CULTURE
BEING BOSSY
HELENA BONHAM CARTER
The actress gets to grips with fiery Crossroads star Noele Gordon – and her tougher traits – in the new drama from Russell T Davies
Helena Bonham Carter has played her fair share of strong-willed women, starring as villainous Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films and Princess Margaret in TV drama The Crown, but the Bafta award-winning actress says that her new role in ITVX biographical drama Nolly was useful when asserting her authority in real life.
“She legitimises my bossy side,” she says of her character, who is based on the actress Noele Gordon. Known as Nolly to her friends, she starred in long-running ITV soap opera Crossroads from 1964, as wealthy motel owner Meg Richardson (later Mortimer). “I’ve loved having the character around, although I don’t think my family have,” says 56-year-old Helena, admitting that her dominant on-screen persona sometimes “spilled over” into her day-to-day life and on set. “When something had to be done and it wasn’t being done quickly enough, that’s when Nolly popped out.”