Lara Pulver
English actress (born 1980)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lara Pulver (born 1 September 1980) is an English actress, who won the 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical in the West End's revival of Gypsy.
Lara Pulver | |
|---|---|
Pulver in Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, 2013 | |
| Born | 1 September 1980 (age 45) Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England |
| Alma mater | Bird College |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Her screen credits include True Blood (2010), Sherlock (2012-2014), Da Vinci's Demons (2013–2015), Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond (2014), Spooks (2015), Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020), The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021), Dota: Dragon's Blood (2021–2022), The Split (2022), Maternal (2023), Blood of Zeus (2024–2025), and MobLand (2025).
Early life and education
Pulver was born in the town of Leigh-on-Sea in Southend-on-Sea, Essex,[1] on 1 September 1980 and grew up in a village near Sevenoaks, Kent.[2][3] Her father is from a Jewish family; her mother converted to Judaism when they married.[4][5] She has a sister, Erika, who is four years older and works as a teacher.[4]
Pulver attended the National Youth Music Theatre between 1994 and 1998, as well as The Liz Burville Dance Centre, Bexley.[6] In 1997, she began studying at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts, and graduated in 2000.[7][8]
Career
Pulver was nominated for the 2008 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the role of Lucille Frank in the first West End production of the musical Parade at the Donmar Warehouse. She reprised the role in the Los Angeles production at the Mark Taper Forum opposite T.R. Knight.
In 2008, Pulver recorded a song for the CD Act One – Songs from the Musicals of Alexander S. Bermange. Pulver joined the cast of the BBC's Robin Hood in 2009 as Isabella, the sister of Guy of Gisbourne.[9]
In 2010, Pulver joined the cast of the third series of HBO's True Blood as Sookie Stackhouse's fairy godmother, Claudine Crane.[10]
Pulver played Erin Watts, the new chief of Section D, in the tenth and final series of BBC spy drama Spooks, a role she reprised in the 2015 feature film Spooks: The Greater Good
Pulver played Irene Adler in "A Scandal in Belgravia", the first episode of the second series of Sherlock.[11] Her appearance caused an "enormous" response,[12] with the Evening Standard calling the scene where she greets Sherlock Holmes nude "infamous".[13] To The Telegraph, Pulver called the scene "empowering".[14] The BBC received over 100 complaints about the footage.[15][16][14] The episode was the most-watched programme on BBC iPlayer from January to April 2012.[16]
In 2012, she joined the cast of Da Vinci's Demons as the "seductive and politically-minded" Clarice Orsini, a series regular and wife of Elliot Cowan's character Lorenzo Medici.[17]
In 2014, she played Louise in a revival of Gypsy at the Chichester Festival Theatre.[18] The production transferred to the West End in April 2015.[19] Pulver won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for the same role in the Savoy Theatre production of Gypsy. Louise is actually the title role, as "Louise" becomes the real-life early-20th-century American strip-tease sensation Gypsy Rose Lee, on whose memoirs the musical is based. Pulver's co-star in the Savoy production, Imelda Staunton, won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as the larger-than-life Mama Rose.[20][21][22]
In 2025, Pulver starred in the Guy Ritchie directed Paramount+ British crime drama television series MobLand,[23] in a cast which included Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Helen Mirren and Geoff Bell.[24]
Personal life
In 2003, Pulver met American actor Josh Dallas while he was in the UK studying at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.[citation needed] They married in December 2007 in Devon.[25][5] In an interview on 2 December 2011, Dallas stated they had divorced.[8][citation needed]
Pulver began dating fellow Spooks actor Raza Jaffrey in 2012 and married on 27 December 2014. The couple have two children.[26][citation needed]
Acting credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Legacy | Diane Shaw | |
| 2011 | Language of a Broken Heart | Violet | |
| 2014 | Edge of Tomorrow[27] | Karen Lord | Non-speaking role |
| 2015 | A Patch of Fog | Lucy | |
| 2015 | Spooks: The Greater Good | Erin Watts | |
| 2016 | Underworld: Blood Wars | Semira | |
| 2021 | The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf | Tetra | Voice role |
| TBA | The Riders | Filming |
Television
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Robin Hood[28] | Isabella | TV series (8 episodes in Series 3) |
| 2010 | The Special Relationship | Intern | TV movie |
| 2010 | True Blood | Claudine Crane | TV series (5 episodes) |
| 2011 | Spooks | Erin Watts | TV series (main cast in Series 10) |
| 2012, 2014 | Sherlock | Irene Adler | "A Scandal in Belgravia" and "The Sign of Three" |
| 2012 | Coming Up | Annette | "Camouflage" |
| 2013–2015 | Da Vinci's Demons | Clarice Orsini | TV series; main role |
| 2013 | Skins: Fire | Victoria | TV series; minor role |
| 2014 | Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond | Ann O'Neill | TV series (4 episodes); Main role |
| 2015 | Spooks: The Greater Good | Erin Watts | Reprising her role from the series |
| 2016–2017 | Quantico | Charlotte Bishop | Episodes: "ODENVY" and "EPICSHELTER" |
| 2017 | Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams | Paula | Episode: "Real Life" |
| 2018 | The City and the City | Katrynia | TV series[29] |
| 2020 | The Alienist: Angel of Darkness | Karen Stratton | TV series |
| 2021–2022 | Dota: Dragon's Blood | Princess Mirana | TV series; main voice role |
| 2022 | The Split | Kate Pencastle | Main role (series 3) |
| 2022 | Pantheon | News Anchor, Olivia | Guest voice role; Episodes: "The Gods Will Not Be Slain", "Olivia & Farhad" |
| 2023 | Maternal | Catherine MacDiarmid | TV series; main role[30] |
| 2024–2025 | Blood of Zeus | Persephone | 11 episodes |
| 2025 | MobLand | Bella Harrigan | [31] |
Stage
- Parade (Lucille Frank), Donmar Warehouse,[32] nominated for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical[33] and WhatsOnStage Award
- Into the Woods (Lucinda), Royal Opera House[32]
- The Last Five Years (Cathy), Menier Chocolate Factory[34]
- Honk! (Henrietta), Royal National Theatre (Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, 2000) and National Tour
- Miss Saigon (Ellen)
- High Society
- A Chorus Line (Bebe)
- The Darling Buds of May
- The Boy Friend
- Gypsy (Louise)[20]
- Chicago
- Grease
- 42nd Street
- The Wizard of Oz
- (Adverts) Smirnoff Vodka Range – Hatter's Summer Night Dream with Smirnoff
- Uncle Vanya
- Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Royal Albert Hall
- Fiddler on the Roof (Golde), Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Other
- Game of Thrones (2014; Video Game), as Lady Elissa Forrester
- Sherlock Series By Intouch Games And Slot Factory, as Irene Adler
- Dota 2, as the "Mirana of Nightsilver" persona item, reprising her role from Dragon's Blood
Awards and nominations
Television
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries | Sherlock | Nominated | [35][36] |
| 2012 | Online Film Critics Society | Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Sherlock | Nominated | [37] |
| 2012 | Gold Derby TV Awards | TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actress | "A Scandal in Belgravia" | Nominated | [37] |
| 2016 | National Film Awards UK | Best Supporting Actress | A Patch of Fog | Nominated | [37] |
Theatre
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actress in a Musical | Parade | Nominated | [38] |
| 2016 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Gypsy | Won | [20] |
| 2025 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actress in a Musical | Fiddler on the Roof | Nominated | [39][40] |