Brenda Blethyn speaks with the level of openness about personal topics that you'd expect from the Vera icon.
She's been very candid about the reasons she lives separately from her husband, and why she chose not to have children.
Recently, she's opened up about ageing and comments about her appearance. The actress responded to unnecessary remarks about the very normal process of getting older, in the best possible way.
In conversation with Prima magazine, Brenda shares that she's long thrown aside ideas of vanity, especially after playing the "dowdy" Vera Stanhope for so many years.
Approaching her 80th birthday, she says asserts that she generally doesn't give the passing of time much thought.
"I'm 80 this February and I don't even think about it, to tell you the truth," she says, adding, "I was wondering what to do to celebrate it and I might ignore it."
You might think that hearing hurtful words about her appearance might dent her pro-ageing confidence a little, but Brenda instead took the words as a compliment.
A review of her latest film, Dragonfly, read: "Brenda, bless her, she's let herself go, she's aged so much."
She was also once asked, "How do you feel when you see yourself looking so awful on screen?" when she appeared in Secrets & Lies.
Brenda refers to these statements as "the biggest compliment." Choosing to reframe what could be perceived as very hurtful, she instead reacts with pride that her characters are shining through in the way she would hope.
She has no concerns for her appearance, only that the people she portrays on screen and their messages are properly conveyed.
"They couldn't have paid me a better compliment," Brenda explains of the people who spoke so brusquely about her, adding, "I never, ever think about how I look for a part."
The actress says she doesn't ever see herself on the screen, only ever the characters she's playing.
"I see that lady who's got no friends, who's living hand to mouth, whose daughter doesn't like her."
"There are lots of people like Cynthia in Secrets & Lies and it's the same with Dragonfly. I see that poor woman, not me," she says.
Maintaining a refusal to live by societal norms or be judged about anything from her appearance to when she chooses to retire, Brenda has also weighed in on continuing to work past retirement age.
"I'm lucky to have been working all this time," she shares, adding that thoughts of retiring crossed her mind at 65, "and then Vera came along."
"Now I'm 80 and not thinking about retiring at all," she continues, concluding, "though perhaps I will cut back a bit and spend more time at home."
Brenda concludes, "If I reach a little bit higher, I can maybe get something else I want, but if I don't, that's no problem. I'm devoid of ambition, I've never wanted the moon and stars."
