On Saturday (22), Keeley Hawes attended the Feathers Animal Ball. Earlier this year, in March, Feathers Association announced her as a new ambassador. Keeley talked to The Hollywood Reporter about her connection with the Association:

“I have been looking over the last year or so for a charity to spend some time with and lend a hand if I can,” she explained. “I googled the Feathers, and I couldn’t believe they were still going strong in the 90th year. So, I sent them an email and said I’d love to be involved. And they didn’t reply, because they didn’t think it was really me,” the star quipped. “Then eventually, they come back and said we’d love to have a cup of tea and I went in and we really had a very emotional three hours or so over tea and cake.”

The emotion was due to her own personal experience as a Feathers member, benefiting from the organization’s offerings when she was younger. “We were talking about how much it meant to us growing up. I grew up in central London, and it was a huge part of my life and incredible for my confidence.”

Recalled Hawes: “It was hugely important to me as a child growing up in central London in a big family. I lived in social housing, we didn’t have lots of holidays and that type of thing. When the summer holidays were coming up, there would be little lists and you would add your name to the day trips or the weekend trips to the countryside, and the sheer thrill of being part of that was kind of magical. So it was really lovely to be part of that community of the Feathers.”

Hawes’ husband Matthew MacFadyen (Succession, Operation Mincemeat) couldn’t join her at the ball. “He is in Budapest, shooting Death by Lightning,” she told THR. Netflix unveiled the drama series earlier this year, saying it would tell “the epic and stranger-than-fiction true story of James Garfield, reluctant 20th president of the United States, and his greatest admirer Charles Guiteau — the man who would come to kill him.” Michael Shannon (George & Tammy, Waco) plays Garfield, and Macfadyen Guiteau.

There was no room or need for drama at the animal masquerade ball though. “The Feathers is a hugely positive thing. And it has a huge impact on the communities where I grew up and beyond,” Hawes said. “They feed children in the summer holidays. There are lots of people at this time in this country hit by the cost of living crisis. So it’s really worthwhile.” A moment later, several people came up to Hawes to greet her and share stories and laughter.