Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''

Truly, Madly, Deeply ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' is a 1990 British fantasy drama film made for the BBC's ''Screen Two'' series, by BBC Films, Lionheart and Winston Pictures. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, stars Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman. ...

'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other film appearances include '' Emma'' (1996), ''

Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knight ...

'' (2002), ''

Mona Lisa Smile ''Mona Lisa Smile'' is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia R ...

'' (2003), ''

Being Julia ''Being Julia'' is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by István Szabó and starring Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the novel ''Theatre'' (1937) by W. Somerset Maugham. The original film score was comp ...

'' (2004) and '' Infamous'' (2006). Stevenson has starred in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre productions, including

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

nominated roles in '' Measure for Measure'' (1984), ''

Les Liaisons Dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and ...

'' (1986), and ''

Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rural S ...

'' (1987). For her role as Paulina in '' Death and the Maiden'' (1991–92), she won the 1992

Olivier Award for Best Actress The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards ...

. Her fifth Olivier nomination was for her work in the 2009 revival of ''

Duet for One A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo s ...

''. She has also received three nominations for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress: for ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

'' (1992), '' The Politician's Wife'' (1995) and '' Accused'' (2010). Other stage roles include '' The Heretic'' (2011) and ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'' (2014).

Early life

Stevenson was born in

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses including ...

, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth (née Marshall), a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was assigned a new posting every two and a half years. When Stevenson was nine, she attended Berkshire's Hurst Lodge School, and she was later educated at the independent St Catherine's School in Bramley, near Guildford in Surrey, and at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

(RADA). Stevenson was part of the 'new wave' of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included

Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...

Bruce Payne Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, film director and theatre director. Payne is best known for portraying villains, such as Charles Rane in '' Passenger 57'', Jacob Kell in '' Highlander: En ...

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespe ...

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Minister ...

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

, Imelda Staunton and Fiona Shaw. This led to a stage career starting in 1978 with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Career

Although she has gained fame through her television and film work and has often undertaken roles for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

, she is known as a stage actress. Significant stage roles include her performances as Isabella in '' Measure for Measure'', Madame de Tourvel in ''

'', Anna in the UK premiere of ''

Burn This ''Burn This'' (stylized as ''Burn/This'' for the 2019 revival) is a play by Lanford Wilson. Like much of Wilson's work, the play includes themes of gay identity and relationships. Plot summary The play begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, ...

'' in 1990 and Paulina in '' Death and the Maiden'' at the

Royal Court theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

and the West End (1991–92). For the last she was awarded the 1992

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards ...

. In the 1987 TV film '' Life Story'', Stevenson played the part of scientist Rosalind Franklin, for which she won a Cable Ace award. She played the leading role in the

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Directo ...

film ''

'' (1991) and her roles in ''The Secret Rapture'' (1993), '' Emma'' (1996), ''

'' (2002) and ''

'' (2003). She has more recently starred in ''Pierrepoint'' (2006), '' Infamous'' (2006) as

Diana Vreeland Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was a French-American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine ''Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at ''Vogue'', later becoming a special consultant to the ...

and ''

Breaking and Entering Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

'' (2006) as Rosemary, the therapist. In 2003, she played the mother of an autistic child in the television film '' Hear the Silence'', a film promoting the now debunked claims of

Andrew Wakefield Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born September 3, 1956) is a British anti-vaccine activist, former physician, and discredited academic who was struck off the medical register for his involvement in ''The Lancet'' MMR autism fraud, a 1998 study that ...

that the MMR vaccine was responsible for autism in children. The film makers and Stevenson were criticised as Wakefield's professionalism was already seriously in doubt. Juliet Stevenson 2011

In 2009, she starred in ITV's '' A Place of Execution''. The role won her the Best Actress Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. She performs as a book reader, and has recorded all of Jane Austen's novels as unabridged audiobooks, as well as a number of other novels, such as ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...

'', ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'', ''Stories from Shakespeare'', and ''

To the Lighthouse ''To the Lighthouse'' is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920. Following and extending the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel ...

''. She received lifetime achievement prize at Women in Film And TV awards.

Personal life

Stevenson married her long-time partner, British anthropologist

Hugh Brody Hugh Brody (born 1943) is a British anthropologist, writer, director and lecturer. Education In the 1950s he worked as an accountant in Sheffield before passing the entrance examinations for the University of Oxford. He studied at Trinity Coll ...

, in 2021. They have two children. She is an atheist but considers herself a spiritual and superstitious person. In 1992 she appeared in a political broadcast for the Labour Party. In 2008 she campaigned on behalf of refugee women with a reading of "Motherland" at the Young Vic. She is patron of the UK registered charity ''LAM Action'', which provides support, information and encouragement to patients with

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare, progressive and systemic disease that typically results in cystic lung destruction. It predominantly affects women, especially during childbearing years. The term sporadic LAM is used for patients with LAM ...

(LAM) and their families, and raises funds to advance research into LAM. Stevenson is an

Amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

Ambassador and patron of the refugee charit
Young Roots.
On 12 September 2016, Stevenson, as well as Cate Blanchett,

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

, Douglas Booth, Neil Gaiman,

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Adam Eisenberg (; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. ...

Kit Harington Christopher Catesby Harington (born 26 December 1986) is an English actor who is widely known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO epic fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019). After studying at the Royal Central School o ...

and

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's '' Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in fil ...

, featured in a video from the United Nations' refugee agency

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign, which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities and education. Stevenson's friends and frequent collaborators include director Robert Icke, comedian and feminist broadcaster

Deborah Frances-White Deborah Frances-White is a London-based comedian, author and screenwriter. She has both British and Australian citizenship. She hosts the podcasts ''Global Pillage'' and ''The Guilty Feminist''. She wrote the 2019 comedy film Say My Name. Ear ...

, poet Aviva Dautch and concert pianist Lucy Parham. Stevenson is also a painter, and has talked about how her art has helped her through difficult moments such as lockdown and the death of her stepson.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Audio recordings

A partial list of Stevenson's audio recordings: * ''

Man and Superman ''Man and Superman'' is a four-act drama written by George Bernard Shaw in 1903. The series was written in response to a call for Shaw to write a play based on the Don Juan theme. ''Man and Superman'' opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London o ...

'', BBC Audiobooks, 1998 (Broadcast on BBC-4 in 1996). Production featured Juliet Stevenson,

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

and

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

. It also included an interview with the director, Sir Peter Hall * Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Penguin Audiobooks, 1997 * The Plague Tales, BDD, c. 1997 *

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, BBC Radio Collection, 1999 (with

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

) * '' When Love Speaks'' (2002,

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

) – " Sonnet 128" ("How oft, when thou, my music...") * ''The Thirteenth Tale'' by Diane Setterfield, Unabridged, Orion audiobook (2006) *

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's '' The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first of ...

by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 7 CDs (2006) * ''Persuasion by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 7 CDs (2007) * ''Mansfield Park'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 14 CDs (2007) * ''Emma'' by Jane Austen. Unabridged, Naxos audiobook, 13 CDs (2007) *

Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...

by Jane Austen, Naxos audiobook, Unabridged (2007) * Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Abridged, CSA Word Classic, 4 CDs (2007) * ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' by

Anne Brontë Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, and the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria (born Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish cl ...

, * ''I, Coriander'', by Sally Gardner, * ''The King's General'', by

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geo ...

, * ''An Unequal Marriage'', by Emma Tennant, * ''From Shakespeare with Love'', by

, David Tennant (Narrator), Juliet Stevenson (Narrator), Anton Lesser (Narrator), Alex Jennings (Narrator) * Daphne du Maurier Collection: ''Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek'' & ''My Cousin Rachel'' by Daphne du Maurier, Juliet Stevenson (Narrator), Daniel Massey (Narrator), Michael Maloney (Narrator) * ''A Room with a View'' by E.M. Forster * ''The London Tapes'' by Juliet Stevenson * '' Ancient and Modern'' by Sue Gee (2004) * ''Alentejo Blue'' by

Monica Ali Monica Ali FRSL (born 20 October 1967) is a British writer of Bangladeshi and English heritage. In 2003, she was selected as one of the "Best of Young British Novelists" by ''Granta'' magazine based on her unpublished manuscript; her debut nove ...

, abridged (2006) * North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, unabridged. (2009) * ''Middlemarch'' by George Eliot. Unabridged. Naxos Audiobooks (2011). * ''Goldfish Girl'' by Peter Souter (2011). * '' Mary Poppins'' by P. L. Travers (2012) * '' The Signature of All Things'' by

Elizabeth Gilbert Elizabeth Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 memoir, '' Eat, Pray, Love'', which has sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also ma ...

(2013). *

The Golden Notebook ''The Golden Notebook'' is a 1962 novel by the British writer Doris Lessing. Like her two books that followed, it enters the realm of what Margaret Drabble in ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' called Lessing's "inner space fiction"; ...

by Doris Lessing (2010) * ''The Paying Guests'' by

Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sa ...

. Unabridged (2014) * ''Apple Tree Yard'' by Louise Doughty, unabridged (2014) * ''Belgravia'' by Julian Fellowes, (2016) A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolf - 1929

Honours

In the 1999 Queens Birthday Honours, Stevenson was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE). She is a patron of the London International Festival of Theatre."Meet The Team"
, ''LIFT''. Retrieved 9 August 2016.

Awards and nominations

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

Juliet Stevenson
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

*
Juliet Stevenson: The Power of Story Telling
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Juliet AACTA Award winners Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Audiobook narrators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English atheists English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners People from Kelvedon Royal Shakespeare Company members English Shakespearean actresses 1956 births Living people People educated at Hurst Lodge School People educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Essex