TV cop Brenda just loves being herself
VERA star Brenda Blethyn says being a screen scruff is right up her street.
But she was just a little insulted when telly bosses thought she’d be perfect as the detective who looks like she’s never seen a mirror.
“When they first asked me I hadn’t read the books by Ann Cleeves,” Brenda told The Sunday Post.
“So I thought I’d better rush out and get one. It was The Crow Trap where Vera is introduced.
“It wasn’t until halfway through where it said this shambling, big, fat, ugly woman comes in.
“I thought, ‘Hold up! Why me?’
“But I read on and I loved the character.
“She’s so low maintenance, it’s great. There’s no need for hours in make-up.
“Sometimes she doesn’t even go to bed. She just carries on working until the case is solved, then she has a shower and she’s off to work again.”
There’s no doubting Brenda’s affection for the TV sleuth and she’s delighted to be working with David Leon, who plays sidekick DS Joe Ashworth, and the rest of the cast and crew again.
“I really enjoy playing her,” she admits.
“The show just concentrates on the story being told. There’s nothing precious about her and no romance to get in the way.
“The team has been together since t he start and we all get on so well.
“And David is a total joy. He’s a real gentleman and an award-winning director as well as a brilliant actor.”
This is the third series of the ITV detective show and it has gone down so well that a fourth is currently filming.
It’s being shot in Northumberland and the pretty coastal town Alnmouth is just one of the places being used, with Brenda donning Vera’s long brown trenchcoat regardless of weather.
“We had freezing weather and torrential rain on the third series as we have always shot through winter, so summer is a welcome change,” says Brenda.
“Northumberland is so beautiful, it’s very much a character in the piece.”
Brenda started filming days after returning from New Mexico, where she was making a film with Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel.
Called Enemy Way, it’ll be out next year.
Having been to Africa for the BBC’s Martha And Mary with Hilary Swank and to Uganda for Comic Relief, she’s looking forward to some time at home in Kent.
“I’ve just become president of the Thanet Male Voice Choir and it’s a pleasure to get along and hear them sing,” adds Brenda.