An appreciation: Helen McCrory

1968-2021

Plenty of us protest Shakespeare. Hard to parse. Strange. Old. But without Shakespeare we don’t get melodrama. We don’t get modern actors who play it so well — who capture every ounce of the juice in their best performances without boiling over. We don’t get Denzel Washington or Gene Hackman.

We don't get Helen McCrory.

And who would want that? Her Polly Gray on “Peaky Blinders” was some of the best television of the last decade.

Helen McCrory as Polly Gray, BBC publicity shot

If Arthur was the Blinder’s fire, if Tommy was their ice, then Polly was their steel. McCrory made every word and every glance cut. She was slow even when she was quick, a blade between the ribs in a hurricane of a show.

It was a pleasure to watch her do that, but her performance was particularly impressive in that role. Polly Gray could have been a matron, old early and burdened with the boys. She could’ve been Miss Havisham, wrecked on her losses, or a buzzing hophead gnawing at her grievances. Instead, she was an equal partner in the bloody business of the family business. Unrelenting, calculating, desired and desiring. A boss in all the best ways, even if Tommy ran the show.

A great actor can bring us joy by being joyful in their work. They're alive as themselves and full of gratitude, even as they fill themselves with someone who doesn't exist. That's what Helen McCrory did, and it's a shame we don’t get more years of her doing it.