Author: helenistic

Categories Peaky Blinders Print Media

Why Peaky Blinders Matriarch Polly Gray Is the Most Interesting Part of the Show

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Peaky Blinders has one thing that most gangland stories don’t: A cast full of incredible women

By Lacy Baugher  |  October 7, 2019  |  Paste Magazine
On paper, Netflix’s Peaky Blinders is a story about violent men. It follows the exploits of a crime family in 1920s Birmingham, England, and revolves around street fights, drug deals, blackmail, betrayal, and murder. As a result, its lead characters are largely the types you’d expect: Tortured, emotionally compromised, ambitious men who want bigger lives than the ones they’ve been born to and will fight to attain them.

That doesn’t mean they’re bland or uninteresting figures, however—far from it, in fact. The Shelby men are fascinating, if not always sympathetic figures. But they are the sorts of characters we’ve seen on television before. (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire immediately comes to mind.) Lead Tommy Shelby is an iconic mess, but despite his emotional complexity, his character still strikes a lot of familiar chords.

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Categories Media Peaky Blinders Print Media

Helen McCrory talks epic build-up and necessary violence in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

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What’s in Store for Fans in Season 5?

by Molly Given | Metro US | October 1, 2019

Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory talks epic build-up and necessary violence in “Peaky Blinders” season 5.

In the epic gangster family series “Peaky Blinders” there is always a lot of action going on. Over the course of five seasons, some would say the explosions have gotten bigger, the fights bloodier and the characters more colorful than ever. With the series’ lifeline plot mounting on the success of the combative Shelby family, it’s easy to see why the addicting story line’s only option is to escalate. With the highly anticipated season 5 in the midst, many are wondering what could be in store for the band of polarizing individuals that make up the “Peaky Blinders.” Helen McCrory, who plays the fiercely sharp matron of the family, Polly Gray, sat down with Metro to give the scoop on season 5, talk the progression of the characters, and dive into why the violence in the show is completely warranted and even essential.

A lot has happened over the past five seasons. I’m curious to see what progressions you’ve personally seen with your character, Polly Gray?

Continue reading Helen McCrory talks epic build-up and necessary violence in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

Categories Charity Damian Lewis Theatre

Helen McCrory and Damian Lewis Enjoy Evening at the Theatre

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Cracked: Mental Illness and Addiction

by Gingersnap4Helen | helen-mccrory.com | September 29, 2019

Helen and Damian  were in attendance for One Voice: Cracked on Sunday, September 29, 2019 at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Despite an apparent injury with her arm in a sling, Helen performed on stage as Damian supported from the audience.

Comedian, writer, actor and presenter Russell Brand curated the evening described as a night of seven one-off solo performances written in response to the growing conversation and changing attitudes around mental health and addiction.

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Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

Peaky Blinders: Helen McCrory on playing Aunt Polly as brutal family saga returns

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Helen McCrory doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to Peaky Blinders

by Alan Shaw | August 29, 2019 | Sudnday Post

 August 29, 2019, 12:01 am
Natasha O'Keeffe and Helen McCrory in Peaky Blinders
Natasha O’Keeffe and Helen McCrory in Peaky Blinders

Helen McCrory doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to Peaky Blinders.

You’d think McCrory, who plays Aunt Polly, the matriarch of the Shelby family, would be used to the brutality of their on-screen crimes.

But, at a screening of an episode from the new fifth series, she had to look away at one point.

“I, as Helen, can’t watch it,” admits the 51-year-old Londoner.

“It’s disgustingly violent. And it should be. I think it’s much more disturbing that somebody slashes somebody’s face, or somebody shoots somebody, and it’s all just the end of it.

“It should be horrifying, and you should have the people who are responsible for the violence unable to self-medicate or having mental health problems, or all the things that do happen to people if you kill other people. It is not a natural state of affairs.”

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Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

The Custard TV: Our chat with Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory

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Aunt Polly is Back

Michael Lee | August 25, 2019 | The Custard TV

As we build up to Series 5 of Peaky Blinders at the end of the month, Our Michael Lee sits down with members of the cast to find out what we can expect.

It’s the day of the Peaky Blinders series 5 launch in London. Before the screening, we gather to chat with the cast. Helen McCrory bounds in after the designated meeting time “I’m so sorry I’m late! I was being interviewed“. She takes a look around her “He’s not here now so I can blame him!”

Where do we find Polly at the beginning of the series?

“It starts with the crash and they lose a lot of money very very quickly and she’s back on the streets- not literally! You see her enjoying all the luxuries and then you see her realising she doesn’t have any left.

Continue reading The Custard TV: Our chat with Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory