Peaky Blinders co-star reveals he was 'in awe' of late actress Helen McCrory

We were all in shock last month when Damian Lewis announced his wife Helen McCrory passed away from cancer.

Since her death, there hasn't been a shortage of friends and family paying tribute to her amazing personality and acting abilities - including her husbands heartfelt Sunday Times tribute.

Now, it's the turn of co-star Cillian Murphy, who worked with the actress on Peaky Blinders, and has said how 'in awe' he was of the star.

Cillian, who plays Tommy Shelby in the hit show, next to Helen's character Polly Gray told the Guardian: “Oh, man. She was my closest colleague on Peaky, and one of the finest actors I’ve ever worked with. 

"Any material, any scenes… she made it special. She could do power and vulnerability, one after the other.”

While the actor went on to say he was: "kind of in awe about how she lived her life – the way she balanced her work and her family so beautifully.”

Peaky Blinders, which is currently filming its latest series, without Helen, also shared their tribute to Helen when the news broke.

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Via the shows Instagram they said: “Helen’s performance as Polly Gray was inspirational, joyous, transgressive, hilarious and incredibly moving."

While it carried on with: “As a person, she was off-the-scale charismatic and deeply caring. We feel so privileged to have worked with her over the last decade.”

Helen's husband Damian originally shared the sad news of Helen's death on Twitter saying: "I’m heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family."