Actress Lucy Boynton has revealed her emotional turmoil after reading the real-life transcript for her new ITV drama. The 31-year-old star appeared on Thursday’s edition of The One Show to give viewers a glimpse into her thriller A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.
In the four-part historical series, Lucy will portray Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, with Toby Jones playing her solicitor John Bickford. However, the tragic real-life portrayal left Lucy deeply affected.
She confessed to The One Show hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp that she struggled to “switch off”. Roman asked: “It’s really fascinating that in the court scenes, you’ve used the real transcripts on what was said. So you’re reading it out verbatim, what was that like?”
To which Lucy responded: “Sickening. To sit there as a contemporary person and to witness the misogyny and classism at play that swayed that trial was profoundly affecting.
Lucy Boynton chats about her new role on The One Show (Image: BBC)
“And I mean the things like in 1955, the year of her trial, you couldn’t get a divorced processed in fewer than six months because it was seen as permanent. So it was really important to get that right,” she elaborated.
On July 13, 1955, at exactly one minute past nine, 28 year old Ruth Ellis was executed by hanging for the murder of her abusive boyfriend, David Blakely. Her execution was delayed for a minute when a prank caller phoned Holloway Prison, impersonating Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George, and falsely claimed Ellis would receive a pardon, reports .
Following the reveal that the call was a hoax, Ruth faced execution and was interred in an anonymous grave on the prison grounds, adhering to the norms of that era.
The presenters quizzed the star on her role (Image: BBC)
Lucy, reflecting on her experience playing Ruth for Tatler magazine, expressed her sentiments: “It was infuriating because you feel so much more protective towards Ruth than she ever felt towards herself, everyone was scrabbling around to help her but she just didn’t think she deserved it.”
She also highlighted Ruth’s characteristic British reserve: “She has this stiff-upper-lip British sensibility, where you don’t cry about what is done to you, and she was incredibly pragmatic about cause and effect.”
The One Show airs Mondays-Fridays at 7pm on One.
Lucy as Ruth Ellis in A Cruel Love (Image: ITV)