Helen McCrory
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both The Queenand The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films; Mama Jeanne in Martin Scorsese's family mystery film Hugo; Clair Dowar in Sam Mendes' Skyfall; and Polly Gray in Peaky Blinders...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth17 August 1968
surprised
Appallingly, I hadn't thought about it one jot. I never daydreamed as a little girl of getting married and having children. I was as surprised to discover I was getting married as I was to discover I was up the duff.
admiration country good huge listen love music musicians people performance record
I love live performance and have huge admiration for people who can really do it. It's the same with music: I'll play a record and think that I'm not really into country or ragga. But, if it's live and the musicians are good, I'll listen to pretty much anything.
archie episode great michael playing
I had a great start in television; the first thing I did was an episode of 'Performance' called 'The Entertainer' with Michael Gambon playing Archie Rice.
cook desserts favourite food interested love
I really love my food. My favourite thing is artichokes. I am not so much interested in desserts or chocolate, though. I also like to cook with my husband Damian.
aware brought dad foreign innate mum responsibility somebody worked
I think I was brought up with an innate sense of responsibility because my dad was in the Foreign Office where you were in somebody else's country, and you were aware of your behaviour. And my mum worked for the NHS, so you were aware of your responsibility to your country.
performance
You can be moved by a performance on set, but when you see it on screen, it does nothing. Yet there will be someone you simply didn't notice on set that on screen: bam!
lonely children school
People who are exceptionally intelligent are often lonely because there are few people as intelligent as them. I have two little children, and everyone says: 'I hope they're doing well in school. I hope they're bright.' And I think: 'Why would anyone want their children to be the brightest?' Academia is a lonely world.
looking-forward pinnacle femininity
Actually, I'm looking forward to being 50. Because to me, that's when a woman is at the pinnacle of her femininity and her womanhood.
directors scripts
A script is only as good as the director who's making it.
area children large lovely means papers run sit
In the area we live, there's a large show of children who run from one house to another house to another house. That's lovely because it means all the children play together, and all the adults get to sit around and have coffees and read the papers or go to the park.
good people works
You don't learn from good people - they've found what works for them and are completely original; you learn from the people who are bad. You think: 'Oh dear, I'm not going to do that.'
afternoon court house intended morning realised stage
When I was 14, I told my mother I intended to be in the House of Commons in the morning, in court in the afternoon and on stage in the evening. She realised then a fantasist had been born.
gives interests life
What interests me about life most is people, and the why of the world. That's what theatre looks at: it examines life, and gives it a cohesiveness that life doesn't have.