Keeley Hawes is best known for her role in the Golden Globe-nominated thriller Bodyguard, but the versatility of the British icon is demonstrated by a long list of acting credits. On the small screen, Hawes most recently appeared in the HBO Max drama It’s A Sin – but other notable television projects include The Durrells, Mrs. Wilson, Line of Duty and the Netflix movie, Rebecca. On the big screen, the acclaimed actress can be seen in the female-led comedy Misbehaviour, the dystopian thriller High-Rise and the upcoming British drama To Olivia.

In the recent BritBox movie Honour, Hawes tackles double duties as lead actor, as well as an executive producer.

We jumped on the phone to Hawes in London to find out more about the project…

How would you describe your latest movie project for BritBox?

Honour is a true-crime drama. It’s about the devastation that’s caused by the so-called honor killing of a 20-year-old woman called Banaz Mahmod in the UK. It always feels wrong to put the word “honor” into a descriptive sentence like that, because the story is basically about the murder of Banaz Mahmod and the subsequent police investigation. This is a story about bringing killers to justice.

Who do you play in Honour?

I play DCI Caroline Goode, who led the police investigation. When we first meet Caroline and her team, they don’t know that Mahmod is dead – but they find out about the unfortunate murder quite quickly. After that, Caroline sets out to bring the killers to justice. I think it’s important to note that this is not a drama about a policewoman coming in and saving the day. Instead, Honour is a really troubling story about police failings. By the time Caroline Goode was involved, Banaz Mahmod had been to the police five times. She’d given them a list of the people who she suspected would eventually murder her. Gosh, just saying that description is still shocking to me.

 

And this is all based on a true story?

That’s correct. Banaz went to the police and she gave them a list of names. She said, “If anything happens to me, these are the people who will be responsible.” She named her killers, which is utterly chilling. It never fails to shock me. For one reason or another, the case was passed around and not taken as seriously as it should have been – until it arrived with Caroline Goode, who ultimately brought the killers to justice. They are all serving life sentences.

What do you hope audiences take away from the movie?

When I finished reading the script, I was initially embarrassed. That was the first emotion I felt. I was embarrassed that I knew so little about honor-based violence. I thought I knew about it, but I really didn’t. I hope that the awareness around the subject changes through the release of this movie. Honor-based violence happens more often than people might think. If just one person sees this movie and is saved from following the same fate or the same life that Banaz was leading, then it will be a success. This project definitely started conversations here in the UK.

What research did you tackle for the role?

I read the script and I watched the brilliant Emmy-winning documentary Banaz: A Love Story, which is by a wonderful documentary maker called Deeyah Khan. Deeyah Khan started to make a documentary about honor-based violence and killing – and then she came across this story of Banaz Mahmod. The story was so interesting that she decided to concentrate on this case in particular. For me, it was fascinating to be able to see Caroline Goode being interviewed. After that, I was also able to meet Caroline to discuss the project over a cup of tea. That was also incredibly enlightening.

How true to life is your version of Caroline Goode?

There are many aspects of Caroline’s character that we try to adhere to in Honour. We bring the essence of Caroline Goode to the screen, but I’m not similar to her in a physical sense. Caroline is very petite, so she wore heels all the way through the case. I’m 5’10 and you can’t put me in heels, or I’ll tower over everyone in the team. In terms of the story and the characters, Honour is very true to life, but I do not look very similar to Caroline Goode. 

What challenges did you face on the set of Honour?

It was a 25-day shoot, so it was very short, but we knew it would be intense for everyone. There were days that I absolutely dreaded shooting. There were scenes that I couldn’t even read on the page without being overwhelmed. One of the big questions I had for Caroline before we started shooting was whether or not she would get emotional or if she was able to cut off from the harrowing events she was investigating. I said, “Do you allow yourself to become emotional during a case? You know that you might be investigating something like this for years, so it must be emotionally exhausting. How do you handle that?” Caroline said to me, “I cried all the time.” After that conversation, I felt like I was given the license to be emotional. To be honest, I don’t know how you couldn’t be. I don’t know how people in situations like this do their jobs and do them so well. It must have taken a huge emotional toll on Caroline.

You set up a new production company, Buddy Club, in 2019. Was Honour your first producing role?

Before Honour, I was executive producer on the fourth and final series of The Durrells in Corfu, and it was such a brilliant experience. I absolutely loved it. I’ve been in this business for 35 years, or something horrifying like that. It’s been a really long time and I liked the idea of producing. After being on The Durrells for four years, it was quite an organic process because I knew the show inside out. However, producing was something that slightly scared me, which is always good when you’ve been doing something for a long time. If you’re scared, that makes you a little nervous and that can only be a good thing. I love producing. I love being part of conversations on the other side of the camera. Honour was brought to me at a point in the development process where we didn’t have a director attached and it was still very early on. It seemed like a good time to board in that capacity.

You are also an executive producer of the upcoming TV drama, Finding Alice. What can you tell us about it?

Lockdown almost stopped us from completing Finding Alice. It’s a six-part original drama, and thankfully, we were able to go back to filming and finish it. That was a baptism of fire for sure. That was a huge learning curve as an executive producer, but it was brilliant because nobody knew what they were doing, so it was a whole new world. We were all learning as we went along.

Were you ready to return to work on a set in the middle of a pandemic?

We were not the first to return to work. We waited. We have some elderly people in our cast, so we were particularly stringent about putting all of the COVID protocols in place. We had to be. We waited until we were really, really ready. We waited until we knew we were able to keep people safe.

Up next, you appear in the movie To Olivia. What’s it about?

Olivia is the name of Roald Dahl’s and Patricia Neal’s daughter, whom they lost to encephalitis. To Olivia is a story about grief, and we cover the period of time where they lose their daughter after Patricia won her Oscar [for the 1963 movie, Hud]. Roald Dahl was unable to grieve for the loss, so it’s not an easy subject matter. The story is extraordinary.

 

Who do you play in the movie?

I play Patricia Neal and Hugh Bonneville plays Roald Dahl. It’s been interesting because I realized yesterday that To Olivia and Honour are both stories about grief – but in completely different ways. I realized that I’ve been doing lots of projects about grief recently, so perhaps I need to do a comedy or a thriller next. I think it would be a good idea to focus on something a little more lighthearted. I need something lighter for sure.