helenistic, Author at Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory is star guest at spellbinding concert

On May 16, 2019June 16, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

VIP Guest for Mental Health Awareness

NHS Foundation Trust Camden and Islington | May 16, 2019

Actor Helen McCrory, OBE, was the VIP speaker at a concert of NHS choirs from across London who came together for the very first time to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.

Camden and Islington NHS Trust’s own choir, which was set up three years ago and includes staff and service users, was the star turn at the event at UNISON’s HQ in Euston on Thursday 16 May.

The other choirs included youngsters from Camden Youth Choirs, The Whittington’s Sing for Your Lungs Choir, and the chart-topping Lewisham and Greenwich NHS singers.

Helen, whose many film, theatre and television roles include Narcissa Malfoy in the final two Harry Potter Films and Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders was recently awarded an OBE for her services to drama. She is Patron of the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation which is dedicated to helping give children a gateway to the arts, providing them with the inspiration and the tools to develop lifelong artistic passions.

Continue reading Helen McCrory is star guest at spellbinding concert

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Helen McCrory and Damian Lewis Attend Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards

On May 12, 2019April 27, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

BAFTA TV Awards

by Gingersnap4Helen | helen-mcccrory.com | May 12, 2019

Damian and Helen attended the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 12, 2019. Helen was a presenter at the evening’s event, honoring the best British and International viewing offered to UK television audiences.

The British Academy Television Awards, hosted by Hosted by Graham Norton, will be broadcast on the night of the ceremony on BBC1 from 8pm. The Bafta Television Awards will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. For a complete list of nominees and presenters, please visit BAFTA TV here.

Clara Amfo and Jordan North hosted the official red-carpet live programme. You can watch the red carpet arrivals here, but if you fast forward to 1:13:45 you might see someone familiar in your right-hand corner and a minute later, he moves to the middle of screen:

Continue reading Helen McCrory and Damian Lewis Attend Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards

Charles II aka The Last King: The Power and Passion of Charles II Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Peaky Blinders Print Media

Helen McCrory’s journey from playing a protective mother in ‘Harry Potter’ to gang matriarch in ‘Peaky Blinders’ has been phenomenal

On April 2, 2019April 13, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

The British actress has played a number of unconventional roles — each getting more ambitious than the previous one.

Barnana Sarkar | Apr 2, 2019 | meaww.com

Helen McCrory's journey from playing a protective mother in 'Harry Potter' to gang matriarch in 'Peaky Blinders' has been phenomenal

There are only a few actresses who have been able to portray a mother who commits heinous crimes while maintaining her image as the savior matriarch. Going by this record then, British actress Helen McCrory has time and again excelled in roles that proved a mother is not only committed towards the well-being of her children but can be selfish enough to disregard the affairs of the world solely for the benefit of motherhood. Her characters might not be diverse but the confined roles that she plays have been executed until the last morsel has been squeezed out of those characters.

At the moment, McCrory is best known for her role as the Shelby matriarch, Polly Grey, a gypsy woman who is able to talk to spirits but at the same time commits a murder in the cleanest possible way. Polly Grey is one of the leading women on BBC One’s ‘Peaky Blinders’ but unlike her fellow characters, Polly holds the upper hand when it comes to the Shelby family business. As the company’s treasurer, Polly decides where the money goes and what happens with it, and let’s keep in mind this is a woman who lives in the early 1910s, a time when due to World War I men were out in the battlefield and women for the first time were taking control over business.

Continue reading Helen McCrory’s journey from playing a protective mother in ‘Harry Potter’ to gang matriarch in ‘Peaky Blinders’ has been phenomenal

MotherFatherSon Print Media Reviews

Why I was wrong to doubt the mighty melodrama of MotherFatherSon

On March 27, 2019May 19, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

All about passion and tears

by Sarah Hughes | March 27, 2019 | The Guardian

When Helen McCrory launched into a monologue about a dead seal I nearly lost hope, but the family saga has won me over with its pure, jaw-dropping emotion

Warning: this piece contains spoilers for MotherFatherSon

Before MotherFatherSon began I thought I had some idea what to expect. It was written by Tom Rob Smith, creator of London Spy and The Assassination of Gianni Versace. It starred Richard Gere as a millionaire media mogul, Helen McCrory as his estranged wife and Billy Howle as their troubled, cocaine-addled son.

MotherFatherSon Print Media Reviews

MotherFatherSon: Richard Gere is subtly Machiavellian but Helen McCrory is positively regal

On March 6, 2019May 18, 2021 By helenistic No Comments

McCrory is simply excellent as Gere’s on-screen wife

by Guy Pewsey | March 6, 2019 | The Evening Standard

Standout star: Helen McCrory shines in the BBC’s new thriller / BBC Picture Archives / Steve Schofield

Quite the casting coup, to secure Richard Gere for the latest BBC drama.

The American actor has true Hollywood star status through roles in films including Pretty Woman, An American Gigolo and Primal Fear. Usually, we’re rooting for him, the silver fox with the undeniable charm. It’s refreshing, then, to find him tackling less familiar territory at the centre of a thriller where we may get a glimpse of what could be sharp fangs beneath his kilowatt smile.

Gere is Max, an American media mogul who owns newspapers and TV channels across the globe, including The National Reporter in the UK, where his son, Caden, is editor. When your primary asset is information, you hold remarkable influence, and with the UK on the verge of a general election, Max flies to London to weigh up his options. His decision comes down to more than putting a cross beside a name: the person he anoints, the one he blesses with positive coverage and exposure, could be the one to lead the country.