I’ma gobby piece

She wouldn’t say boo to a goose as a child. Now, after ten years on Call The Midwife, Helen George says she’s found the courage to speak her mind...

Harrods, which she says is full of auditioning actors. ‘I never let myself rest now, because I know what the other side of this profession is like. I have very talented friends who have had to give up. I remember working in Harrods, wearing three-inch heels and five layers of make-up, because they made you do that. They probably still do. What the hell? We’re better than that. Come on!’

Then, after a few small television parts, along came Call The Midwife, a big break she seized with enthusiasm. Trixie’s blue-eyed beauty and cut-glass accent were matched with a dress sense that shocked the nuns of Nonnatus House and a drink problem that threatened to drown her in the early days, but she has developed into a strong, determined woman and a hell of a good midwife.

‘The writers and producers invested in me as Trixie, but I made sure I was investable in as well. You have to want it to succeed.’ That meant overcoming a natural reticence. ‘I was a shy kid and I’m quite a shy person but I’ve learned to hold my nerve and to reinvent myself.’

She needed all that nerve when she did Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 and her private life suddenly became very public. ‘I was so naive. I still hadn’t told some of my family and friends that I was going through a divorce,’ says Helen, whose fouryear marriage to fellow actor Oliver Boot had come to an end at the same time. ‘At the first press day, a journalist asked me about it in a whole room of people and it was mortifying. I have no idea where they got it from, because I hadn’t even told Aljaz [Skorjanec, her professional dance partner]. So that was a rude awakening.’

She’s talking about this for the first time, having protected her personal life fiercely for a while. ‘I did close down. I was exhausted, mentally and physically. I was very cut off after Strictly. There had been so much happening, it was just too much to emotionally take on, so I didn’t know what part s of me to share. I didn’t trust myself, I suppose.’

Was there a silver lining? ‘In some weird, life-lesson way it was strengthening t ogo through that chaotic period. I got to know and like myself better, because I knew what I could take and what I could achieve.’

She soon began to be acknowledged for her work on Call The Midwife, which has grown into one of the most popular shows on television. Helen’s confidence has grown with it, and now she’s able to speak openly about a range of issues, including developing intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), a liver condition that made her itch terribly all over while pregnant with Wren in 2017.

‘I suppose I just started thinking, “Well, I’ve got nothing to hide,”’ she says. ‘I knew I could help the charity that had given me so much support.’ She is now a patron of the charity ICP Support, and shared her struggles again after suffering with the same condition while pregnant with Lark, who was born prematurely in November 2021. She also posted a picture of the newborn and joked about the name, saying, ‘We should probably stop there so we don’t end up with a Goose.’

Helen also hit back at Twitter trolls who tried to bodyshame her when she filmed Call The Midwife while pregnant. ‘Sorry if my chins offended you,’ she posted in return. ‘I chose to feed my baby healthily and not starve myself in a selfish act to look good on TV.’ Thousands backed her and Helen has no regrets. ‘I felt a responsibility to speak up because pregnant women should be seen, we should be able to work.’

As we talk about her expectations that her employers will treat her well, she laughs suddenly and says, ‘God, I’m a gobby piece, aren’t I? Good! I hope my daughters will be gobby pieces too.’ Maybe it’s just that Helen has found her voice, like Trixie and Anna. ‘I’m good at playing gobby pieces. I wonder why?’

The corset I wear for The King And I is not your friend when you sing! We’ll see if I pass out or not…

She does admit to having doubts about The King And I at first, though. ‘This is a beautiful family musical, but some of the original versions were culturally perhaps not respectful, with a vague idea of what it was to be oriental rather than a specific Thai-ness that is culturally appropriate.’

This goes all the way back to the King of Siam being played by Russian-born Yul Brynner. The Stage newspaper has called out previous West End productions for insensitive ‘yellowface’ casting, but this version has Thai and Asian actors throughout, including AsianAmerican veteran Broadway star Darren Lee as the King.

‘This is the first production to put the Thai language back into the script,’ says Helen. ‘I came to the conclusion that yes, absolutely we should do it. Here we have a progressive king who is asking for his wives, the women of his court and the children to be educated. If that’s not a current theme, I don’t know what is.’

This show is the touring version of the production directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher that won huge acclaim at the London Palladium in 2018. ‘Ten years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have been ready for a role this size, but I feel like I’m in a good, grounded place now and I have the confidence to do it,’ Helen says. ‘Can I find within me the strength Anna has to stand up to the King of Siam? Yes, I absolutely can!’

The King And I tours the UK and Ireland from 4 February until 1 July. For tickets and venues see Kingandimusical.co.uk