I first met Helen in the late 90s, when I attended an audition for a play at the Donmar Warehouse in London – I think Colin Farrell got the role. For some reason, she was there. I was just starting out, really nervous, and I think she picked up on that. We went outside at one point to smoke a rollie and she was really kind and supportive. I mentioned it to her when we started doing Peaky Blinders and she actually remembered it.
Helen had this genuine compassion. It was part of her DNA. She wasn’t an actor who turned up, did the gig and went home. All the way through Peaky Blinders, she would chat to members of the crew as well as the actors. She knew everyone’s name. It’s a huge collaboration making a series like that and it’s easy to think it’s only about the actors, but she was always very aware of the collective aspect of what we do. At the wrap for series two, she actually got up and performed a poem to us all. It was about how special the show was and how great the crew were. It was humorous, but really considerate. She had obviously put a lot of thought into it. It was pure Helen.
On Peaky Blinders, I think the key relationship was always between my character, Tommy, and her character, Polly. It was complex. She was his aunt, but sometimes his mother and sometimes his sister. At times, they were almost a husband and wife team.
In terms of her acting, I sensed from the start that she was operating on a different level. She elevated every scene we were given on the page. She would find some small, telling thing and mine it in order to make the scene more emotionally intense.
Her preparation was rigorous because she wanted to make every scene as good as it could possibly be. She constantly came in with ideas, suggestions, queries. It was inspiring, especially for the younger actors, who all looked up to her. The thing was, though, she couldn’t take praise. She was immune to it, even embarrassed by it. She’d just brush it off. I think people adored her for that when we’d be out promoting the show. She was grounded.
Helen gave Polly that matriarchal aspect and imbued her with a degree of humanity and fallibility that a lot of people connected with. Family is central to the drama in Peaky Blinders. It was one of the first British TV dramas that portrayed a working-class family as strong and powerful in the way that American series do. We did talk about the violence from time to time. It’s never Hollywood superhero violence - it has real consequences. Nevertheless, I think Helen did struggle with it and she spoke publicly about that. She was honest and open about her feelings in that way.
On set, a lot of the scenes could be incredibly intense, but we had such a laugh. She was so funny, very dry and self-deprecating. With a series like Peaky Blinders, when you’re in it for the long haul, you really need to have a partner on set that you can laugh and joke with. If I was worried about anything, I’d go and see her. Helen was my closest pal on the set and I think I can say that the same was the case for her.
There was a moment when we both realised the series had become this global phenomenon and for me it was quite tricky in a way. She was much more comfortable in the public role – dealing with the fans and all the media attention. That stuff terrifies me, so I was in awe of how she could do that with such ease and grace. She walked that line really elegantly.
Towards the end, Helen was incredibly private about her illness. She did not tell everyone, so most people on the set were unaware, even on series five, when she was really ill and having treatment. Never ever would she ask for sympathy. She just wasn’t that kind of person. I spoke to her close to the end and she was still making jokes. The way she handled it was just so absolutely brave and dignified.
She would have been in series six if the pandemic hadn’t put everything on hold. We were just five days away from shooting in March 2020 when the lockdown was announced. Helen was the heart of that show and it was hard to make it without her. Really hard. There was this huge absence on the set. We all felt it. She died while we were shooting. She was too young. You can’t help but think of all the amazing roles she would have had.
As an actor, Helen was all about truth, dedication, commitment, ambition, empathy. When I think of her best performances, it’s her power and her presence that come to mind most of all. As a person, you just run out of superlatives. I guess for me her kindness is what I miss the most. I think about her a lot. I still can’t believe she’s not here.
