Kerry Godliman, the star of After Life, has described how getting older has eased her anxieties and how her life has changed since going through perimenopause.
While some people’s careers slow down with age, Kerry Godliman’s has accelerated, with standout roles in shows such as Ricky Gervais’s Netflix hit After Life and cosy crime drama Whitstable Pearl . Now, at the age of 51, the actress tells us she’s found herself at a bit of a crossroads.
As I get older, drinking has become more interesting, she asserts. I might have more time to do international things because my kids are now growing up. There is a new freedom, which is both daunting and exciting because I’ve always lived close to home as a parent.
The actress and comedian is warm and open as she chats from her south London home. She’s mum to daughter Elsie and son Frank with her husband of 17 years, Ben Abell, all of whom dip in and out of the background during our interview.
READ MORE: Hair loss sufferer found ‘lumps of hair in shower’ until she took £1-a-day gummies
With Elsie, 18, off to drama school and Frank, 15, nearing the end of his school trajectory, Kerry is unsure how to feel about her newfound freedom. “It’s weird. There are moments where the empty nest syndrome is real but, at the same time, I don’t want to overly neg that.
“There’s a lot to celebrate. I’m really proud of my kids that they’re going out into the world, and I think, ‘Wow, that’s amazing,’ but you are left with the question of, ‘What do I do now?’”
One positive aspect of growing older is coping with her anxiety, which she had troubled with when she first started out in the field. With age, I become more confident. Aging is just a part of letting go of worry. You improve your management, but you can never fully avoid it because it’s still present in the background. HRT is, however, helpful! “she laughs”. Also, do eating and yoga work better.
The west Londoner first jumped on the 2013 sitcom Derek, where Ricky Gervais and her pal Ricky Gervais starred, before making stand-up comedy. In 2019, Kerry and Ricky reunited for the moving and award-winning series After Life while juggling comedy tours and filming schedules.
“Working with Ricky is my favorite. I enjoy how he handles significant emotions like grief and other significant things. He is very entertaining. He just holds it, and he sits it next to a funny tone that makes it amusing and palatable. He excels at that, in my opinion.
He frequently tells me about how he tried to make the funeral director laugh at his mother’s funeral. He exhibits humour and release in contrast to the intense pain and loss. Isn’t that human nature, then? He’s really good at communicating that through drama and comedy, characters, and storytelling because it’s a part of being alive.
In the drama, Kerry portrayed Lisa, the late wife of Ricky’s character Tony, who she describes as having had the honor of working on. Because you’re dealing with grief and I’m playing a woman who lives beyond the grave, it was emotional. I engage in these deep-pocketed discussions about people’s loss or grief.
After Life saw a rise in viewers during the 2020 lockdown despite being shot two years prior. “Seeing this show blow up was quite insane and unplanned because I was on a tour and my diary was emptied out.” In such a time, I could never have imagined my career would explode.
In Acorn TV’s Whitstable Pearl, whose third series debuted on the small screen last year, Kerry reprised the role of Pearl Nolan from the pandemic five years later. Kerry claims that her maverick on-screen counterpart has a lot of similarities, despite the fact that she may seem very different from her restaurateur-turned-detective character.
“Perry Nolan is my absolute favorite. One of the themes of the show is the mother’s single mother growing up and getting older. And since my children are now entering adulthood, it raises a lot of questions, she continues.
“Pearl just throws herself into her passion and detective work,” she says. It has a very lovely story. However, Kerry disagrees with Pearl’s penchant for love drama as she moves forward with her will-be-a-won’t-be-love storyline with copper Mike McGuire (played by Howard Charles).
Kerry chuckles as she makes reference to Robert Webb, Pearl’s current partner, in reference to “Between you and me, I think she’s better off with Tom.”
Kerry admits she doesn’t know whether or not a fourth season of the show will be air, but she promises to be there if it does.
She continues, “That’s the joy of having a long-running show.” You’ve made the emotional investment, in my opinion. You just have to cover a lot of exposition and introduce people in season one.
You have a shorthand that allows you to explore much more emotional, interesting material once you reach the third season. It does a really lovely job. It’s truly enjoyable.
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply