Why Vera star Brenda Blethyn explodes with feminist pride watching Vicky McClure in Trigger Point
Published: | Updated:
She played a trailblazing female television detective for 14 years, paving the way for other women to take on gritty roles.
Brenda Blethyn, 80, star of the ITV crime drama Vera, helped others follow her lead and portray powerful female characters – and says she takes great pride in watching them.
The Oscar-nominated actress, who stood down from her role as Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope at the end of 2024, told The Mail on Sunday: 'We are seeing women playing what would have been male roles.
'I was watching Vicky McClure in Trigger Point.
'Ten years ago that role would certainly have gone to a man, no question. She is terrific. I met her briefly once and I thought she was great.
'My word, I was thinking last night when I was watching it, 'My goodness, this would've been a bloke playing this role'.
'Even Vera, 20 years ago, would have been a bloke – Victor or Vern.
'When you think about it, who is sitting there watching television at night? Middle-aged and older women, so why not represent them?
Brenda Blethyn, 80, said she felt pride watching Vicky McClure (pictured) in Trigger Point
The Oscar-nominated actress played Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope for 14 years
'What I've noticed over the years is there's less focus on glamour. That's why I loved Vera. She wasn't reliant on lipstick or a love interest.'
Ms Blethyn was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for Secrets And Lies in 1997 and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Little Voice two years later.
But she has become synonymous with DCI Stanhope, who solves crimes across Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland in her trademark raincoat and green bucket hat.
Taking on the role meant the actress had to spend six months away from her home in Ramsgate, Kent, where she lives with husband Michael and their cockapoo Jack.
She also played Elsie, a neglected pensioner, in last year's hard-hitting movie Dragonfly, and this year took on the part of the older Emma Harte in the television adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's novel, A Woman of Substance.
She is about to start filming a second series.
The Bafta-winner will also appear on Shooting Star Unwrapped, a new podcast from the Shooting Star Children's Hospices, where she is an ambassador.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.