Brenda Blethyn has finally explained why she left her role as detective Vera Stanhope after 14 years. The 80-year-old actress told The Yorkshire Post that the long filming days and time away from her family were the main reasons.
Long days and lost summers
Blethyn said filming days lasted up to 16 hours and she spent six months of the year in the north east working on the show. This meant she could not spend summer with her husband Michael Mayhew and their dog Jack.
“I suddenly thought, I'd quite like a summer with him and our dog Jack and to build sandcastles in the sand. So it was time,” she said.
No plans to retire
Despite leaving Vera, Blethyn is not retiring. She is set to appear in series two of Channel 4’s A Woman of Substance later this year and has also filmed a new project called Dragonfly. She said she “hasn’t retired” and has another project in the works that she cannot yet reveal.
Emotional farewell
Blethyn said she “loved every minute” of filming Vera and that her last day left everyone “in tears”. She described the production as having high values and no egos for the full 14 years.
“In a quiet moments filming the last series, I would sit down and think, Oh, Lord, I've made a terrible mistake here [by leaving]. But since then I’ve made A Woman of Substance and a film called Dragonfly,” she said.
Open to a return
When asked if she would ever return as Vera, Blethyn said she would “in the drop of a bucket hat”. She added: “Yes, if they did a special or something, of course I would. It was a wonderful job.”
