Lucy Boynton on A Cruel Love and why pressure on women to be maternal is "internalised misogyny"

Among them is Ruth Ellis, with her peroxide blonde hair and red lipstick. Aged 28, she killed her lover, 25-year-old David Blakely, on 10th April 1955 in front of the Magdala Tavern in Hampstead, London. She was immediately arrested, and the jury took just over 20 minutes to reach a guilty verdict. On 13th July 1955, she was executed for her crime – the last woman to be hanged in Britain.

Her inclusion in the Chamber of Horrors would have you think she’s evil incarnate. The headlines of the newspapers at the time certainly don’t help: "The 'back streets' girl who tried to gatecrash society". What doesn’t quite have the same ring to it is: "Woman in abusive relationship shoots lover who punched her in the stomach so hard that she miscarried."

"It’s internalised misogyny, where we expect women to be the nurturers," says Lucy Boynton, who plays Ellis in ITV’s new four-part drama of her life, A Cruel Love: the Ruth Ellis Story. "People want to see women as mothers, whether they are or not.

"There’s something really uncomfortable for people, when that maternal figure is the source of darkness or revenge, or lashes out and stands up for herself, or acts unpredictably in a way that makes them feel unsafe. Maybe it’s slightly more unsettling than when it’s men, because we’re very used to reading about male violence."

Does being a woman mean you have to be maternal? "F**k no!" adds Boynton, rolling her eyes. "The idea that that’s inherent in women is incredibly limiting."

Boynton read Carol Ann Lee’s book, A Fine Day for a Hanging: the Real Ruth Ellis Story, which forms the basis of the series, as part of her research, while also trying to approach the role with neutrality. But the 31-year-old actor quickly realised there’s "no neutrality when it comes to a case like this of such severe domestic violence".

Did she reach out to women who have suffered the same while preparing for the part? "With this being a true story, I think it’s more valid, but I feel conflicted about using someone else’s experience for acting, and I felt like I had so much source material thanks to Carol Ann that I didn’t want to put that on anyone else."

Boynton has played her fair share of real people – Mary Austin in Bohemian Rhapsody, Marie Antoinette in Chevalier and, aged 12, a young Beatrix Potter in 2006’s Miss Potter – but getting into character as Ellis must have been helped by the fact that she was able to stand in her shoes. Scenes in the drama were filmed at the Magdala Tavern, the old Hampstead police station and the Magistrates Court where Ellis was actually taken.

At the Old Bailey, Ellis appeared with freshly dyed blonde hair and immaculate make-up, wearing a fur-trimmed, tailored suit with a white silk shirt and black high heels. Yet, someone in the courtroom called her "a typical West End tart". Despite her best efforts, her red lip was always a little too red, her outfit that little bit too last season for Blakely’s crowd.

"We are still obsessed with class hierarchy," says Boynton. "It still infects our society – but the way Ruth experienced it was so ugly. She did everything she could to better herself. She spoke with this intense RP [Received Pronunciation] accent that we had to lessen for the series to show some kind of indication of her background. But it felt like a betrayal of her, because she never slipped in her accent."

As an actor, does Boynton feel judged for her own accent and appearance? "Yeah, there are such harsh standards still for women. I think things are getting better, but not because society is becoming kinder or confronting itself. It’s because of women who say ‘F**k it’ and present as themselves authentically anyway, knowing the negativity they’ll receive.

"There still is that stereotype of… you get treated really differently when you decide to dye your hair blonde. I have walked into the salon with blonde hair and out of the salon with black or red hair, and I noticed the difference immediately." Does she receive less male attention when she’s not blonde? "Yeah." Presumably she doesn’t think men are subjected to the same judgement for their appearance? "No way, not nearly as much as women ever have been, or ever will be!"

As we approach the 70th anniversary of Ellis shooting Blakely, there are people who believe she should be given a posthumous pardon. Would Boynton like to see that happen as a result of the drama? "The more I empathised with Ruth, the more pressure I put on myself, because I really wanted the audience to get a fair and accurate portrayal of her and understand what a grave miscarriage of justice it was. Hopefully the drama will be a catalyst for changing the way we operate in this patriarchal society, but to put that pressure on one role is a lot…"

Perhaps a good start would be removing Ellis from Madame Tussauds’s Chamber of Horrors.

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A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story premieres on Wednesday 5th March 2025. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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