Brenda Blethyn: ‘My youthful glow secret? I laugh a lot!’
Brenda Blethyn tells us why she loves her TV sleuth character so much, despite being a far cry from her
She’s synonymous become with her character DCI Vera Stanhope since the ITV show Vera started in 2011. But, while her alter ego may be plain and dowdy, Brenda Blethyn is quite the opposite.
As we sit to chat to the 72-year-old actress, she’s using her mobile phone’s
camera as a mirror to fix
her lipstick. ‘This is the first time I’ve ever done this! I thought I’d invented it!’ she says chirpily in her familiar Yorkshire accent.
It’s not just Brenda’s accent
that’s different from Vera’s Geordie brogue. ‘I’m not vain, but I do like to look neat and tidy,’ she says. ‘I like to be “nicely turned out”, as my mum would say.’
But there are similarities between Brenda and her character. ‘I like solving things. I’m a puzzler,’ she says. ‘I’m fair and just. I would always do the right thing. I’m pretty independent, but I think that’s
where the similarity ends.
‘I do like her, though. I wouldn’t mind an evening out with Vera – she’d probably drink me under
the table! I’d love to go for a night out with Vera, DC Kenny Lockhart and PC George Wooten.’
While Brenda has been married to film director Michael Mayhew since 2010 – after a 35-year engagement – Vera has
never had a romance. But Brenda doesn’t think she needs one, despite fans of the show being desperate for it to happen.
‘A lot of people want her to have a love interest because they’ve warmed to her now,’
she tells us. ‘They want her
to have what they consider happiness to be, but she doesn’t need a fella in her life
to be content. But I do get why people want that for her, because they like her. ‘Loneliness is different to being a loner. She’s content in her own company.’
Although Brenda loves a bit of lippy, she puts her youthful glow down to something much more natural. ‘My secret?’ she asks. ‘Grapes, drink a lot of water and laugh a lot. Laughter is vital, even if it’s at yourself. I’ve also been blessed with good skin.’ When it comes to being
able to laugh at herself,
Brenda reminisces fondly
about how her mother
Louisa Kathleen was very
good at helping with that.
‘I went to meet my
mum once and, on the
way there, I met a group of students who’d seen me in a play. This was before
mobile phones. They asked for autographs and photos, playing with the lens and everything. I said to Mum, “Sorry I’m late, Mum. A group of kids wanted my autograph,” and she said, “Who did they think you were?”
It’s a leveller, and it’s important to be able to laugh at that.’
Brenda has become wellknown for playing struggling, workingclass women, most notably in
for which she
Secrets received & multiple Lies, accolades, including Oscar nomination a BAFTA for and Best an Actress. She confesses she often gets asked how she feels when she sees herself looking ‘I don’t so see awful me, on-screen. I see her,’ she awful explains. circumstances ‘I think of that the woman all right, finds I’m a herself successful in. I’m actress, I’ve got a nice house
to go home to, she hasn’t.
She’s got to work 10 jobs
to put a meal on the table. ‘When I was making
Secrets & Lies, I had to drive through an area of London full of people like that
character, people who have
to really work hard against
the odds just to get through
the week, and sometimes
I wouldn’t know whether to
be happy or sad, because I’m in my Mercedes.’
And what does Brenda have left on her bucket list?
‘A costume drama would be nice,’ she says. ‘But I’ve never had any ambition. I’m devoid of it, so then you up to don’t disappointment.’ open yourself
screens Vera returns on ITV in to January our
‘I’ve never had any ambition. I’m devoid of it…’