Juliet Stevenson

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Juliet Stevenson

CBE
Stevenson in Dustbin Baby (2008)
Born (1956-10-30) 30 October 1956 (age 67)
Kelvedon, Essex, England
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActress
Years active1978–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2021)​
Children2

Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply (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 (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Being Julia (2004), Infamous (2006), The Enfield Haunting (2015), Wolf (2023), and Reawakening (2024).

In theatre, she has starred in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre productions, including Olivier Award nominated roles in Measure for Measure (1984), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1986), and Yerma (1987). For her role as Paulina in Death and the Maiden (1991–92), she won the 1992 Olivier Award for Best Actress. Her fifth Olivier nomination was for her work in the 2009 revival of Duet for One. She has also received three nominations for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress: for A Doll's House (1992), The Politician's Wife (1995) and Accused (2010). Other stage roles include The Heretic (2011) and Happy Days (2014).

Early life[edit]

Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth (née Marshall), a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer.[citation needed] Stevenson's father was assigned a new posting every two and a half years.[1] When Stevenson was nine, she attended Berkshire's Hurst Lodge School in Ascot,[2] and she was later educated at the independent St Catherine's School in Bramley, near Guildford, Surrey, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).[3] Stevenson was part of the 'new wave' of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Bruce Payne, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton and Fiona Shaw. This led to a stage career starting in 1978 with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Career[edit]

Although she has gained fame through her television and film work and has often undertaken roles for BBC Radio, she is known as a stage actress. Significant stage roles include her performances as Isabella in Measure for Measure, Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Anna in the UK premiere of Burn This in 1990 and Paulina in Death and the Maiden at the Royal Court theatre and the West End (1991–92). For the last she was awarded the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.[4]

In the 1987 TV film Life Story, Stevenson played the part of scientist Rosalind Franklin, for which she won a Cable Ace award.[5] She played the leading role in the Anthony Minghella film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) and her roles in The Secret Rapture (1993), Emma (1996), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). She has more recently starred in Pierrepoint (2006), Infamous (2006) as Diana Vreeland and Breaking and Entering (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 that the MMR vaccine was responsible for autism in children.[6] The film makers and Stevenson were criticised as Wakefield's professionalism was already seriously in doubt.[6][7]

Stevenson speaking at the 2011 Latitude Festival.

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.[8] 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, Hedda Gabler, Stories from Shakespeare, and To the Lighthouse. She received lifetime achievement prize at Women in Film And TV awards.[9]

In 2024, she played Mary, the mother of a returning missing child in the British psychological thriller film Reawakening, alongside Erin Doherty and Jared Harris.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Stevenson married her long-time partner, British anthropologist Hugh Brody, in 2021. They have a daughter and a son and live in Suffolk, but she also has an apartment in New York.[11][12]

She is an atheist but considers herself a spiritual and superstitious person.[13][14]

In 1992 she appeared in a political broadcast for the Labour Party.[15][16]

In 2008 she campaigned on behalf of refugee women[17] 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 (LAM) and their families, and raises funds to advance research into LAM.[18] Stevenson is an Amnesty Ambassador.[19] She is patron of two charities: Young Roots, a charity for young refugees; and Antenatal Results and Choices,[20] which supports parents who have had a diagnosis of fetal anomaly.

On 12 September 2016, Stevenson, as well as Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Capaldi, Douglas Booth, Neil Gaiman, Keira Knightley, Jesse Eisenberg, Kit Harington and Stanley Tucci, featured in a video from the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR 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.[21][22]

Stevenson's friends and frequent collaborators include director Robert Icke,[23][24][25] comedian and feminist broadcaster Deborah Frances-White,[26][27] poet Aviva Dautch[28][29][30] and concert pianist Lucy Parham.[31][32]

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.[33]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Drowning by Numbers Cissie Colpitts 2
1990 Ladder of Swords Alice Howard
1990 The March Clare Fitzgerald
1990 Truly, Madly, Deeply Nina
1993 The Trial Fräulein Bürstner
1993 The Secret Rapture Isobel Coleridge
1996 Emma Augusta Hawkins Elton
1997 Treasure Island Jane (voice) Video
2001 Play Second Woman Short film
2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie Mrs. Cratchit / Mother Gimlet (voice)
2001 The Search for John Gissing Gwenyth Moore
2002 Food of Love Pamela Porterfield
2002 Bend It Like Beckham Paula Paxton
2002 Nicholas Nickleby Mrs. Squeers
2003 Mona Lisa Smile Amanda Armstrong
2004 Being Julia Evie
2005 Red Mercury Sofia Warburton
2005 Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman Anne Fletcher
2006 Infamous Diana Vreeland
2006 In Search of Mozart Narrator
2006 Breaking and Entering Rosemary McCloud
2007 And When Did You Last See Your Father? Kim Morrison
2008 A Previous Engagement Julia Reynolds
2008 The Secret of Moonacre Miss Heliotrope
2009 Quietus Jayne Short film
2009 In Search of Beethoven Narrator
2009 Desert Flower Lucinda
2009 Triage Amy
2012 In Search of Haydn Narrator
2013 Penelope Penny Short film
2013 Diana Sonia
2014 The Letters Mother Teresa
2014 In Search of Chopin Narrator
2014 The Portrait Laura Burrell Short film
2015 Departure Beatrice
2016 Let Me Go Helga Post-production
2016 Love Is Thicker Than Water Ethel
2018 London Unplugged Jayne
2019 Four The Dowager Short film
2022 Walls Like Windows Maggie Short film
2022 Ceres Ceres Short film
2024 reawakening Mary

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1980 The Mallens Barbara Mallen 6 episodes
1981 Maybury Joanna Langston "A Fall from Grace", "What I Mean Is...", "Ten Green Bottles"
1983 Bazaar and Rummage Fliss TV film
1984 Crown Court Catherine Lloyd "Dirty Washing: Part 1"
1984 Freud Elizabeth von Reitberg "The Secret of Dreams"
1984 Pericles, Prince of Tyre Thaisa TV film
1986 The Theban Plays by Sophocles Antigone "Oedipus at Colonus", "Antigone"
1987 Life Story Rosalind Franklin
1988 Screenplay Ruth "Out of Love"
1988 Screen Two Hilda Carline "Stanley Spencer"
1988 This is David Lander Penny Foster "The Nicholson Story"
1989 Living with Dinosaurs Vicky TV film
1990 The Jim Henson Hour Vicky "Living with Dinosaurs"
1991 4 Play Margaret "In the Border Country"
1991 Screen Two Lucy "Aimée"
1992 Performance Nora Helmer "A Doll's House"
1993 The World of Eric Carle Narrator (voice) TV series short
1993 The Legends of Treasure Island Jane (voice) Main role
1993 Who Dealt?[34] Tom's Wife Short story in the form of a monologue[35] by Ring Lardner.
1994 Verdi Giuseppina Strepponi (voice) TV film
1995 The Politician's Wife Flora Matlock All 3 episodes
1997 Screen Two Jean "Stone, Scissors, Paper"
1998 Cider with Rosie Annie Lee TV film
1999 Trial by Fire Helen West TV film
2002 The Road from Coorain Eve TV film
2002 The Pact Gus Harte TV film
2003 Hear the Silence Christine Shields TV film
2005 The Snow Queen Gerda's Mother TV film
2007 Agatha Christie's Marple Gwenda Vaughn "Ordeal by Innocence"
2008 10 Days to War Elizabeth Wilmshurst "A Simple Private Matter"
2008 Place of Execution Catherine Heathcote TV miniseries
2008 Dustbin Baby Marion TV film
2010 Law & Order: UK Rachel Callaghan "Denial"
2010 Accused Helen Ryland "Helen's Story"
2011 Lewis Diana Ellerby "Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things"
2011 The Hour Lady Elms Recurring role
2012 White Heat Charlotte TV miniseries
2013–14 The Village Clem Allingham Main role
2013–15 Atlantis The Oracle Main role
2014 On Angel Wings Mary TV short
2015 X Company Mayor Marie Bellaire "Walk with the Devil"
2015 The Enfield Haunting Betty Grosse TV miniseries
2015 Artsnight Contributor "Richard Wilson on Samuel Beckett"
2016 One of Us Louise Elliot TV miniseries
2017 1066: A Year to Conquer England Narrator Docudrama
2019 Queens of Mystery Narrator TV series
2021 The Long Call Dorothy Venn Main role
2021 Death in Paradise Natasha Carlton Christmas Show
2022 The Man Who Fell to Earth Sister Mary Lou 1 episode
2022 Professor T. Dr Helena Goldberg Series 2; recurring role
2023 Secret Invasion Elizabeth Hill Episode: "Promises"
2023 Wolf Matilda Anchor-Ferrers 6 episodes [36]
TBA King and Conqueror Lady Emma In production [37]

Theatre[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1978 The Tempest Spirit Royal Shakespeare Company
1978 Antony and Cleopatra Iras / Octavia Royal Shakespeare Company
1978 Measure for Measure Whore / Nun Royal Shakespeare Company
1978 The Churchill Play Caroline Thompson
1978 Hippolytus Aphrodite / Artemis
1978 Lovers and Kings
1978 The Taming of the Shrew Widow / Curtis
1978 The White Guard Yeliena
1978 Once in a Lifetime Miss Chasen
1980 Henry IV Lady Percy Royal Shakespeare Company
1981 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hippolyta / Titania
1981 The Witch of Edmonton Susan
1981 Money Clara Douglas
1983 Other Worlds Emma / Betsy Royal Court Theatre, London
1984 Measure for Measure Isabella Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre
1984 Breaking the Silence Polya Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre, London
1985 Troilus and Cressida Cressida Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre
1985 As You Like It Rosalind Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre
1986 Les Liaisons dangereuses Madame de Tourvel Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre
1987 Yerma Yerma National Theatre, London
1988–90 The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus Kyllene Theatre of Delphi/National Theatre, London
1989 Hedda Gabler Hedda National Theatre, London
1989 On the Verge Fanny Sadler's Wells Theatre, London
1990 Burn This Anna Hampstead Theatre, London
1991–92 Death and the Maiden Paulina Theatre Upstairs, Duke of York Theatre, London
1993 Scenes from an Execution Galactia Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles
1995 The Duchess of Malfi Greenwich Theatre/Wyndham's Theatre, London
1997 The Caucasian Chalk Circle Royal National Theatre, London
1999 Private Lives Amanda The National Theatre
2000 The Country Royal Court Theatre
2003 A Little Night Music Desirée Armfeldt New York City Opera
2004 We Happy Few Gielgud Theatre, London
2005 The Alice Trilogy Royal Court Theatre
2006 The Seagull Irina Arkadina The National Theatre
2009 Duet for One London
2011 The Heretic Royal Court Theatre
2014–15 Happy Days Winnie Young Vic
2016–18 Mary Stuart Mary Stuart/Elizabeth I Almeida Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre
2017 Hamlet Gertrude Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre
2019, 2022,
2023 		The Doctor Professor Ruth Wolff Almeida Theatre, UK Tour, & Duke of York's Theatre
Park Avenue Armory, New York

Audio recordings[edit]

A partial list of Stevenson's audio recordings:

Honours[edit]

In the 1999 Queens Birthday Honours, Stevenson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

She is a patron of the London International Festival of Theatre.[41]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result
1992 British Academy Film Award[42] Best Actress in a Leading Role Truly, Madly, Deeply Nominated

Television[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result
1993 British Academy Television Award[42] Actress A Doll's House Nominated
1996 British Academy Television Award[42] Actress The Politician's Wife Nominated
2011 British Academy Television Award[42] Leading Actress Accused Nominated
2019 Primetime Emmy Award[43] Outstanding Narrator Queens of Mystery (Episode: "Murder in the Dark: First Chapter") Nominated

Theatre[edit]

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1983 Critics' Circle Theatre Award[44] Best Actress Measure for Measure Won
1984 Laurence Olivier Award[45] Actress of the Year in a Revival Nominated
1986 Laurence Olivier Award[46] Best Actress As You Like It, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Troilus and Cressida Nominated
1987 Laurence Olivier Award[47] Yerma Nominated
1992 Laurence Olivier Award[48] Death and the Maiden Won
2009 Evening Standard Theatre Award[49][50] Best Actress Duet for One Nominated
2010 Laurence Olivier Award[51] Best Actress Nominated
2019 Evening Standard Theatre Award[52] Best Actress The Doctor Nominated
Critics' Circle Theatre Award[53] Best Actress Won
2020 Laurence Olivier Award[54] Best Actress Nominated

References[edit]

  1. ^ "My Secret Life: Juliet Stevenson". Independent.co.uk. 10 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. ^ Sierz, Aleks (7 November 2005). "Why Juliet Dreads the Boards". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  3. ^ According to Who's Who on Television (1982 edition)
  4. ^ [1] Archived 11 June 2009 at archive.today
  5. ^ Awards for Juliet Stevenson at IMDb
  6. ^ a b "Juliet Stevenson: 'I would love a completely different life?'". The Daily Telegraph. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  7. ^ Aaronovitch, David (14 December 2003). "A travesty of truth". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  8. ^ Flood, Alison (22 October 2009). "British readers vote Harlan Coben their favourite crime writer". London: guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  9. ^ "Juliet Stevenson receives lifetime achievement prize at Women in Film And TV awards". Sky News. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Reawakening". westendfilms.com. 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  11. ^ Howell, Madeleine (8 August 2022). "Juliet Stevenson: 'Alan Rickman was never easy – but brilliant people never are'". The Telegraph (interview). Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  12. ^ Dugan, Emily (22 May 2011). "Juliet Stevenson: 'I'd much rather live a useful life than be rich'". Independent. London. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  13. ^ Dodd, Celia (14 March 2008). "Actress Juliet Stevenson reveals that her toughest role is being an older mother". The Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  14. ^ Sign Up (25 July 2008). "National Secular Society – Coming out as atheist – Billy Connolly, Juliet Stevenson and Peter O'Toole". Secularism.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Transcript of Labour Party video". Psr.keele.ac.uk. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  16. ^ Labour Party video on YouTube[dead link]
  17. ^ "Juliet Stevenson: 'I would love a completely different life?'". The Daily Telegraph. London. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  18. ^ "LAM Action". Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Juliet Stevenson: Amnesty Ambassador". www.amnesty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  20. ^ "ARC News December 2023 by ARCantenatal - Issuu". 13 December 2023.
  21. ^ "2016 Stories – #WithRefugees". Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  22. ^ "What They Took With Them – #WithRefugees". 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  23. ^ "The Doctor review – Robert Icke offers brilliant diagnosis of modern ills". The Guardian. 21 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  24. ^ Galton, Bridget (21 June 2017). "Juliet Stevenson: 'I thought I'd be bored but I love playing Gertrude'". Islington Gazette. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Mary Stuart". Almeida Theatre. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  26. ^ "The Guilty Feminist: 105. Mothers and Daughters with Juliet Stevenson and Rosalind Brody". guiltyfeminist.libsyn.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  27. ^ "The Secret Policeman's Tour". www.amnesty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  28. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – We Sigh for Houses". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  29. ^ "JR July 2020 Issue Launch". Jewish Renaissance. 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Literary Reflections – Deborah Freeman". www.deborahfreeman.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Lucy Parham with Juliet Stevenson: I, Clara". mysite. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Juliet Stevenson". Lucy Parham. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  33. ^ Mallinson, Mathilda (21 April 2021). "'When I paint, all the voices in my head go still': Juliet Stevenson on how art got her through lockdown". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  34. ^ "Who Dealt? at IMDB". IMDb. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  35. ^ Lardner, Ring (1929). "Who Dealt?". Round Up: The Stories of Ring W. Lardner. Charles Scribner's Sons.
  36. ^ "BBC releases first look imagery for new crime thriller series Wolf". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  37. ^ "King & Conqueror - further casting announced as filming begins on new period drama for BBC". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  38. ^ "Mary Poppins". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  39. ^ Julian Fellowes's Belgravia. 27 June 2017. ISBN 9781478940371. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  40. ^ Shapiro, Yehuda. Report on The Handmaid's Tale, London, February 2024. Opera, April 2024, Vol.75 No.4, p524-525.
  41. ^ "Meet The Team" Archived 11 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, LIFT. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  42. ^ a b c d "BAFTA Awards search Juliet Stevenson". BAFTA site. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  43. ^ "Outstanding Narrator Nominees / Winners 2019". Television Academy. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  44. ^ "Just announced! Full list of 2019 Critics' Circle Awards winners and production photos | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  45. ^ "Olivier Winners 1984". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  46. ^ "Olivier Winners 1986". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  47. ^ "Olivier Winners 1987". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  48. ^ "Olivier winners 1992". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  49. ^ agencies, Staff and (9 November 2009). "Royal Court theatre celebrates 11 Evening Standard award nominations thanks to the success of Enron and Jerusalem". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  50. ^ "Winners of Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2009". www.standard.co.uk. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  51. ^ "Olivier Awards Winners 2010 -Official London Theatre". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  52. ^ Paskett, Zoe (25 November 2019). "The 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards winners in full". standard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  53. ^ "2019 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards". 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  54. ^ "Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard – Theatre's Biggest Night". Olivier Awards. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

External links[edit]

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