There can be little doubt that Keeley Hawes is one of the most versatile actresses of her generation. She has the ability to move seamlessly between roles as diverse as DI Lyndsay Denton in Line of Duty, Home Secretary Julia Montague in The Bodyguard and much-loved matriarch Louisa Durrell in The Durrells. However, her latest role as DCI Caroline Goode in Honour is arguably her most challenging yet.
In January 2006, the South London police officer became involved with the case of a missing 20-year-old female – at least that’s the way it appeared at first. In reality, she had been slain by family in an ‘honour killing’.
Banaz Mahmod, a young Iraqi-Kurdish woman who left her abusive husband for another man of her own choosing, was killed on the orders of her own family who believed that she had shamed them through her actions.
On discovering Banaz had been to the police five times to report threats to her life from members of her own family – and appalled that her own colleagues had missed multiple chances to save this young woman’s life and prevent this so-called ‘honour’ killing – DCI Goode vowed that she would not rest until she finally got justice for Banaz.
“Obviously everything I do is important to me but there is a huge, additional responsibility that comes with this particular drama,” says Keeley Hawes via Zoom from her London home. “Not only because I’m playing a real person but the main responsibility is because it’s about Banaz and keeping her memory alive. I’m so mindful that we are dealing with real people – more so than any other project I’ve ever worked on.
“The responsibility is huge. I felt this from the moment I became involved and I’m feeling it, still. Everyday. I really am…” Keeley pauses to wipe away tears. “Sorry – it makes me very emotional. It always will. Banaz will stay with me forever. My knowledge of honour killings before becoming involved with this was virtually zero and what I thought I knew was probably wrong. It’s difficult to remember back now, but I had no real idea about it. This is part of the problem – none of us are armed with any knowledge about it.”
Keeley’s admiration for DCI Caroline Goode shines through. “She is an extraordinary woman,” Keeley goes on. “So strong and determined to see justice for Banaz. She dedicated her life to it, in fact. Caroline and her team refused to give up. She wouldn’t rest until she’d found Banaz’s body and also extradited two of the guilty men back from Iraq, something that had never been done before.
“It was fascinating to meet Caroline. I asked her, ‘Were you very emotional? Did it affect you in that way every day? Or do you become hardened to these things?’ You imagine the police don’t have time to be emotional, and she had been doing this job for a long time. Caroline said ‘Yes, of course I got emotional. How could you not?’ My representation of her as a character is certainly not an impression, more like capturing the essence of her. I took aspects of Caroline’s character, her confidence, her relationship with her team.
“It is an honour to play her. Caroline has since gone out of her way to be part of the education process since this case. Things have changed because of it.”
Keeley is usually able to leave her work on set when she returns to her own life at the end of each day. But with Honour it was different. “Inevitably, all of us took the job home at night,” Keeley, who’s married to actor Matthew Macfadyen and has three children, reveals. “But we supported each other. Our director Richard Laxton was amazing. He is very sensitive and yet has a certain lightness of touch. This helped me to de-compress, in a way. All I want is for Honour to shine a light on this issue and to open people’s eyes. If just one person feels they can reach out to a charity as a result of seeing it, if it makes anyone realise that they don’t have to go through what Banaz had to go through, well, it will have been worthwhile. It will have been a success.”
Keeley’s next role is in Rebecca, the Netflix adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier novel, co-starring Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas – Keeley is playing Beatrice, Maxim De Winter’s ‘jolly hockey sticks’ sister. Also in the pipeline is the film An Unquiet Life where she plays Roald Dahl’s wife Patricia Neal, and ITV drama, Finding Alice, which she co-created. Keeley plays Alice who is coping with the loss of husband Harry. Co-stars include Joanna Lumley, Gemma Jones and Nigel Havers.
Keeley (44) clearly loves to work but it seems her jam-packed schedule also helps manage her anxiety.
“Anxiety is something that never goes away,” she has said in the past. “I think it’s in your DNA if you suffer with it. I started suffering when I was 17. It’s not something that’s cured and then goes away and you move on. You are always aware, even if it’s only on a bad morning here and there, that it can escalate quickly. Keeping busy helps, being forced to carry on, because inevitably it will pass.”
Honour is available to watch on ITV player.
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