Brenda Blethyn has been a firm favourite on our screens since her early roles dating back to 1980. Four decades later, and she’s still a fixture – thanks in part to her role in the crime series Vera, which ran for 14 years.

Brenda has always done things her own way – not least including her unique living arrangements with her husband – and this applies to how her illustrious career got started, which was a little bit of luck, a little bit of self-belief, and proof that “you can be really good at something you’ve not even tried yet” as she revealed recently.

Sharing how she was a typist for ten years before she even got started with drama school, Brenda sat down with Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond on This Morning and revealed how fans of Vera might owe it all to a random girl who asked a simple question decades ago.

Brenda revealed how, while working as a typist, a young girl at British Rail came up to her one day and asked if she could help her out with a drama competition she was entering with a group.

They needed someone to step in and help out with just one line. At first, Brenda refused. She shares how she told her “Don’t be daft, no, I couldn’t do that!”

But she gave in, and started to develop the bug for acting with this amateur dramatic society. Her skills were immediately obvious to everyone – everyone but Brenda, it seems. When asked if she would try and go professional with it, she told Dermot and Alison how she initially responded.

“‘Don’t be daft, give up my good job to pursue a hobby?’”

But then she wondered if she could do it and ultimately took a gamble on herself. She added, “So without telling anybody so nobody would laugh at me, I applied to Guildford… and that’s how it all started.”

Later, Alison agreed that joining clubs – be it amateur dramatics societies, like Brenda joined, or something like a choir – is how one finds friends and develops their skills. To which Brenda replied, wisely, “You can be really good at something you’ve not even tried yet.”

Inspirational words, and as we look towards the end of 2025, could the new year be the time to take the leap and try something new?

It certainly worked out for Brenda, who starred as the titular character in the long-running series, Vera, which ran for 14 years.

Also, during her interview with Alison and Dermot, Brenda touched on the rumours of a potential Vera comeback. Keeping it open, she shared, “If they were doing a special… certainly, yes, I’d leap at it. That’s unlikely to happen, I’m too busy!”

In addition to her work on the crime series, Brenda became a two-time Oscar nominee for her performances in 1996’s Secrets & Lies and 1998’s Little Voice, nominated for two Emmys, and has won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.