The real Joan Hannington has revealed her real thoughts when it comes to being portrayed by Sophie Turner in the new true-crime ITV series.
The vibrant series set in the 80s is inspired by the real-life Joan Hannington, the author of I am What I am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief.
Joan, 68, was at one point in the 80s known as ‘the Godmother’ and was one of Britain’s most successful diamond thieves.
Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner is portraying Joan on screen for ITV’s miniseries, which kicks off on Sunday night.
Amid the excitement for the highly anticipated series, the real Joan Hannington has given her two cents about being portrayed by Sophie, revealing she was clueless about the star’s fame.
In a Q&A panel about the show, the real Joan revealed that while she had never heard of Sophie, she thinks ‘they couldn’t have got anyone better.’
‘They couldn’t have got anyone better. And for me, the good part was I’d never seen Sophie in anything I’m in bed at seven o’clock every night of my life. I’m addicted to TikTok so I don’t watch much telly, which was a good thing, because I didn’t have anything to compare her to,’ she revealed.
But it wasn’t just Sophie she was unfamiliar with, the former jewel thief revealed she had never hear of Frank Dillane, who plays her husband Boisie Hannington, or any of the other cast members.
‘I walked in, didn’t know Frank. Didn’t know anything, not one of them, which was great.
The only drawback to being played by the beautiful actress? ‘I’m a bit jealous, because she’s slimmer and younger.’
She then added firmly: ‘I think she and I think everybody here knows me well enough, and if I didn’t like it, I’d say so.’
‘I’ve led a certain life, although to be, you know, I’ve been retired 40 years. This was all, as you know, in the 80s – I just thought I’d get that in there!’
‘But kudos to Madame, she’s done an amazing job,’ said Joan, praising her on-screen counterpart.
The creators revealed that Joan had a major hand in creating the series and they wanted to make sure she was happy with the final product.
In a sweet twist, her son, known as Benny Banks, has a cameo in one of the scenes where Joan and Boisie meet for the first time.
‘It was amazing because the scene that we meet first in the pub at the bartender was played by Joan’s son, Benny, right?’ Sophie revealed.
‘Yeah, which was so cool to have that because, you know, it’s the moment his parents meet, and he got to be there, and we got to hang out with him. And it was kind of such a bizarre, wonderful moment. So it was special in many, many ways.’
Who is the real Joan Hannington?
The real Joan was the youngest of six children who left school at age 13 and married her first husband, Ray Pavey, who was 27 when she was 17.
Joan had her first daughter, Debbie, when she was 18 and placed her in foster care when she was four and her husband was in prison.
Joan stole a car in order to visit her daughter in care, and was caught by the police, marking the first time she ever committed a crime.
When she andher first husband separated custody was awarded to Debbie’s wealthy foster parents.
Joan became a jewel thief when she swallowed £800,000 worth of loose diamonds from the West End London shop where she worked. She secured the job with fake references, which is depicted in the show.
She then met her husband of eight years, who she was with for 11 years in total. Joan once described him as: ‘the best fence, the best thief, the best jeweller, antiques dealer.’
In her book, she wrote: ‘Probably we had millions – several millions – going through our hands. That’s not a lot of money in this day and age, nothing on the drug deal. But in the Eighties, we were among those early criminals to be in the millionaire league without getting it over the pavement.’
During the height of her illegal activities, Joan would disguise herself as a wealthy American, go into a store and flirt with all of the staff while she tried on a ring. While distracted she would sneeze and swallow the real piece, replacing it with a replica she’d have made.
‘Best bank in the world, is your tummy. Best safety-deposit box invented,’ she wrote in her book.
Joan retired from her life of crime shortly after the death of her husband Boisie who died in an explosion in an arson attack.
Sophie Turner said playing Joan was ‘the thrill of her career’
Sophie spoke about playing such a glamourous character and described the role as the ‘thrill of her career’.
‘It was amazing. It was the thrill of my career. I feel, I think, to be able to play someone like Joan, who’s so multifaceted and, as Richard was saying, is so funny, but she’s gone through so much trauma, and she’s so ambitious, and she’s all these things, mother, love, a liar, thief, but she, there really is so much to…
‘Retired’ shouted Joan during the Q&A in a hilarious moment.
‘But she, she really is so much in one person. And I just felt it. It was the biggest treat to be able to play her. And it’s just remarkable that it’s all a true story – or inspired by!’ Sophie quickly corrected.
The star added that she too is a mother, so was able to relate to Joan’s fear about her daughter – who was renamed Kelly in the series.
‘She is the crux of everything in this story and while we were filming scenes that weren’t involving Kelly, Richard would come up to me for almost every scene and go “and where’s Kelly”. So it was always, a constant constant constant reminder of this is why she’s doing it.
‘Sometimes I think when you’re doing a show like this and it’s heist-y and there’s diamonds and glamour, you get kind of swept away by it all and you have to remember that this is to provide a solid and stable life for her daughter so she can get her back, and it’s really a heartbreaking story, so we had to constantly remind ourselves of that so we can keep it grounded and not get too excited.’
When asked about her preparation for emotional scenes, Sophie replied: I’m a Pisces. Very emotional. But I do listen to music and things like that.
‘But I’m a mother, so anything to do with children it just kind of flows out of me.’
Joan begins on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, September 29 at 9pm.
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