Brenda Blethyn quit 'Vera' to spend time with her family.
Brenda Blethyn quit Vera to spend time with her family
The 78-year-old actress - who tied the knot with Michael Mayhew in 2010 but was initially married to Alan James Blethyn from 1964 until 1973 - admitted it was a "hard decision" to step back from her 14-year run as the titular role in the ITV1 detective drama and while she will be emotional when the usual time for filming comes around, she won't actually miss the long shooting periods.
She told Woman's Weekly magazine: "‘It was a hard decision because I love 'Vera'. Come March, when I would normally be getting ready to go back up to Northumberland, I’ll probably cry.
"It’s just that I’ve been working on it for 14 years. But as much as I loved all that, I’ve got a family at home and I realised I hadn’t had a summer for all that time with my family. I won’t miss being away from home for six months of the year."
In the series - which was based on the books by Ann Cleeves - Vera drove her trademark Land Rover as she went about solving crimes in the North East but Brenda recalled one incident on set when she forgot to put the handbrake on.
She said: "I had to drive it across moorland quite quickly and stop six feet in front of the camera.
"I was accurate and stopped and then did everything I had to do, like turning off the motor, handbrake on, taking my seat belt off. They said, 'Brenda, you’ve got to get out quicker!'
" So I do it again and I get out fast this time, but as I’m walking away from the Land Rover it starts rolling! The crew are holding it, trying to push it back!"
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