Imelda Staunton

Imelda Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976 and began her career in British repertory theatre, including performances at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter and the National Theatre. Her early stage credits included The Beggar’s Opera (1982), Guys and Dolls (1982, 1996), The Corn Is Green (1985), A Chorus of Disapproval (1985), The Wizard of Oz (1987), and Into the Woods (1990), for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Staunton’s film career began with Comrades (1986), followed by Antonia and Jane (1991), Peter’s Friends (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Twelfth Night (1996), and Shakespeare in Love (1998). Her television work during this period included The Singing Detective (1986), If You See God, Tell Him (1993), Citizen X (1995), Is It Legal? (1995–1998), A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and Midsomer Murders. She also worked extensively in radio productions including Julie Enfield Investigates and Diary of a Provincial Lady.

In the 2000s, Staunton appeared in Chicken Run (2000), Another Life (2001), and Bright Young Things (2003) before receiving major acclaim for Vera Drake (2004), earning Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, as well as BAFTA and Venice Film Festival wins. She later appeared in Nanny McPhee (2005), Freedom Writers (2007), Cranford (2007), and portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). Additional credits from this period include A Bunch of Amateurs (2008), Taking Woodstock (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Awakening (2011), Doctor Who (2011), and the HBO film The Girl (2012).

Staunton returned prominently to musical theatre with Sweeney Todd (2011–2012) and Gypsy (2014–2015), both of which transferred to London and earned her Olivier Awards. Other stage work included Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2017) and Follies (2017). Her later film roles included The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012), Maleficent (2014), Pride (2014), and Paddington (2014). She also joined the cast of Downton Abbey in 2018.

From 2020 onward, Staunton starred in the Apple TV+ comedy series Trying and portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in seasons five and six of The Crown. In 2024, she starred in a London revival of Hello, Dolly!, earning another Olivier Award. She has also narrated numerous audiobook editions of Julia Donaldson’s children’s books and reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge for the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction, which opened in 2025.