Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1981) is a British actress. She starred in the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies. On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC Two sitcom Quacks (2017) and the Amazon Prime series Ten Percent (2022). She also appeared in The Crown (2022–2023) on Netflix.
Lydia Leonard | |
|---|---|
 Leonard at the British Library in 2023 | |
| Born | 5 December 1981 Paris, France |
| Education | Bedales School |
| Alma mater | Bristol Old Vic Theatre School |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Known for | Bring Up the Bodies, Ten Percent, and The Crown |
Early life and education
editLydia Leonard was born on 5 December 1981 in Paris, France,[1] to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, an accountant, and lived in France until the age of five.[citation needed]
She attended Bedales School in the village of Steep, Hampshire,[2] before training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England.[1]
Career
editBeginning her career in the theatre, Leonard played Anne Boleyn in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies at London's Aldwych Theatre from May until October 2014. The RSC production transferred to Broadway as Wolf Hall: Parts One and Two at the Winter Garden Theatre, running from March until July 2015. Leonard reprised the role, which earned her a nomination for the 2015 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.[3]
On television she had an ongoing role in 1950s-set detective series Jericho starring Robert Lindsay, and appeared in True True Lie (2006) and The Long Walk to Finchley (2008), along with a cameo in Rome (2006, "The Stolen Eagle"), and as a nurse in the BBC's Casualty 1909.[4]
Leonard appeared on stage as Polyxena in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hecuba starring Vanessa Redgrave, the production played in London's West End and then at B.A.M. in New York.[5] She played Hazel Conway alongside Francesca Annis in the National Theatre's production of Time and the Conways.[6] In 2005 she appeared as Caroline Cushing in the original Donmar Theatre and West End productions of Frost/Nixon.[citation needed]
In 2010 Leonard played the role of Jackie Onassis in Martin Sherman's play Onassis at the Novello Theatre in London.[7]
In 2008 Leonard played the female lead in the BBC remake of The 39 Steps. Part of the Christmas scheduling, its first showing was the most watched programme on BBC One on that day. Leonard starred as Cynthia in Joanna Hogg's 2010 feature film Archipelago.[citation needed] In 2012, Leonard starred in two episodes of ITV drama series Whitechapel, as psychiatrist Morgan Lamb, for which she was nominated for Most Outstanding Actress at the Monte Carlo television awards.[citation needed] In 2013, Leonard played a leading role in the action adventure film Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon alongside Dolph Lundgen and Scott Adkins. In the same year, Leonard played Alex Lang in DreamWorks The Fifth Estate starring Benedict Cumberbatch.[citation needed]
In 2015, Leonard played Virginia Woolf in Life in Squares, a BBC miniseries on the Bloomsbury Group.[8]
Between 2019 and 2022, Leonard appeared as Mariana Lawton in Gentleman Jack.[9]
In 2022, Leonard starred as Rebecca Fox in Ten Percent, the English version of the French original, Call My Agent!.[10] That same year, Leonard appeared as Cherie Blair in series 5 of Netflix drama The Crown.[11] On playing Blair, Leonard told the Evening Standard, I have a huge amount of respect for her. [...] It's fun playing someone really famous. It brings its own interest from the wider audience and responsibility. Objectively I should care about playing a real living person, but I don't, it's just another character."[12]
In March 2023, Leonard starred as in Women, Beware the Devil at the Almeida Theatre, London. The production was rated 3/5 stars by The Guardian.[13]
Acting credits
editFilm
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Heat of the Story | Unknown | Short film |
| 2006 | True True Lie | Dana | |
| 2008 | The 39 Steps | Victoria Sinclair | |
| 2010 | Archipelago | Cynthia | |
| 2013 | The Fifth Estate | Alex Lang | |
| 2013 | Legendary | Katie | |
| 2014 | Born of War | Olivia | |
| 2016 | The Prevailing Winds | The Hiker | Short film |
| 2019 | Last Christmas | Marta Andrich | |
| 2023 | The Rabbi’s Son | Rachel | Short film |
| 2023 | Northern Comfort | Sarah |
Television
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Foyle's War | Marion Greenwood | TV series (Series 3 Episode 1: "The French Drop") |
| Midsomer Murders | Phoebe Frears | Episode: "Ghosts of Christmas Past" | |
| 2005 | Rome | Julia | Episode: "The Stolen Eagle" |
| Jericho | Angela | 4 episodes | |
| 2006 | The Line of Beauty | Penny Kent | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | Ashes to Ashes | Sara Templeton | Episode 4: "The Missing Link" |
| Casualty 1907 | Laura Goodley | 3 episodes | |
| Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley | Joyce | TV movie | |
| The 39 Steps | Victoria Sinclair | TV movie | |
| 2009 | Casualty 1909 | Laura Goodley | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Spooks | Martha Ford | Series 10, Episode 2 |
| 2012 | Law & Order UK | Lucy Kennard | Episode 13: "Fault Lines" |
| Whitechapel | Morgan Lamb | Series 3; 2 episodes | |
| 2013 | Ambassadors | Fergana | Episode: "The Tazbek Spring" |
| Da Vinci's Demons | Reina Isabel I de Castilla | Episode: "The Tower" | |
| Lucan | Melissa | Miniseries; Episode 2 | |
| 2015 | Life in Squares | Young Virginia Woolf | Miniseries |
| River | Marianne King | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| 2017 | Apple Tree Yard | Bonnard | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| Quacks | Caroline | 6 episodes | |
| 2017–2019 | Absentia | Logan Brandt / Laurie Colson | Recurring role (Series 1); Guest role (Series 2) |
| 2019–2022 | Gentleman Jack | Mariana Lawton | Recurring role; 8 episodes |
| 2020 | Flesh and Blood | Natalie | Miniseries |
| 2021 | Red Election | Beatrice Ogilvy | Main role |
| 2022 | Ten Percent | Rebecca Fox | Main role |
| 2022–2023 | The Crown | Cherie Blair | Guest role (season 5 and season 6) |
| 2024 | McDonald & Dodds | Lucy Holgate | Episode: "The Rule of Three" |
| 2024 | We Are Lady Parts | Clarice Melville | Series 2; 4 episodes |
| 2024 | Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light | Jane Rochford | 4 episodes |
Selected theatre credits
edit- The Meeting (Chichester Festival Theatre)
- Oslo (National Theatre/West End)
- Wolf Hall (RSC/ Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play)
- Onassis (West End)
- Time and the Conways (National Theatre)
- Elektra (Young Vic Theatre)
- Let There Be Love (Tricycle Theatre)
- Frost/Nixon (Donmar Warehouse/West End)
- Little Eyolf (Almeida Theatre)
- Hecuba (RSC)
- Women, Beware the Devil (Almeida Theatre)
Video games
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Additional Voices | |
| 2013 | Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel | Katha Niar | |
| Divinity: Dragon Commander | Princess Camilla, Prospera | ||
| 2014 | Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan | Lana Beniko | |
| 2015 | Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn | Lucia | Heavensward expansion onwards |
| Everybody's Gone to the Rapture | Amanda Mason | ||
| Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire | Lana Beniko / Additional Voices | ||
| Star Wars: Battlefront | Unknown | ||
| 2016 | Homefront: The Revolution | Unknown | |
| Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne | Lana Beniko | ||
| 2017 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands | Midas Female / Nomad Female Replicated | |
| Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age | Queen Marina | ||
| Total War: Warhammer II | Unknown | ||
| 2018 | Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | Nerea | English version |
| 2019 | GreedFall | Chief Derdre / Other Characters | |
| Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught | Lana Beniko / Additional Voices |
Selected audio credits
edit- The Colour of Murder, by Julian Symons, BBC Radio 4 2003, with Tom Smith, Lydia Leonard, Frances Jeater[14]
- A Sting in the Tale – Myrtle, Mahonia and Rue, by Briony Glassco, BBC Radio 4, 1//1/2004[15]
- Bunyan John – The Pilgrim's Progress, weekly from 4 January 2004, with Anton Rodgers, Neil Dudgeon, Alec McCowen, Anna Massey, Philip Voss, Lydia Leonard
- The Lair of the White Worm, by Stoker Bram, BBC World Service 4 December 2004, with Peter Marinker, Ben Crowe, Stephen Critchlow, Lydia Leonard, Richenda Carey
- The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov, BBC World Service 18 March 2006, with Ben Silverstone, Lydia Leonard, Nicholas Farrell
- Our Country's Good, by Thomas Keneally, adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker, BBC World Service ~15 October 2005, with Nichloas Bolton, Lydia Leonard, Geoffrey Whitehead
- How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, by Toby Young; R4 afternoon play 3 November 2006; with Val Murray, Kerry Shale, Lydia Leonard, Elizabeth Bell, Kim Wall.[16]
- Arms and the Man, by GB Shaw, BBC Radio 3 21 March 2010, with Rory Kinnear, Lydia Leonard, Hugh Ross, Frances Jeater
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Tony Award[3] | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play | Wolf Hall: Parts One and Two | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award[17] | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Nominated | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award[18] | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ a b Dalglish, Darren (13 October 2010). "Questions and Answers with..." londontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "27 famous people who went to school in Hampshire". Hampshire Life. Great British Life. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ a b "An American in Paris & Fun Home Top 2015 Tony Nominations". Broadway.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ "Sunday's choices". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 June 2009. p. 354. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Winer, Linda (20 June 2005). "Redgrave rules 'Hecuba'". Newsday. p. 61. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gore-Langton, Robert (10 May 2009). "When the party's over". The Sunday Telegraph. London. p. 126. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Sykes, Pandora (21 October 2010). "Lydia Leonard on being Jackie O". London Evening Standard.
- ^ Debnath, Neela (27 July 2015). "Life in Squares: Lydia Leonard says new Bloomsbury group series will be 'racy'". Daily Express. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ Barr, Sabrina (22 May 2022). "Gentleman Jack star Suranne Jones addresses possibility of future seasons as series 2 finale draws near". Metro. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Aroesti, Rachel (16 April 2022). "'We're not as cool as the French – it's more bumbling': Lydia Leonard on remaking Call My Agent!". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Molina-Whyte, Lidia (2 November 2021). "The Crown casts Lydia Leonard as Cherie Blair in season 5". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Clark, Nick (22 February 2023). "Women, Beware the Devil's Lydia Leonard on the new Almeida show and playing Cherie Blair in The Crown". London Evening Standard.
- ^ Clapp, Susannah (3 March 2023). "The week in theatre: Women, Beware the Devil; Romeo and Julie; Shirley Valentine – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "The Saturday Play: The Colour of Murder". 18 October 2003. p. 121 – via BBC Genome.
- ^ "A Sting in the Tale: 2: Myrtle, Mahonia and Rue". 1 January 2004. p. 225 – via BBC Genome.
- ^ "Afternoon Play: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". 3 November 2006. p. 135 – via BBC Genome.
- ^ "Hamilton, An American in Paris & More Receive 2015 Drama Desk Nominations". Broadway.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ "Something Rotten! & On the Twentieth Century Top List of 2015 Outer Critics Circle Nominations". Broadway.com. Retrieved 21 June 2015.