Helen McCrory says she doesn't have 'thick enough skin' to tackle Twitter snipes
Helen McCrory has revealed she does not read reviews until after a play has finished in case they affect her performance.
The actress also avoids Twitter as she does not have “thick enough skin” to deal with snipes from viewers.
McCrory told ES magazine: “I’ve had a few [reviews] in the past where I’m like, ‘F*** you, bitch! I’ve never even met you ...’ Clearly you don’t mind being criticised for your work, but when it gets really personal ...
“I remember working with a superb actress who will remain nameless. It was one of the first plays I did, and the review I read talked about the size of her arse. I read this at 22 thinking, ‘How could you possibly write that?’
“If people tweet things, I don’t have a thick enough skin to just go, ‘Oh, I don’t actually care that you think I’m a feckless twat.’ I do, actually.”
McCrory, 46, who has most recently starred in Medea at the National Theatre, said she reads reviews of her plays only on the last night. One described her Medea as “scrubbing at her teeth as if they were enemies”.
She said: “You see, I’d have changed the way I brushed my teeth if I’d read that.”
The actress is married to Homeland star Damian Lewis, whom she met when they starred in Five Gold Rings in the West End in 2003.
The couple have two children — daughter Manon, eight, and son Gulliver, six. The Peaky Blinders actress said she and Lewis rotate their work schedules to look after them.
She added: “I have a huge respect for Damian’s work that has nothing to do with me or our relationship. Meeting each other at work means it’s always been easy to maintain independence.
“There was always a line ... I was about to say a line that shouldn’t be crossed, but we obviously f***ed up with that one! But we’re very respectful of each other in that way. I think that’s what’s allowed us to keep working.
“It’s the thing of every marriage, isn’t it? It’s the balance between wanting to be with someone but wanting them to fulfil themselves the best way they can and wanting to support them in that.”
Read the full interview in ES Magazine out today
