Vera icon Brenda Blethyn has opened up about the importance of her new role in the upcoming British film Dragonfly.

The film, which is written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams, delves into the UK's loneliness epidemic, focusing on a woman (Andrea Riseborough) who starts to look out for her elderly neighbour (Blethyn) after being disgusted with the state of her care, with the pair soon forming an unlikely friendship.

Speaking to The Telegraph about the film, Blethyn noted that technology has made it harder for a number of older people to get meaningful social interaction.

She explained: "I remember a time when you'd look up the road for the postman to come, you know, you'd get handwritten letters from your friends and family. Then that went out the window and you got a phone call. Then it's emails. Then it's a text. Now it's emoticons. People get a thumbs-up [on a mobile phone] as a response to a question. What's that supposed to mean?

"At least when letters stopped, there was the telephone, you could have a conversation. But now it's all this, and elderly people don't really know how all that works."

Of course, Blethyn is best known for her 14-year stint as the lead in the beloved ITV crime drama Vera, which came to an end in January.

Asked about the cosy crime trend sweeping Britain, from The Thursday Murder Club to Murder Before Evensong, Blethyn said: "It's like a good anaesthetic, when you can't get to sleep at night. I'm being facetious, but I don't find it edifying. It's not taxing enough."

She also said that she's not a fan of "a load of violence" in film and TV, adding: "I don't like seeing a whole load of sex on the screen either. That's better than killing people, but you're kind of not privy to it in real life... I'm not a prude by any means, but I just find it uncomfortable."