Helen McCrory
Actress, Mum and Philanthropist

Author: helenistic

Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

Helen McCrory Talks Peaky Blinders Season Four

Posted On Written By helenistic No Comments on Helen McCrory Talks Peaky Blinders Season Four

Escaping The Gallows

December 11, 2017 | Tripwire

♦ Peaky Blinders season 4 began on 15 November and it has been a pretty eventful series so far. Here’s a chat with one of its cast members Helen McCrory, who plays Polly Gray, from the BBC themselves…

With Tommy’s actions landing members of the family in prison at the end of series three, where do we find Polly at the beginning of series four?

We open the series on Polly, Arthur, John and her son Michael being led to the gallows. In this moment, which is a real turning point for Polly, we see her believing that she’s going to die. She calls on the Virgin Mary to bring the spirits of her mum, her dad and her daughter to her. In that moment, she believes she sees her daughter’s face and from this moment on Polly believes that she’s living with the spirits constantly around her. Either she’s had some sort of mental breakdown and is unable to cope with reality or she really does see the spirit of her daughter and therefore has this newfound understanding of life. Once you take away the fear of death in someone, they have a sort of immortality. Her near death experience mirrors Tommy and Arthur’s time in the trenches. So these three characters are united in this fearless attitude towards life at the beginning of this series, which is what makes them so dangerous.

Continue reading Helen McCrory Talks Peaky Blinders Season Four

Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

Peaky Blinders series 4: “there’s no stopping” Aunt Polly

Posted On Written By helenistic No Comments on Peaky Blinders series 4: “there’s no stopping” Aunt Polly

She’s dangerous, unstoppable and hates the man who runs the family

By Louisa Mellor |

Contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders series 4

“Can you heal that?” asks Helen McCrory. That being the surprise arrival of a raft of coppers to cart the Shelby family off to prison at the end of series three. Even if there was a rescue plan all along, when a family member has put a noose around your neck and made you believe you were seconds from death, is forgiveness possible?

“The strength of the family is whether it can get together despite that and continue or not. This series is about that test,” says McCrory. Her character, Aunt Polly, “hates the man that runs the family,” she continues. “Even though she is a matriarch and he is the patriarch, will she unite or will she take him down?”

Polly’s experience on the gallows in the opening episode of Peaky Blinders series one has given her a new understanding of herself. “She has a fearless quality that makes somebody very dangerous, when they no longer fear death,” says McCrory. “There’s no stopping her.”

Continue reading Peaky Blinders series 4: “there’s no stopping” Aunt Polly

Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory: ‘Aunt Polly is more dangerous than ever’

Posted On Written By helenistic No Comments on Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory: ‘Aunt Polly is more dangerous than ever’

Helen McCrory thinks this year’s series could be her character’s best yet

by Sean Marland |

Helen McCrory thinks this year’s series could be her character’s best yet… Don’t read until you’ve watched the first episode as contains spoilers!

Bullets flew and blood splattered as Peaky Blinders made an action-packed return to our screens tonight on BBC2. With the Shelby family fighting for their lives as the mafia closes in, the carnage seems unlikely to let up any time soon and Helen McCrory thinks this year’s fourth series is the best yet!

“I couldn’t believe it when Shelby family were all arrested at the end of the last series,” says Helen, who plays Peaky Blinders matriarch Aunt Polly. “I didn’t know where we were going to go next, but Steven Knight is such a great writer and he managed to get himself out of a really tight corner. When those scripts arrive I tear them open because I can’t wait to see what’s coming next and this series really is a step up.”

Categories Charity Events Loving Vincent Personal and Family Life Print Media Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation

Helen McCrory On Her Passion For Charity Work

Posted On Written By helenistic No Comments on Helen McCrory On Her Passion For Charity Work

Giving Unprivileged Youth Access to Arts

By Woman and Home | October 23, 2017

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Helen McCrory (wearing Antonio Berardi) and Debbi Clark Host A Master Class Chocolate Course for the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation at The Savoy Hotel on October 22, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

There are a lot of reasons why we’re fans of Helen McCrory – her talent as an actress, her wit and her honesty – but one that gets less recognition is her dedication to giving back. In her role as Patron of the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation, Helen is devoted to helping provide children with a gateway to the arts, which is why this weekend she joined Savoy Executive Chef Ludwig Hely and Debbi Clark, CEO of the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation, as they delivered a chocolate and cake decorating masterclass to children supported by the Foundation.