From Spring Issue 61
Glass speaks to British actor Lucy Boynton about her latest role as Ruth Ellis and what her story of injustice says about society’s treatment of women
Women have historically been vilified, whether for their intelligence, their refusal to conform, or simply for existing. Caged by society’s expectations, they have spent centuries making amends for so-called transgressions.
“Can you believe it? When you really sit and think about the witch trials, it’s easy to view them as a detached historical event, but women were literally set on fire and drowned, for being intelligent or for simply being good at maths,” Lucy Boynton reflects as we take a deep dive into her latest project, the TV drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.
Photographer: Pip
Ellis, a London nightclub hostess, holds a singular and haunting place in British history as the last woman to be executed in the UK. Convicted of murdering her lover, David Blakely, in 1955, Ellis’s case captured the nation’s attention and ignited a fierce public outcry. She shot Blakely six times, four of those shots fired at close range, with forensic evidence revealing shotgun residue on his skin.
Her swift conviction and subsequent execution by hanging stirred widespread outrage, casting a stark light on the harsh realities of capital punishment and leaving an enduring mark on the national conscience.
Photographer: Pip
The case, marked by later revelations of her abuse at the hands of Blakely, ignited the debate about capital punishment. At just 28, Ellis was hanged at Holloway Prison. Her execution fuelled calls for reform, contributing to the eventual abolition of the death penalty in the UK. Her life saved thousands of others. But what a costly price to pay.
Taking on the lead role as Ellis carries weight. What was Boynton’s route into her universe? “My plan was to gather all the facts and then approach it from an analytical point of view, figuring out how I wanted to play her. But the empathy engaged much earlier than I had anticipated. I was mistaken in thinking there could be any neutrality when reading this case. It is devastating.”
Photographer: Pip
Boynton is introspective yet precise, a rare balance among performers. But she’s no stranger to portraying complex, enigmatic women, often drawing from real-life stories. Born on 17 January 1994, in New York City to English parents, journalists Graham Boynton and Adrianne Pielou, she was raised in southeast London and attended Blackheath High School, followed by James Allen’s Girls’ School in Dulwich.
After an early breakout in Miss Potter (2006) about Beatrix Potter, Boynton gained recognition in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) as Mary Austin, Freddie Mercury’s steadfast yet conflicted partner. She has since embraced historical roles, including the fiercely intelligent Marie Antoinette in Chevalier (2022), bringing nuance to a figure often reduced to excess.
Across projects like The Politician (2019-2020) and The Pale Blue Eye (2022), Boynton gravitated toward characters shaped by power, ambition and isolation, solidifying her reputation for portraying women of depth and contradiction.
Photographer: Pip
“It’s always interesting to re-examine the way women have been presented to us,” says Boynton. “When doing any kind of historical piece or reading anything throughout history, we are very aware that there has always been an author. So, it’s always worth challenging the way a historical event or historical figure has been framed. But I think this is especially true when it comes to women. We are progressing, but only now. Society has become increasingly more equal, yet we still live in a patriarchy. We still live in a misogynistic society.”
This was particularly evident in the life of Ruth Ellis and her subsequent trial. “Her case directly impacted our judicial system. Sadly, the general public had already come to that conclusion at the time. Many people wrote to their MPs, saying that she absolutely did not deserve to be hanged. In the UK, the general appetite for capital punishment had almost completely diminished. There had been a few cases just before Ruth where people were hanged, only for it to later be discovered that they had been wrongly convicted. So, it was murder.”
Photographer: Pip
It is harsh language but necessary, a conversation that, decades later, still demands attention. “The way we have viewed and portrayed women has always been, in some way, tinted by misogyny. Whether slightly or heavily, it has been coloured by societal biases. This is why, with stories like Ruth Ellis, I want to re-examine them through a contemporary lens, through the modern understanding we have now. It is a gift to be able to do that, informed by hindsight, contemporary freedoms and the knowledge of how far we still have to go,” Boynton continues.
Even today, the biases persist. “I find it so interesting talking to women about this. Every time I brought it up before filming, during or after, the reaction was always the same. Every woman I spoke to, upon hearing that Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged in the UK for shooting her partner, responded with ‘what did he do?’ That reaction is not unreasonable. The statistics for domestic violence in 2025 are abhorrent, horrific. It has been deemed a national crisis. Domestic violence against women is an epidemic.”
Photographer: Pip
An epidemic that must be confronted, and one that can only be dismantled through more open, relentless conversations. On a roll, Boynton adds, “When I started this press tour, I wanted to bring positive numbers, thinking things would have significantly improved. But the reality of it is shocking. Yes, it is better than in 1955, when domestic violence was so commonplace that people didn’t even think to report it. But we are nowhere near where we need to be.
“There is so much exhaustion in women’s voices when discussing this because it is still posed as a ‘women’s issue’ despite the fact that women are the victims. Yes, men are also victims, statistically speaking, but they are primarily victims of male violence. Women, however, bear the overwhelming brunt of it. I just wish more men, especially the men who know themselves to be good men, spoke about it as much as we are forced to,” she laments.
But the reality is more complicated. Take Ruth Ellis and her tragic story, the system that failed her, the men who judged her. The very fact that, in the 1950s, the judicial system was unequipped to deal with the nuances of her case speaks volumes. Empathy was limited, sympathy non-existent.
Photographer: Pip
“The very facts of her life show that she endured so much abuse from childhood. Her father sexually assaulted her and her sister. Her first partner abandoned her. Her first husband was abusive. She lived through the Second World War, experiencing the Blitz in London. She lived so much life in such a short amount of time. She was executed at 28. When I approached this role, I was 29 and, already, I had outlived her without experiencing even a fraction of what she had endured,” Boynton explains.
There is real tragedy in the fact that these conversations remain necessary, with facts not having improved much. “A lot of fundamentally kind and educated men are genuinely surprised by this. And that confusion, that lack of awareness, baffles me. I wish the gender divide in these conversations didn’t exist.
“I hope that with this show, men don’t feel defensive. I hope they lean into it, realising, ‘I didn’t know the figures were this bad. How can I help?’ I hope it extends the conversation beyond just women.”
Photographer: Pip
The gender bias today may be less explicit than in Ruth Ellis’s universe. However, her reality is stark and dark. “For Ruth to sit in a courtroom, with male psychiatrists, a male jury and a male congregation, hearing them talk about ‘female hysteria’ as an actual diagnosis, for a woman who made a conscious decision to end the cycle of abuse in her life, is baffling.”
Her voice sharpens. Rightfully so. Women have endured oppression and abuse for so long and anger against it has been passed down through generations. It begs the question, where does it pinnacle? “I wonder what the accumulation of all of this will result in,” Boynton echoes.
But if she had the chance to speak to Ruth Ellis in her final moments, what would she say? “If I couldn’t change anything then I don’t know that I could say anything,” comes the swift reply. “She’d been on the receiving end of a cacophony, I would just want to let her have her peace. In quiet company. I wouldn’t try to create any ripples. I would simply show respect for the fact that, in the end, she took ownership of her own narrative.”
As all women should.
by Adina Ilie
Photographer: Pip
Stylist: Esperanza De La Fuente
Hair: Halley Brisker
All make-up by Andrew Gallimore using CHANEL Spring-Summer 2025 Make-up Collection and No.1 de CHANEL Body Serum-In-Mist
Manicurist: Sabrina Gayle using CHANEL Le Vernis in 197 Artiste and CHANEL La Crème Main
Photography Assistant: Emmanuel Robert
Styling Assistant: Maria Anita Pompili
Talent: Lucy Boynton
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