Helena Bonham Carter Portrays Soap Opera Icon Noele Gordon in “Nolly”

Helena Bonham Carter, known to many for her portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange throughout the Harry Potter films, is making headlines for her latest role in Nolly. Bonham Carter will portray the groundbreaking British soap opera star Noele “Nolly” Gordon during one of the most strenuous times of her career.

Nolly takes a deeper look at Gordon’s life after she was swiftly written off of the acclaimed British household soap Crossroads, on which she played Meg Mortimer, at the decision of the show’s executives. The actress starred in the series from 1964 to 1981 and is considered a “trailblazer for women in TV.” The immediate aftermath of Gordon’s firing from Crossroads made headlines and prompted upheaval from viewers.

While in conversation with the Telegraph, Bonham Carter spoke about Gordon’s impact on television.

It’s very difficult to explain to my kids – they think I was brought up with dinosaurs – that there were only three channels. So the impact of a soap was huge, and the impact of Nolly. She was in everyone’s living room, 15 million [viewers], three times a week. There wasn’t much else.

Source: The Daily Mail

Bonham Carter described Gordon as “a great force” who was unapologetically authentic.

I feel she was sacked in her prime. She was 61. She couldn’t have been better at what she was doing.

Nolly writer Russell T. Davies also spoke with the Telegraph and recounted how Gordon’s image was warped and tarnished by sexism.

In the industry, she’s very much spoken of as a diva, a bit of a monster. And yet when I went and spoke to the cast [of Crossroads], the opposite picture came out. They very much loved her. She was a very powerful, successful woman who was spoken of as a b****. Where does that come from and why is that so unfair?

In an interview with Daily Mail, Bonham Carter likened Gordon to The Crown‘s Princess Margaret, whom Bonham Carter played in the show’s third and fourth seasons.

In fact, at first look, I thought she had the same armour as Princess Margaret in The Crown, with the fur coat and the cigarette. Although she wasn’t posh, she had the grandeur. She loved being referred to as Queen of the Midlands. One particular ingredient I enjoyed was how she and Meg Mortimer got confused and rolled into one.

Bonham Carter hopes Nolly gives the soap star the send-off she deserves after her fall from fame. The three-episode miniseries will start streaming on ITVX on February 2.