Posted: 22:00, 27 August 2022 | Updated: 00:22, 28 August 2022
She’s one of the most loved faces of British TV drama – but Keeley Hawes has revealed she’s preparing for life away from the screen. “I don’t want to do it forever,” Keeley, 46, star of Bodyguard, Line Of Duty and The Durrells, tells The Mail in Sunday’s You Magazine today. She adds: “I love it, I’ve been really lucky, but in the last couple of years, like a lot of people, you think, ‘Oh my God, life is short and you’re only here once’ – if you believe that, which I do – and maybe there are other avenues to explore. “I’ll be 50 in a minute. There might be other things out there for me.” London-born mother-of-three Keeley, who landed her first roles as a teenager, says the industry has now changed for the better for women. “I have witnessed and called out racism, misogyny, sexism, harassment and bullying,” she says. “Nobody could do that 20 years ago for fear of losing their job or being seen as difficult.” Still, she says more needs to be done to properly represent older women on screen. Along with Lesley Manville, Richard E. Grant and David Tennant, Keeley has co-signed an open letter from the Acting Your Age campaign calling for gender equality. She’s one of the most loved faces of British TV drama – but Keeley Hawes has revealed she’s preparing for life away from the screen London-born mother-of-three Keeley, who landed her first roles as a teenager, says the industry has now changed for the better for women. Photo: Keeley co-stars with Josh O’Connor as Louisa and Larry Durrell in The Durrells Keeley, who says there is still glaring inequality on our screens, admits acting lets her live vicariously through her characters “We need to improve the chances for women,” she tells You. “There is still glaring inequality on our screens. Women’s stories don’t stop after 45. Their lives don’t get any less interesting, but the demand for older actresses and presenters drops statistically. This is an injustice to those performers and the public who should be represented.’ Keeley, star and executive producer of BBC thriller Crossfire, which airs this autumn, admits that acting lets her live vicariously through her characters. Keeley, pictured here in series 1 of Spooks, says she’d rather go to bed than go out Far more mundane, she says, is her life at home with her children and her second husband, Matthew Macfadyen, 47, star of the drama series Succession. “We’re not very social,” he says. “I’d rather go to bed than go out. I wake up in the morning, look at my bed and think: “I won’t be late, my friend.” ‘ Keeley says she’s looking forward to getting older, adding: “I’m excited about it. It feels different these days. Menopause used to be a shady thing that no one talked about and now it’s a different world. The women had a horrible time. Now it’s a conversation. Really, it’s an honor to grow old, isn’t it?’ But one aspect of growing up that causes mixed feelings is the thought of her children leaving home. “It’s sad but it’s also exciting because they’re becoming fully formed human beings,” he says. “We’ve just gone through this terrible period where they sit at home with their parents for years and can leave.”
