Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Gwyneth Keyworth says she can identify with her similarly neurodivergent character in the hit BBC show
ByAdam HaleBBC Wales and Iwan ArwelBBC Cymru Fyw
One of the stars of detective drama Death Valley says finding out she has ADHD made her feel “so lucky” she found a career in acting.
Welsh actress Gwyneth Keyworth said she was only diagnosed with the condition about two years ago, having found school particularly challenging.
She said it helped her to identify with her neurodivergent character detective Janie Mallowan in the BBC whodunnit.
The second series, which concluded its six-episode run in June on BBC One, saw her team up once again with Timothy Spall’s John Chapel to solve murders in the Welsh countryside.
“I believe with Janie, and what I share with Janie, I know that personally I am so lucky to have found acting,” Keyworth told BBC Radio Cymru.
“These things like thinking on the spot, being talkative and bringing a lot of ideas was something positive.
“Janie too has a diversity, and what I wanted to show, especially in the second series, is that she doesn’t deal very well with paperwork and how she can change from one subject to another.
“It’s part of her character, but what I didn’t want to do was make a sob story.”
Keyworth, who’s also appeared in shows such as Game of Thrones, Black Mirror and The Crown, added: “This is part of her. This is the reality. It doesn’t have to be something negative, just something that ‘is’.”
Image caption, Death Valley sees Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth solve murders in rural Wales
Keyworth, who was born in Aberystwyth, said ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) was not spoken about much in the area while growing up there in the 1990s.
“And definitely not a lot of people were speaking about it in terms of women, because it looks very different,” she said.
“I remember teachers saying ‘you’re not trying enough’, and I was crying because I was trying my very best – but I just couldn’t do ‘this thing’. I’m writing, and I’m not very good behind a desk.”
She added: “Almost every school report I have says that ‘Gwyneth dreams and doesn’t concentrate, is talkative and has a lot of ideas but can’t finish reading’.”
Keyworth said she eventually received helped from teachers at school who gave her more time to complete work.
“Now you look back on it, it’s so obvious,” he said about her ADHD diagnosis, which she received “about two years ago”.
Spall a ‘national treasure’
Keyworth returned to Death Valley for its second series earlier this year alongside acting royalty Spall, with the show set in and filmed across several locations in Wales including Penarth, Little Haven, and Bannau Brycheiniog.
Keyworth said working with Spall was an “amazing” experience.
“We both work quite similarly. Take the work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously,” she said.
“He is so good at what he does and he brings so much energy to the work. To think of all the things he has done in his career, he is a national treasure.”
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