In Vibe’s new drama Bomb Girls, actress Meg Tilly plays a real life Rosie the Riveter in this series which follows the fortunes of women working in a munitions factories during World War II. �Meg talks to us about the role that enticed her out of retirement and back into acting.

During World War II, Canada’s ‘Bomb Girls’, and in New Zealand, our own land girls, were enlisted to help with occupations that were usually considered ‘mens work’.� It was a time in which the strength and determination of women during times of crisis came to the fore, and an era in which women, having tasted independence, strived for greater gender equality.


Meg Tilly stars as Lorna Corbett in Bomb Girls

New drama Bomb Girls follows the women of a Toronto bomb factory, their lives, their loves and the trials that come with working in a male dominated industry.� While women played a vital part in the war effort, their story has gone mostly untold on TV, until now.

"It’s a whole part of Canadian history and I’m sure other countries’ histories as well" says Meg Tilly, "but I had no idea about it, but of course the bombs had to come from somewhere and a lot of the bomb factories in England were bombed out so we supplied a lot of the bombs for the allied forces."

Academy Award nominated actress Meg Tilly (Agnes of God, The Big Chill) stars as Lorna Corbett, the matriarch of the Victory Munitions factory and a woman struggling with an unhappy marriage and the constant reminder of her own sons' mortality, both enlisted soldiers, in her workplace. �

Tilly has returned to acting after a lengthy sabbatical during which time she raised her three children and became a prolific author, chronicling her troubling childhood in a celebrated memoir and penning both adult and young adult fiction.� She says while she had no intention of working in TV, the character of Lorna was too good to resist.�

“I really wasn’t planning on doing it, and it wasn’t until I met with (producer and creator) Adrienne Mitchell and read with her ,and she had such insightful direction with this character that then I saw Lorna, all the colours that (writer and creator) Michael MacLennan had written in his beautifully written script.”

While the character of Lorna comes across as a tough nut, Tilly says she quickly realised that Lorna wasn’t just another “cookie cutter tough lady/boss lady”, but had her own insecurities and fears to be explored.

“I realised that they were going to allow her to be human and in that instant when I left that room I knew that if they wanted me to do it, I would do it.”

In fact, Tilly became so attached to her character that she admits there were times she felt genuine concern for Lorna.

“Sometimes when we were shooting the first six shows, I’d wake up at night worried for her, like what’s going to happen to her?”

“I woke up and I was just so sad I had to wake up my husband “I’m so worried about Lorna” because she’s an imaginary character but they become so real to you it’s like, I don’t know, not like a part of you, you just get worried for them.”

Tilly first came to prominence in the early eighties with roles in Fame, The Big Chill, Psycho II and for her Academy Award nominated performance in Agnes of God. �While Tilly had a small role on sci-fi series Caprica in 2010, Bomb Girls marks her return proper to acting, and she’s finding it all the more enjoyable this time.

"It’s so much more fun.� I think it’s sort of like, um, maybe it’s like being a grandparent?� You know I haven’t been a grandparent yet either", she says with a laugh, "but you know, there’s always hope, but I think it’s kind of like you’ve done it before but it’s, all the pressures gone off you.”

“It’s very different this time around, it’s much more peaceful and I’m also not feeling torn, because when I worked before I’d bring my children with me but every time I was on the set was time I wasn’t with them.”

“It’s great the second time round.”


Meg Tilly with co-star Jodi Balfour, who plays socialite turned 'bomb girl', Gladys Witham

To get into the mindset of Lorna, Tilly researched the time period with the help of her son Will, (who is also studying to become an actor) and found that it was an era that was still foremost in people’s minds.

“He started pulling up all these videos of recruitment tapes, people talking things from that time, and it was so cool and there were even some, a couple of interviews with women who used to work in the bomb factories and it was so interesting to hear them talk about it and then of course, Michael MacLennan when I got to Toronto, he had a bunch of books that I borrowed as well and read them from cover to cover.”

“I listened to a lot of the music of the time, news of the time, looked up newscasts of the time and also looking at fashion of the time or magazines where you see what women are expected to be.” �

Tilly says the war ironically afforded women a measure of independence they had never experienced before, changing their role in the workplace forever. �Not unlike their soldier counterparts, the bomb girls of the munitions factories also put themselves in the line of fire, with the knowledge hovering over them that an incendiary device could explode at any moment. �The materials used in weapons manufacture also produced unpleasant side effects that included jaundiced skin and hair.

“Everyday they were putting their lives on the line.”

“And for these women, yes, it changed their lives, it changed our lives, we wouldn’t be where we are now if this hadn’t happened because it kind of busted the doors open of what a woman could be and couldn’t be, what was expected.� It changed everything.”

Bomb Girls debuts on Vibe Thursday 21 June, 8.30pm