Erin Doherty
British actress (born 1992)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erin Rachael Doherty (/ˈdoʊərti/;[1] born 16 July 1992) is a British actress. She gained recognition as Princess Anne in the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix drama The Crown (2019–2020) and for her role in Adolescence (2025), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.[2]
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16 July 1992
Erin Doherty | |
|---|---|
Doherty in 2022 | |
| Born | Erin Rachael Doherty 16 July 1992 Crawley, West Sussex, England |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2016–present |
Early life and education
Erin Rachael Doherty is of Irish heritage and is from Crawley in West Sussex.[3][4][5] Her paternal grandfather was from Carndonagh, a town in Inishowen in the north of County Donegal in Ulster.[6][7] Doherty's parents divorced when she was four. She began acting in Sunday drama classes with her older sister Grace shortly afterwards.[8]
Doherty studied at Hazelwick School in Crawley.[3] A talented footballer, Doherty played in midfield for and captained the Crawley Wasps and was scouted by Chelsea Women; she reached the age where she "had to commit" to either football or acting and chose the latter.[9][10]
Doherty took a one-year course at the Guildford School of Acting (2011–12) before training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (2012–15).[11][12]
Whilst training, Doherty won the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year Award (SSSSPOTY) in 2015 for her rendition of "Broadway Baby" from the Sondheim musical Follies.[13][14]
Career
Theatre
Doherty is a frequent theatre actress. Since graduating from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2015, she has appeared in a number of productions at some of London's leading theatres. Doherty's performances have consistently attracted positive reviews from leading theatre critics. Michael Billington named Doherty as 'one of the year's greatest discoveries'[15] after her performance in My Name Is Rachel Corrie, a one-woman play about the activist Rachel Corrie. Doherty starred in Jack Thorne's play Junkyard, which led What's On Stage reviewer Kris Hallett to write "Doherty is the star here, and by rights will soon be a star full-stop".[16] Her leading performance in Alan Ayckbourn's play The Divide at the Old Vic Theatre was described by Dominic Cavendish for The Daily Telegraph as having "star-wattage as bright as anything".[17]
As of 2025, she was in Unicorn, written by Mike Bartlett and directed by James Macdonald, at the Garrick Theatre.[18] Her co-stars are Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan.
Film and television
Doherty's first television appearance was in a 2016 episode of Call the Midwife, followed by a role in the 2018 BBC miniseries Les Misérables.[11][12]
In 2018, Doherty was a Screen International Star of Tomorrow, and an Evening Standard Rising Star.[19][20]
In 2019, Doherty appeared as Princess Anne in the third season of The Crown. She knew little about the princess before being cast, and consequently spent hours studying Anne's family history and life.[21] Doherty made a point of watching footage of the princess only at the age she was portraying her, rather than interviews of Anne in later life.[22][23] Anne's voice is very different from Doherty's, being much lower in pitch; the actress spent time carefully learning and mimicking it, finding that it "was the key into her psyche".[24] Doherty reprised her role as Princess Anne in the fourth season of the series.[25]
In 2022, Doherty was the protagonist in the BBC/Amazon Prime drama Chloe alongside Poppy Gilbert as Becky.[26] She was also cast to portray Anne Askew in the historical drama film Firebrand in 2023.[27] In 2024, she played Clare, a missing child returning to her parents at age 24, in the British psychological thriller film Reawakening, alongside Jared Harris and Juliet Stevenson.[28]
In 2025, she played child psychologist Briony Ariston, alongside the youth Owen Cooper, in episode 3 of the Netflix miniseries Adolescence. This received media coverage due to the intense 52-minute episode having been filmed entirely in a single uncut take (as was each episode of the series).[29] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian ranked the third episode of the miniseries' as "most astounding", declaring that Doherty was "surely emerging as one of the best actors of her generation".[30]
The same year, Doherty continued working with Stephen Graham. She played Mary Carr in Disney+'s A Thousand Blows (2025),[29] as the leader of an all-female crime syndicate called the Forty Elephants.
Personal life
Doherty is a lesbian and was in a relationship with fellow actress Sophie Melville.[26][31][32] She later dated radiographer Sinead Donnelly.[33][34]
In 2024, Doherty was one of the celebrities chosen to play football for England against the World XI in the charity event Soccer Aid for UNICEF; England won 6–3. She is a fan of Tottenham Hotspur[35].
Acting credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Firebrand | Anne Askew | |
| 2024 | Reawakening | Clare |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Call the Midwife | Jessie Marsh | BBC | Episode 6.2 |
| 2018 | Les Misérables | Fabienne | BBC | Episodes 1.2, 1.3 (uncredited) |
| 2020 | Unprecedented | Dee | BBC Four | Episode 1.5 |
| 2019–2020 | The Crown | Anne, Princess Royal | Netflix | Main role (Seasons 3–4) 15 episodes |
| 2022 | Chloe | Becky | BBC and Amazon Prime Video | 6 episodes, main role |
| 2025 | Adolescence | Briony Ariston | Netflix | Episode 3 - Main role [29] |
| 2025–2026 | A Thousand Blows | Mary Carr | Disney+ | 12 episodes, main role |
| TBA | California Avenue | Lela | BBC One | Main role[36] |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Junkyard | Fiz | Bristol Old Vic | |
| 2017 | My Name Is Rachel Corrie | Rachel Corrie | Young Vic | |
| 2017 | A Christmas Carol | Belle | The Old Vic | |
| 2018 | The Divide | Soween | The Old Vic | |
| 2019 | Wolfie | Z | Theatre503 | |
| 2022 | The Crucible | Abigail Williams | Olivier Theatre, Royal National Theatre | |
| 2024 | Death of England: Closing Time | Carly | @sohoplace | |
| 2025 | Unicorn | Kate | Garrick Theatre |
