Brenda Blethyn reveals the one thing she loved most about new TV role
Opening up about going from Vera to A Woman of Substance, Brenda Blethyn declared she loved getting into nicer “togs” for her latest TV role.
Brenda Blethyn loved getting into nicer “togs” for her latest TV role.
The veteran film and television actress, 79, says she jumped at the chance to move into a very different role after leaving ITV’s long-running detective drama Vera, as starring in the new adaptation of A Woman of Substance allowed her to enjoy a change after more than a decade playing DCI Vera Stanhope.
Brenda told the new issue of TV Times: “A Woman of Substance was my second job after leaving Vera. I hadn’t even unpacked my bag when I was asked to do Dragonfly (the 2025 drama about a lonely pensioner])with Andrea Riseborough, and then I was offered this – so all my plans for relaxing at home went out the window!”
Brenda added: “I was pleased to take on a story of this magnitude, though, because I hadn’t done anything like it before. And coming off Vera, it was good dressing up in nice togs!”
Brenda appears in a new eight-part television adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s bestselling novel A Woman of Substance, which first captured readers when it was published in 1979.
The story follows Emma Harte, a maid who rises from poverty to build a vast international business empire.
It revisits the character decades after the events that began her journey, showing Emma in 1975 as the world’s richest woman, running Harte Enterprises in New York with the support of her granddaughter Paula McGill, played by Maja Huf.
As Emma faces betrayal from members of her own family, including her daughter Edwina, Countess of Dunvale, played by Amanda Cavaliero, she reflects on the events that shaped her life.
The series also explores Emma’s youth in Yorkshire, where teenage Emma is played by Jessica Reynolds, alongside Will Mellor as her father Jack, Lenny Rush as her brother Frank, Emmett Scanlan as mill owner Adam Fairley, Leanne Best as his wife Adele and Ewan Horrocks as Edwin.
Brenda also spoke about working with Jessica Reynolds, who portrays the younger Emma in the drama.
She said: “Jessica Reynolds is fantastic and a breath of fresh air. Our director, John Hardwick, suggested I needed a change of mannerisms that I could incorporate into my performance, because they filmed those scenes before us, and I watched footage to get a feeling of it.”
Reflecting on the connection between the two portrayals of Emma, Brenda said: “I also found a photo of me as Jessica’s age, and I looked just like her – it’s uncanny.”
Brenda linked elements of the character’s story to her own family background.
She said: “This also reminded me of my mum, who was in service as a kitchen maid in a posh house and worked her way up to become the head cook. And she was very much like Emma – a hard worker and determined to improve her lot.”
Discussing the character’s determination, Brenda said: “I loved Emma’s resilience and her work ethic, which is something that was instilled in us as kids, too. If you want something, you work to pay for it.”
She added: “It’s hard for someone like Emma to succeed as she does – she’s brave and steel in her. She’s accused of having put work before family, but to make ends meet, she’s done what she had to.
“Her achievements come from grit, daring and not taking no for an answer. I hope viewers will care about the characters and see that women are strong.”
Brenda also contrasted the character’s ambition with her own outlook.
She said: “Unlike Emma, though, I have zero ambition. If there’s something I want that’s out of reach, I’ll stand on tiptoe and stretch hard, but I’ve never wanted the moon and stars. I’ve been lucky with things that have come my way.”
Before her long run in Vera, Brenda built a career across film, television and theatre, including Academy Award-nominated performances in the films Secrets and Lies and Little Voice.
