Imelda Staunton

1976–1999: Career beginnings and early roles

Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976,^[12][13] then spent six years in British repertory theatre, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, where she had the title role in Shaw's Saint Joan (1979). She then moved on to roles the National Theatre, including Lucy Lockit in The Beggar's Opera (1982), which earned her Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre.^[14] She also appeared in two revivals of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre; the first in 1982 in which she met her husband Jim Carter^[15] and the second in 1996 in which she played Miss Adelaide and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[16]

In 1985, Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work in both The Corn Is Green at The Old Vic and A Chorus of Disapproval at the National Theatre.^[17] She also played Dorothy Gale in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1987 revival of The Wizard of Oz at the Barbican Centre,^[18][19] which earned her another Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.^[20] Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in the original London production of Into the Woods (1990).^[21]

Staunton's first big-screen role came in a 1986 film Comrades. She then appeared in the 1991 film Antonia and Jane, and in the 1992 film Peter's Friends. Other film roles include performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Deadly Advice (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Twelfth Night (1996). In 1993, she appeared on television alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. Staunton also played the wife of Detective Burakov in the 1995 HBO movie, Citizen X, which recounted the pursuit and capture of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986), Midsomer Murders, and the sitcom Is It Legal? (1995–98), as well as A Bit of Fry and Laurie. She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994). Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love.

On radio, she has appeared in the title role of the detective drama series Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead "Izzy Comyn" in the comedy Up the Garden Path (which later moved to ITV with Staunton reprising the role), in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999), as "Courageous Kate" in Series 1 of Elephants to Catch Eels and as "Xanthippe" in Series 2 of Acropolis Now. She starred opposite Anna Massey in the post-World War II mystery series Daunt and Dervish, and opposite Patrick Barlow in The Patrick and Maureen Maybe Music Experience. She played the role of a schoolboy as the lead character in the five part (15 minutes each): "The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth" for BBC Radio 4.

2000–2011: Vera Drake and Harry Potter films

In the early 2000s, Staunton appeared in supporting roles in Chicken Run (2000), Another Life (2001) and Bright Young Things (2003). She received widespread acclaim for her performance in the title role of Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake (2004) as a working-class woman who secretly performs abortions.^[22] She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the European Film Award for Best Actress, and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival; the film itself won the Golden Lion.^[23][24] For the same role, she received her first Academy Award nomination as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.^[25] She went on to star in Nanny McPhee (2005) and played Margaret Campbell in Freedom Writers (2007) opposite Hilary Swank. That same year she portrayed the free-thinking gossip Miss Pole in the BBC series Cranford.^[26]

Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), for which she received widespread acclaim.^[27][28] She was nominated for Best British Actress in a Supporting Role at the London Film Critics Circle Awards.^[29] Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in 2010. In 2011, she played Grace Andrews in the second series of Psychoville.

Other film roles include the 2008 film A Bunch of Amateurs, in which she starred alongside Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond, and the character of Sonia Teichberg in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (2009). Staunton provided the voice of the Talking Flowers in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), and played one of the lead roles in the supernatural drama film The Awakening (2011).^[30] In the ensuing twenty years, Staunton mainly had roles in plays, including Sonya in Uncle Vanya (1988), Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane (2009) and Margie Good People (2014), for which she received Olivier nominations for Best Actress in a Play. She also appeared in two productions at the Almeida Theatre; firstly in the premiere of Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding in 2007 and secondly in a revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance in 2011. Also in 2011, she was the Voice of the Interface in the highly-acclaimed and Hugo Award-nominated episode of Doctor Who, "The Girl Who Waited". In 2012, she portrayed Alma Reville, the wife of Alfred Hitchcock, in the HBO television movie The Girl, which also starred Toby Jones and Sienna Miller. Her performance saw her nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

2012–2019: Return to musical theatre

Most recently, Staunton has appeared in two Chichester Festival Theatre productions, taking on the role of Mrs. Lovett in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd between 2011 and 2012, starring opposite Michael Ball, before starring as Rose in a revival of Gypsy between 2014 and 2015.^[31] Both productions transferred to London for critically and commercially acclaimed runs.^[32] Staunton won her second and third Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for the two productions in 2013 and 2016 respectively.^[33] In 2012, she voiced Queen Victoria in the Aardman film The Pirates! Band of Misfits, where she serves as the main antagonist. In 2014, she co-starred in Maleficent as well as the British comedy-drama Pride. In late 2014, she had a voice role in Paddington, a film based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Staunton and her Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon voiced Paddington's Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, respectively.

Staunton returned to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in 2017 as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring alongside Conleth Hill, Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots at the Harold Pinter Theatre.^[34] This play was broadcast in National Theatre Live on 18 May 2017. Staunton performed the role of Sally in the 2017 National Theatre revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, alongside Janie Dee as Phyllis, and Philip Quast as Ben.^[35][36] The show was broadcast through the National Theatre Live initiative on 16 November 2017. An August 2018 announcement revealed that Staunton would be among the new cast to join the original actors in Downton Abbey, which started principal photography at about the same time.^[37]

2020–present: The Crown and theatre roles

Staunton starred as Penny in seasons 1 and 2 of the Apple TV+ comedy series Trying. Season One premiered on 1 May 2020 and Season Two premiered on 14 May 2021.^[38] On 31 January 2020, it was announced that she would be portraying Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth season of the critically acclaimed Netflix series The Crown.^[39] On 9 July 2020, it was announced that the series had been extended to a sixth and final season, with Staunton again to reprise her role of the Queen.^[40][41] Staunton's performance in the fifth season earned her Golden Globe Award and British Academy Television Award nominations.^[42][43] Her performance in season six earned her Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.^[44][45] She has stated that she was filming scenes for The Crown on 8 September 2022, the day of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and that she and co-star Lesley Manville were informed of the news during the shoot and chose to complete the day’s filming before observing a period of mourning.^[46] In summer 2024, Staunton played the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi in a revival of the musical Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium.^[47] For her performance, she won her fourth Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[48]

Staunton has narrated unabridged audio-book versions of many of Julia Donaldson's children's books, including The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Monkey Puzzle, The Snail and the Whale, Stick Man and Zog, as well as other children's books. In 2014 she collaborated with her husband, Jim Carter, and Show of Hands on Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War, an album of songs and poetry from and inspired by World War I. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge for the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction, which opened at Universal Epic Universe on May 22, 2025.^[49]

Film

Television

Theatre

Theme park attractions

Discography

• 1990: Into the Woods – Original London Cast; as baker's wife.
• 2010: Julia Donaldson Audio Collection; as the narrator of the Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Highway Rat, Zog, and Charlie Cook's Favourite Book.
• 2012: Sweeney Todd – Revival Cast Recording; as Mrs. Lovett.
• 2015: Gypsy – London Cast Recording; as Momma Rose.
• 2019: Follies – London Cast Recording; as Sally.