THE PEAKY BLINDERS NEWCOMER

Was acting always the plan?

No, I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Co Monaghan and my parents ran a mushroom farm, then a pub. I didn’t think acting was something you could do.

You starred in Ghosts in the West End with Lesley Manville and became her lodger. How was that?

I call her my ‘London Mamma’. We lived together for a year and a half. We’re both Monica from Friends – neat and superparticular. We’d drink martinis and organise drawers.

You met your husband filming

Ripper Street. What was your lockdown wedding like?

We had four guests and friends watched on Zoom, including one who forgot to mute himself so every time he made a noise, the camera switched to him. But it was still romantic and special.

What was it like filming

Peaky Blinders without

Helen McCrory?

I admired her for so long. The last thing she said to me was, ‘I can’t wait to see what you do next.’ I had that in my head all through filming: ‘Don’t let Helen down.’

Charlene McKenna, 37, who starred in BBC drama Ripper Street, will soon appear in Peaky Blinders as IRA boss Captain Swing and ITV’s adaptation of Graham Norton’s novel Holding