Jodie Comer was in tears as she prepared for her role in a powerful new drama about the coronavirus pandemic.
The BAFTA-winning star, best known for her roles in Killing Eve and Doctor Foster, plays a care worker in the much-anticipated Channel Four film Help.
To prepare for the role Jodie heard first-hand how Covid-19 had devastated a care home in Greater Manchester.
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She spent hours talking to real-life carer Rachel Smith about the battle to save lives at EachStep home in Blackley and was deeply moved by the stories she was told.
Rachel, 30, told the Mirror: “I told Jodie how we started losing one patient after another and felt completely helpless as there was no rhyme nor reason to who was getting sick – and we had little idea what would happen next.
“Jodie was mortified. She was really upset about some of the stories we told her.
"I don’t think she realised how difficult that time was and she got upset through the whole conversation.
"It wasn’t just one thing, she was tearful the whole time.”
In Help Jodie, 28, plays Sarah, a carer who forms a bond with a man suffering from young-onset Alzheimer’s played by Stephen Graham, 48.
The character wears bin liners as makeshift PPE, just like real-life carers had to, and Rachel’s experiences provided much of the detail for the drama.
Figures show that 42,341 care home residents died after the first case was registered on March 17 2020.
Jodie, who is making the leap from TV to Hollywood by starring alongside Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi in the new film Free Guy, said about her role: “We started shooting literally as we went into the third lockdown and it was so surreal because the story starts before the pandemic and then the pandemic hits.
“So it was really strange playing out events that were so recent.
“We were able to speak to carers and them being so honest. I’m so proud of that film.
“Stephen does these roles all the time but I felt it was the first I’ve done where it felt bigger than all of us.”
Jodie later sent staff cupcakes as a thank-you, and Rachel showed her videos of happier times at the care home with sing-songs and Christmas.
Rachel said: “I’d call NHS 111 on two phones and couldn’t get through on either. I would lock myself in the bathroom and cry, but you always had to come out with a smile on your face.”
Of the 55 residents at the Blackley home, 35 caught Covid early and nine died.
Thankfully the home is now Covid-free.
Rachel’s manager Michelle Phillips, 50, said: “People were dying that were living really well with dementia. You felt like people were being robbed.”
Help is screened on Channel Four at 9pm on Thursday.
