by Molly Given | Metro US | October 1, 2019
Helen McCrory talks epic build-up and necessary violence in “Peaky Blinders” season 5.
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?
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.”
Continue reading Peaky Blinders: Helen McCrory on playing Aunt Polly as brutal family saga returns
by Tom Hodgkinson | Idler Magazine | August 28, 2019
I have met Helen McCrory before. She and her husband Damian Lewis are often to be seen at festivals, going to talks as everyday punters. In fact she gave me a compliment one year after I’d given a talk at Port Eliot Festival. I didn’t recognise her at first and just said “thanks”. As I wandered off I suddenly realised, “hang on, that was Helen McCrory!” Mutual friends told me that she and Damian were fans of my books, and I do remember them mentioning The Idle Parent in an interview. So I was delighted when her PR called and asked if we’d like an interview.
Tom Hodgkinson How did you get involved with Peaky Blinders?
Helen McCrory When they first approached me, they said: ‘Would you like to play Aunt Polly in this gangster drama set in Birmingham?” And I was like: “No.”
Peaky Blinders cast members Helen McCrory and Sophie Rundle join writer-creator Steven Knight, executive producer Caryn Mandabach and new cast member Sam Claflin at the BFI Southbank to talk about the fifth season of the BBC’s Birmingham-set gangster drama.
