cake is like having a chinwag with a much-loved, extremely funny friend. We’re talking about her plans for 2019 and she’s saying she’d love to get fit again.
“I used to run marathons, you know,” she says. “I completed three London marathons, although the last one was 14 years ago. I’d like to do another but a half marathon is probably more realistic. I tried to do a Pilates class the other day – I could barely walk afterwards! I don’t know, maybe I should do a fitness video… That’s a good ambition. It would have to be realistic, though.”
Brenda breaks off suddenly and a faraway look comes into her eyes. She laughs, gets to her feet and starts jogging on the spot.
“So, there I’d be, doing this for a bit, warming up. But then I’d be like, ‘Ooh I need a bit of a sit down now’. It would be what women like me are really like when they try to work out. Never mind ‘Feel the burn’, it would be more like, ‘When can I have a rest?’ Yeah… that’s what I should do over the next few months – make a fitness video. A funny one. Do you think it would sell?”
Absolutely – and we’d love to be in it. Limbering (or should that be lumbering?) up in a leotard behind her!
“You’re on!” she laughs. “Ooh, I can’t stop thinking about it now. I think I’ll talk to my agent. After I’ve finished talking to you, of course.”
It’s New Year and that means another series of Vera – as it’s done for the past few years. Having seen a preview of the second episode of this new series, it is as gripping as ever. Topical, too, as it features a storyline about ‘county lines’ – the worrying phenomenon of gangs and organised crime networks exploiting young people and children to sell drugs.
‘I used to run marathons. I completed three London ones, althought the last one was 14 years ago!’
“It is scary,” says Brenda, serious now. “It really is a very serious issue and what happens in the drama shows the mess youngsters risk getting themselves into if they get drawn in. How do you get out of it once you’re involved? It moves in on your entire life and is like slavery. You’re trapped.”
Filming the four 90-minute, standalone episodes is, in effect, like making four feature films. The shoot takes almost six months in total.
“It is tiring,” Brenda admits. “We do 12-hour days on set and then there’s all the preparation that comes with it. At the end of filming, it’s like I’m stuffed full of Vera. I still am when I get home. My husband Michael says my body