
Helena Bonham Carter has spoken out on the changing face of the film industry in the aftermath of the Me Too campaign.
The 56-year-old actress appears on Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show, where she discusses her upcoming ITVX drama, Nolly.
The Fight Club actor plays Crossroads actor Noele Gordon, also known as Nolly, who played motel owner Meg Richardson on the long-running serial.
Helena defines the series as feminist while perched on the famed red sofa alongside Brendan Fraser, Michelle Williams, Russell T Davies, Oti Mabuse, and Cat Burns.
‘The person who would adore it the most is Noele Gordon,’ she says. ‘She was a wonderful woman.
‘I wasn’t exactly conscious of who she was but when I read the script it was a gift, a love letter to her and to any actor. It was beautiful and hilarious. She had guts and was so gallant and told things exactly how they were.

‘The show is Me Too’ without the sex because she took on the bullies. Everyone needs a Nolly in their lives.’
Asked if she thinks the industry has got better in terms of men calling the shots, Helena replied: ‘It’s getting better. We’ve lots of women producers and more women making the decisions, but I think it is still ageist and women get the brunt of that.’
The King’s Speech actor has already spoken out on gender inequality and sex discrimination at the premiere of the film Suffragette.

‘It’s completely absurd that because we have boobs we’re not treated the same as someone with a penis,’ Helena told Sky News, though admitted that during her upbringing and education she never felt ‘limited by her sex.’
Nolly, which will comprise of three episodes, will cover the Queen of the Midlands’ rise to stardom and fall from grace after being abruptly fired from the show, which aired from 1964 until 1983.
Helena has already expressed her excitement in playing the renowned star, who died of stomach cancer in 1985.
‘Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, smart, and gutsy lady – none of which I knew until reading Russell T Davies’ script,’ she said in a statement introducing the series.
‘I’m so thrilled to help tell Nolly’s long overdue and largely forgotten story. Russell’s screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I’ll do him and Nolly justice. I can’t wait to start.’
The Graham Norton Show airs tonight on BBC One and iPlayer at 10.40pm.