Why Vera icon Brenda Blethyn didn’t want to do new film Dragonfly at first - and what changed her mind

After starring as Vera on ITV's beloved detective drama for 14 years, you might imagine Brenda Blethyn would have welcomed a little break. But barely any time had passed after wrapping her final scenes on the series – which were broadcast in January – before she was enticed back to a film set for another, rather different, new project.

Dragonfly, which finally arrives in UK cinemas today after attracting some very strong reviews on the festival circuit, is a bleak but captivating film. It sees Blethyn star as a vulnerable pensioner struggling with loneliness in a contemporary Britain that is presented as deeply broken.

When she strikes up an unlikely bond with her social outcast neighbour, played by Andrea Riseborough, it initially looks like the pair have found some solace in these difficult times, but the film soon takes a sinister turn that puts things in a different light.

Blethyn and Riseborough are both superb in the drama, but speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the former revealed she almost missed out on the chance to star in the film before reading the script.

"I didn't want to do it to start with," Blethyn explained. "I told my agent to clear off – I'd only just finished Vera [and] hadn't even unpacked."

However, when her agent revealed more about the project – including the people already attached – it didn't take long for Blethyn to change her mind.

"She said, 'It's a Paul Andrew Williams script, and Andrea Riseborough is in it,'" Blethyn said. "I thought, 'Oh, well, obviously I'll have a little read.' And I was very moved by the script. I thought it was great. And so I said yes straight away. And it was imminent, [production was] about to start. So I had to make a decision on that same day!"

Once she'd intimated she was open to the part, writer/director Williams went to visit Blethyn at her home in Ramsgate, and recalled eating ice cream with her as they got to know each other.

"We sat outside looking at the beach," he said. "Obviously Brenda said that she was interested [and] it was like, 'That's just amazing.' I sort of hadn't imagined that would be the case. And I think that what was good is that, first of all, seeing that Brenda was – for want of a better word – normal, and had an idea of what this character would be going through.

"And you know, I don't want to speak for [her], but like recognising in the character and the writing things that perhaps [she] would be able to relate to, not even necessarily with herself, but just in life."

Clearly, it was a casting decision that worked, and the film has already been appearing in awards shortlists. Blethyn and her co-star Riseborough – who she describes as "fantastic" to work with – shared the Performance Award at the Tribeca Film Festival where the film premiered in June, while they are also nominated together in the Best Joint Performance Category at the upcoming BIFAs.

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Blethyn is clearly delighted by the awards attention, and simply by the fact that the film has clearly struck a chord with viewers.

"I'm just glad people get it and just totally appreciate the film," she said. "The wonderful comments, and it's won several prizes at festivals all over the place. It's very gratifying, because I'm really proud of the film."

For his part, Williams added: "When I wrote it, I think people found it really hard to sort of work out what it was – in terms of, like, too many genres, all this and that.

"But I think when people see it, they just get the themes, and they get these characters, and they reflect. And people say it always stays with them, and then they talk about it, and I'm really proud of it. And I think it wouldn't be what it is without everything that happened, and everyone who did it."

Dragonfly is now showing in UK cinemas.

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