{"id":471680,"date":"2026-03-12T15:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/471680\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T15:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:19:10","slug":"brenda-blethyn-and-co-star-reveal-romantic-moment-they-finally-met-on-channel-4-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/471680\/","title":{"rendered":"Brenda Blethyn and co-star reveal ‘romantic’ moment they finally met on Channel 4 set"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brenda Blethyn and her A Woman of Substance co-star Jessica Reynolds have revealed the emotional and unexpectedly \u201cromantic\u201d moment they first met while filming the Channel 4 drama.<\/p>\n

The pair play different stages of the same character, the formidable businesswoman Emma Harte, in the new eight-part adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford\u2019s bestselling novel.<\/p>\n

Speaking to GB News and other outlets at a screening and Q&A for the series, Ms Blethyn recalled the striking circumstances of their first encounter on set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first met Jess at dusk,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a very misty evening up on the moors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JessicaJessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn both star in the tv series | GETTY<\/p>\n

Ms Blethyn explained she had travelled to the set ahead of filming her own scenes, while Ms Reynolds had just finished shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d never met before and Jessica came out of the house that was Emma\u2019s home,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe sort of looked at each other across the mist and went, \u2018Emma!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The moment quickly became emotional for the cast and crew watching.<\/p>\n

\"JessicaJessica Reynolds almost turned down the lead role in the Channel 4 drama | CHANNEL 4<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were both in costume, and it was a real kind of moment,\u201d lead writer Katherine Jakeways added. \u201cIt felt quite resonant for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Reynolds admitted the meeting felt special for her too, particularly knowing she was portraying the younger version of a character Ms Blethyn would later bring to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an absolute honour,\u201d the actress said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s easy to tell a story, but it really did feel quite romantic.”<\/p>\n

\"BrendaBrenda Blethyn on the set of A Woman of Substance | CHANNEL 4<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cThere was mist, and I think there might even have been a storm or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actress added that despite the emotional significance of the meeting, the two actresses barely exchanged words.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t say much,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just gave each other a big hug and a nod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Reynolds said sharing the role with Ms Blethyn made the experience even more meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was beautiful. It was a privilege,” she said.<\/p>\n

The new series tells the sweeping rags-to-riches story of Emma Harte, beginning with her teenage years as a kitchen maid in Yorkshire before charting her rise to become one of the richest women in the world.<\/p>\n

The project marks Ms Blethyn\u2019s return to television following the end of her long-running ITV crime drama Vera, in which she played Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope for 14 years.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ms Reynolds revealed she almost didn\u2019t audition for the role of Emma after initially doubting she was the right fit.<\/p>\n

\"BrendaBrenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds at the Channel 4 screening in London | GETTY<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt came across just as a self-tape, and I suppose being Irish and having this voice, when I first saw it, I thought no one\u2019s going to want me as this person.”<\/p>\n

However, after reading the scripts more closely she realised the scale of the story and decided to pursue the part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brenda Blethyn and her A Woman of Substance co-star Jessica Reynolds have revealed the emotional and unexpectedly \u201cromantic\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,1633,96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-471680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-channel-4","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}