Brenda Blethyn<\/a> has shared a fortune of \u00a37.7 million with her husband.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Brenda Blethyn has shared a fortune of \u00a37.7million with her husband<\/p>\n
The veteran actress, who turned 80 last month and is back on the small screen playing the world’s richest woman in new Channel 4 show A Woman Of Substance, filed records with Companies House showing how she and partner Michael Mayhew shared the huge amount of cash.<\/p>\n
Papers seen by The Sun show Waltonmay Ltd, the performing arts company Brenda owns with Michael, was voluntarily liquidated and distributed \u00a37.7million to them both. <\/p>\n
It comes after she quit playing TV detective Vera after more than a decade in the role.<\/p>\n
Brenda recently said she loved getting into nicer \u201ctogs\u201d for her latest TV role.<\/p>\n
\nThe actress says she jumped at the chance to move into a very different role after leaving ITV\u2019s long-running detective drama Vera, as starring in the new adaptation of A Woman of Substance allowed her to enjoy a change after more than a decade playing DCI Vera Stanhope. <\/p>\n
\nBrenda told the TV Times: \u201cA Woman of Substance was my second job after leaving Vera. I hadn\u2019t even unpacked my bag when I was asked to do Dragonfly (the 2025 drama about a lonely pensioner])with Andrea Riseborough, and then I was offered this \u2013 so all my plans for relaxing at home went out the window!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBrenda added: \u201cI was pleased to take on a story of this magnitude, though, because I hadn\u2019t done anything like it before. And coming off Vera, it was good dressing up in nice togs!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBrenda appears in a new eight-part television adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford\u2019s bestselling novel A Woman of Substance, which first captured readers when it was published in 1979. <\/p>\n
\nThe story follows Emma Harte, a maid who rises from poverty to build a vast international business empire. <\/p>\n
\nIt revisits the character decades after the events that began her journey, showing Emma in 1975 as the world\u2019s richest woman, running Harte Enterprises in New York with the support of her granddaughter Paula McGill, played by Maja Huf. <\/p>\n
\nAs Emma faces betrayal from members of her own family, including her daughter Edwina, Countess of Dunvale, played by Amanda Cavaliero, she reflects on the events that shaped her life. <\/p>\n
\nThe series also explores Emma\u2019s youth in Yorkshire, where teenage Emma is played by Jessica Reynolds, alongside Will Mellor as her father Jack, Lenny Rush as her brother Frank, Emmett Scanlan as mill owner Adam Fairley, Leanne Best as his wife Adele and Ewan Horrocks as Edwin.<\/p>\n
\nBrenda also spoke about working with Jessica Reynolds, who portrays the younger Emma in the drama. <\/p>\n
\nShe said: \u201cJessica Reynolds is fantastic and a breath of fresh air. Our director, John Hardwick, suggested I needed a change of mannerisms that I could incorporate into my performance, because they filmed those scenes before us, and I watched footage to get a feeling of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nReflecting on the connection between the two portrayals of Emma, Brenda said: \u201cI also found a photo of me as Jessica\u2019s age, and I looked just like her \u2013 it\u2019s uncanny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBrenda linked elements of the character\u2019s story to her own family background. <\/p>\n
\nShe said: \u201cThis also reminded me of my mum, who was in service as a kitchen maid in a posh house and worked her way up to become the head cook. And she was very much like Emma \u2013 a hard worker and determined to improve her lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDiscussing the character\u2019s determination, Brenda said: \u201cI loved Emma\u2019s resilience and her work ethic, which is something that was instilled in us as kids, too. If you want something, you work to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe added: \u201cIt\u2019s hard for someone like Emma to succeed as she does \u2013 she\u2019s brave and steel in her. She\u2019s accused of having put work before family, but to make ends meet, she\u2019s done what she had to. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cHer achievements come from grit, daring and not taking no for an answer. I hope viewers will care about the characters and see that women are strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBrenda also contrasted the character\u2019s ambition with her own outlook. <\/p>\n
\nShe said: \u201cUnlike Emma, though, I have zero ambition. If there\u2019s something I want that\u2019s out of reach, I\u2019ll stand on tiptoe and stretch hard, but I\u2019ve never wanted the moon and stars. I\u2019ve been lucky with things that have come my way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBefore her long run in Vera, Brenda built a career across film, television and theatre, including Academy Award-nominated performances in the films Secrets and Lies and Little Voice.<\/p>\n
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