Aunt Polly Archives - Page 5 of 13

Peaky Power

On February 6, 2022February 6, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

The Formidable Shelby Women Remember Helen McCrory

by Cole Moreton | February 6, 2022 | YOU Magazine

The women of Peaky Blinders have assembled for our exclusive YOU cover story but, tragically, there is somebody missing. ‘I consider Helen to have been the heart of this show,’ says Sophie Rundle. In the hugely popular period drama, Sophie plays Ada, who, along with her four brothers, takes on the police, the IRA, the Mafia and the world.

peaky blinders women

She’s talking, of course, about actress Helen McCrory, who starred as the family’s matriarch Aunt Polly and who should be with us as the female cast members gather to mark the beginning of the sixth and final series, but who sadly died of cancer last April, aged just 52. ‘She died as she lived. Fearlessly,’ wrote her husband Damian Lewis, fellow actor and father to their two teenage children.

According to the Peaky Blinders story, the Irish-Romany Shelby children were abandoned by their father and brought up by their hard-talking, cheroot-smoking, gun-toting aunt, played with intensity and brilliance over five seasons by Helen.

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Peaky Blinders Print Media Tributes

Editor’s Letter: My heartfelt note from a true star

On February 6, 2022February 6, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

YOU Magazine editor Jo Elvin remembers Helen

By Jo Elvin | February 6, 2022 | You Magazine

–

A few years ago in a former magazine job, my biggest task every year was organising a huge, annual celebrity awards show. I’d probably look 20 years younger right now if I’d never experienced the stress of that, but I must admit, it has also gifted me with some of my funniest and most precious career-related memories.

One standout moment involves the late actress Helen McCrory. She happened to be very close friends with some pals of mine, so it wasn’t unusual for me to see her at Sunday lunch gatherings, or one particularly raucous New Year’s Eve in a pub where our dogs outnumbered the humans and enjoyable chaos ensued. But beyond a bit of small chitchat every so often, I can’t say I knew her. I didn’t even really get to talk to her the night we honoured her with a ‘film actress of the year’ award at my fancy do. (I was always too busy firefighting and keeping the whole thing organised to ever relax and enjoy the evening.)

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Peaky Blinders Print Media Tributes

Cillian Murphy Reflects on the Tragic Loss of his co-star Helen McCrory

On February 2, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

The ‘Magnificent’ Helen

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 03: Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory and Cillian Murphy attend the Premiere of BBC Two’s drama “Peaky Blinders” episode one, series three at BFI Southbank on May 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

by Miranda Collinge | Esquire UK | February 1, 2022

Helenistic’s note: The following is a part of a longer interview Cillian Murphy gave to Esquire UK.

In March 2020, Murphy was preparing to fly to Manchester to shoot the final season of Peaky Blinders. Pre-production was complete; the sets were built. Yet the first cases of Covid-19 in both England and Ireland had already been identified. There were rumours of lockdowns. Murphy and his co-star, Helen McCrory, who had also been in the series since the show began in 2013, playing Tommy’s spunky Aunt Polly, were concerned.

“I do remember both myself and Helen calling the producers and saying, ‘Guys, surely we can’t do this?’” Murphy recalls. “They were saying, ‘Well, we’re still waiting to see.’ And then, eventually, they called it.”

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Peaky Blinders Print Media Tributes

Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy Explains How Helen McCrory’s Death Will Impact Season 6

On January 20, 2022January 20, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

“We couldn’t quite fathom it all as we were making it.”

by Dan Seddon | Digital Spy | January 20, 2022

Helen McCrory and Cillian Murphy attend the Premiere of BBC Two’s drama “Peaky Blinders” episode one, series three at BFI Southbank on May 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight managed to keep the late great Helen McCrory “very present” in the upcoming sixth and final season.

The Polly Gray performer tragically died last April following her battle with cancer, but according to Tommy Shelby star Cillian Murphy, she would’ve reprised her role if it hadn’t been for pandemic-related complications.

Continue reading Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy Explains How Helen McCrory’s Death Will Impact Season 6

Peaky Blinders Print Media Tributes

Peaky Blinders Creator: Continuing without Helen McCrory was a challenge

On January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 By helenistic No Comments

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight said continuing the story after the death of actress Helen McCrory was a “challenge” – but believes she would have wanted them to keep going with the crime drama.

McCrory, who played Shelby family matriarch Polly Gray in the hit BBC One show, died from cancer aged 52 last April.

Knight reflected on the show’s future following the death of the “incredible actor”, as well as his upcoming projects – including the upcoming stage adaptation, Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby.

He told the PA news agency: “It was a terrible, tragic loss that happened while we were shooting.

“And the loss of such an incredible human being is the main thing. The loss of such an incredible actor is awful.

“She was right at the heart (of the series). There are three central characters – she was one of them.

“And it’s a challenge, and was a challenge, to keep going with the story without her. But we knew that she would have wanted that to continue. So that’s what we did.”

The actress, the wife of Homeland star Damian Lewis, had starred in every series of the show since it began in 2013.

The ‘Magnificent’ Helen

“We couldn’t quite fathom it all as we were making it.”

Steven Knight reflects on the death of the “incredible actor”