Categories Peaky Blinders Print Media Tributes

Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole: ‘Helen McCrory was a force of nature’

By Helenistic | helen-mccrory.com | September 15, 2024

In a new  “What I’ve Learnt” interview with The Sunday Times, British Actor Joe Cole, who worked with Helen on Peaky Blinders,  pays a lovely tribute to her.

“Helen McCrory was a force of nature. The people who burn the brightest in this world may be the people who are taken too soon. [The actress, who played Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders, died in 2021.] It’s heartbreaking. You felt like you had to be on your toes around her, in a good way. She’d be asking you what you were doing that weekend, then she’d be cracking jokes and you’d have to have your game face on. She seized life by the balls. She was amazing with my little brother, Finn. Peaky Blinders was his first acting role. I know they were very close. She left a real mark on the world. I assumed everyone was as charismatic and funny as her, but as I’ve gone through the industry I’ve realised, oh, wait, no, that was just Helen.”

You can read the interview in its entirety here.

Categories Damian Lewis Personal and Family Life Print Media The Count of Monte Cristo Tributes

Guy Pearce says he could ‘feel’ Helen McCrory on set when he filmed with her husband Damian Lewis

‘Her essence and soul was quite present’

by Charlotte Dean | November 30, 2022 | Daily Mail Online

Guy Pearce has discussed filming A Spy Amongst Friends with Damian Lewis shortly after his late wife Helen McCrory‘s death in April last year.

The actor, 55, said he could feel the Peaky Blinders actress’ ‘essence’ on set as they filmed the drama together, during an appearance on Wednesday’s This Morning.

Guy admitted he was ‘surprised’ that Damian was shooting again so soon after Helen’s death, but he revealed she had insisted on him taking the job.

Continue reading Guy Pearce says he could ‘feel’ Helen McCrory on set when he filmed with her husband Damian Lewis

Categories Print Media Tributes

Judi Dench has planted “memorial trees” in Remembrance of Helen McCrory and Other Late Actors

“This is Helen McCrory”

by Isabel Lewis | The Independent | October 27, 2022

Helen McCrory in the press room at the Virgin Media BAFTA TV awards, held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)

Judi Dench has a forest filled with “memorial trees” planted in remembrance of actors such as Alan Rickman and Helen McCrory.

In a forthcoming episode of Louis Theroux’s new interview series airing on Tuesday (1 November), the much-loved actor shows the presenter around the private forest that extends from the garden in her Surrey home.

In her grounds, the veteran actor has planted trees dedicated to friends and loved ones from throughout the industry who have died. Continue reading Judi Dench has planted “memorial trees” in Remembrance of Helen McCrory and Other Late Actors

Categories Charity Damian Lewis Personal and Family Life Print Media Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation

9/11 trading day helps to continue Helen McCrory’s legacy, says charity founder

BGC Charity Day

By Ellie Iorizzo | The Evening Standard | September 29, 2022

Since its launch in 2004, BGC and its celebrity ambassadors have raised around 192 million dollars (£176 million) for global charitable causes.

Damian Lewis during the BGC annual charity day at Canary Wharf in London (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)Damian Lewis during the BGC annual charity day at Canary Wharf in London (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) / PA Wire

Peaky Blinders star Helen McCrory’s “legacy” is maintained through the charity she helped to establish before her death which benefits massively from the 9/11 trading day, the charity’s founder has said.

Film and stage star Damian Lewis, 51, returned to the BGC Partners brokerage firm in Canary Wharf on Thursday to support the Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation (HVH Arts) – for which his late wife McCrory was patron.

Lewis, who was also supporting the charity Cure EB, told the PA news agency:

“I love the idea of trading, I would be terrible at it in real life.”

Continue reading 9/11 trading day helps to continue Helen McCrory’s legacy, says charity founder

Categories Peaky Blinders Print Media

Peaky Blinders VR video game to “honour” Helen McCrory

Helen McCrory, who played the enigmatic Aunt Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders, passed away after battling cancer at just 52 years old last April. The actress was due to star in the sixth season of the revered show, as well as lend her voice to the VR game Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom.

Since McCrory’s passing, the show’s writers made the decision to have Polly die too. A few months ago, creator Steven Knight shared that “She is still a very strong influence on Tommy, and therefore the whole thing. Her death is a catalyst for a lot of stuff that happens, all the way up to the end of episode six.”