First Impressions: Brenda Blethyn
What are you working on at the moment?
Taking some well-earned time off. On the day we finished Vera in October I got a new puppy, a cockapoo. He was tiny and now he’s a big walloping thing. We’re trying to tame the lion.
When are you at your happiest?
On days I don’t have to think ‘Oh I must prepare for that next week.’ I rarely think ‘Oh I can just sit here. I can look out the window if I want.’ When I can just potter about. Pottering, love it.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing my independence and being a burden.
What is your earliest memory?
My mum was talking to a neighbour and I had leggings on with buttons all the way down the side. I was counting them, and I remember walking my fingers down the buttons, all the way down to my feet and mum saying ‘Stand up, stand up.’
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I find it hard to say no to people.
Who has been your greatest influence?
A teacher at drama school called Ian Ricketts. He had the ability to make you feel like you’re the most interesting person he’d met all day. But also my parents, they didn’t have two ha’pennies to rub together but they instilled in us a sense of camaraderie and sharing and being able to laugh at yourself.
What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my little Jack now, I’ve got some curlers of my mum’s. I’ve got them in a plastic tobacco envelope in a frame, and they’ve got mum’s hair in them.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Noisy eating. I can’t bear it. It sends me into a rage. And people who aren’t spatially aware.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I acknowledge things that aren’t right about my appearance but I don’t have a problem with it.
What is your all-time favourite book?
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale.
What is your favourite film?
Growing up, it was always Calamity Jane. It’s great, I love Doris Day.
Brenda likes: Doris Day in Calamity Jane, Matthew Kneale’s English Passengers, biting into a Crunchie and grilled turbot
And your favourite piece of music?
I love Carole King’s Will You Love Me Tomorrow? It must be because I first heard it when I was a teenager, just being woken up to romance.
What is your favourite meal?
Grilled turbot with new potatoes and minted peas.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
My husband, Susan Fleetwood, Sebastian Graham-Jones, and Bill Bryden. Susan and Sebastian both passed away and I wish they hadn’t, Bill Brydon because he was a brilliant director and I don’t think he was celebrated enough for his time at the National Theatre.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
Somebody once asked me, ‘Excuse me, are you on that comedy series on the telly?’ I said ‘I am,’ and they said, ‘What, you think you’re it then, do you?’ But I can’t think of anything nasty. One review for Little Voice said something like ‘Couldn’t they have got a nicer actress to play this part?’
Do you believe in aliens?
I don’t disbelieve.
What is your secret vice?
Crunchies or Wagon Wheels.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not always, no.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
At the moment, ‘Off!’ as soon as the dog jumps up.
What would improve the quality of your life?
If Jack would stop barking. If he could learn to speak human or if I could speak dog language, it would improve my life enormously.
Can you tell us one thing people might not know about you?
I used to be able to balance a pint of beer on my head and pick up a scarf from the floor, with my teeth, without spilling a drop.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
Brenda Blethyn was all right.
Vera returns to ITV on 31 January at 8pm.
Taking some well-earned time off. On the day we finished Vera in October I got a new puppy, a cockapoo. He was tiny and now he’s a big walloping thing. We’re trying to tame the lion.
When are you at your happiest?
On days I don’t have to think ‘Oh I must prepare for that next week.’ I rarely think ‘Oh I can just sit here. I can look out the window if I want.’ When I can just potter about. Pottering, love it.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing my independence and being a burden.
What is your earliest memory?
My mum was talking to a neighbour and I had leggings on with buttons all the way down the side. I was counting them, and I remember walking my fingers down the buttons, all the way down to my feet and mum saying ‘Stand up, stand up.’
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I find it hard to say no to people.
Who has been your greatest influence?
A teacher at drama school called Ian Ricketts. He had the ability to make you feel like you’re the most interesting person he’d met all day. But also my parents, they didn’t have two ha’pennies to rub together but they instilled in us a sense of camaraderie and sharing and being able to laugh at yourself.
What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my little Jack now, I’ve got some curlers of my mum’s. I’ve got them in a plastic tobacco envelope in a frame, and they’ve got mum’s hair in them.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Noisy eating. I can’t bear it. It sends me into a rage. And people who aren’t spatially aware.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I acknowledge things that aren’t right about my appearance but I don’t have a problem with it.
What is your all-time favourite book?
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale.
What is your favourite film?
Growing up, it was always Calamity Jane. It’s great, I love Doris Day.
Brenda likes: Doris Day in Calamity Jane, Matthew Kneale’s English Passengers, biting into a Crunchie and grilled turbotAnd your favourite piece of music?
I love Carole King’s Will You Love Me Tomorrow? It must be because I first heard it when I was a teenager, just being woken up to romance.
What is your favourite meal?
Grilled turbot with new potatoes and minted peas.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
My husband, Susan Fleetwood, Sebastian Graham-Jones, and Bill Bryden. Susan and Sebastian both passed away and I wish they hadn’t, Bill Brydon because he was a brilliant director and I don’t think he was celebrated enough for his time at the National Theatre.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
Somebody once asked me, ‘Excuse me, are you on that comedy series on the telly?’ I said ‘I am,’ and they said, ‘What, you think you’re it then, do you?’ But I can’t think of anything nasty. One review for Little Voice said something like ‘Couldn’t they have got a nicer actress to play this part?’
Do you believe in aliens?
I don’t disbelieve.
What is your secret vice?
Crunchies or Wagon Wheels.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not always, no.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
At the moment, ‘Off!’ as soon as the dog jumps up.
What would improve the quality of your life?
If Jack would stop barking. If he could learn to speak human or if I could speak dog language, it would improve my life enormously.
Can you tell us one thing people might not know about you?
I used to be able to balance a pint of beer on my head and pick up a scarf from the floor, with my teeth, without spilling a drop.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
Brenda Blethyn was all right.
Vera returns to ITV on 31 January at 8pm.