Polly Alexandra Walker (born 19 May 1966) is an English actress. She has starred in the films '' Enchanted April'' (1991), '' Patriot Games'' (1992), ''

Sliver Sliver may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sliver'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Ira Levin ** ''Sliver'' (film), a 1993 film adaptation of the novel ** ''Sliver'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1993 film * "Sliver" (song), a 1990 song by Nirvana *'' ...

'' (1993), '' Restoration'' (1995), '' The Gambler'' (1997), and '' Savage Messiah'' (2002). In 2006, she received a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nomination for her role in the drama series ''

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

'' (2005–2007). She is also known for her roles in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

dramas '' Prisoners’ Wives'' (2012–2013), ''

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural television series created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions. On 26 June 2012, BBC Two began to broadcast the first series; it was its best-performing drama series in ten years w ...

'' (2016, 2019) and

Netflix Original Netflix is an American global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider that has distributed a number of original streaming television shows, including original series, specials, miniseries, and documentaries and films. Netflix's original pr ...

period drama ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American historical- romance streaming television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted show for Netflix. It revolves around the epony ...

'' (2020).

Early life

Walker was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. She attended Padgate

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

Primary School in Warrington and Bush Davies School of Ballet and Performing Arts in East Grinstead until joining Ballet Rambert School at 16. She had to abandon dancing after a leg injury at the age of 18. She then decided to become an actress. She attended

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitue ...

before working at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, where she played small roles for six months before getting cast in small roles on television.

Career

Film and television

Walker landed the title role in the television series ''

Lorna Doone ''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...

'' before making her feature debut in ''Shogun Mayeda'' (aka ''Journey of Honor'') (1991). In that same year she appeared in ''Les Equilibristes'' and in Mike Newell's '' Enchanted April'', in which she played an aristocrat eager to escape the attentions of her persistent male admirers. Walker first gained international attention in 1992 as a single-minded English member of an Irish terrorist group in Phillip Noyce's '' Patriot Games''. In 2003 she had a starring role in the BBC drama series '' State of Play''. Between 2005 and 2007, Walker played

Atia of the Julii This is a list of characters from the HBO series '' Rome''. The historical figures upon which certain characters are based are noted where appropriate. Main Recurring Guest * (historically, '' Antonia the Elder'' or ''Antonia Minor''), d ...

in both seasons of the HBO–

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

television series ''

''. Her performance earned her a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nomination in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama. She next played the sinister Catherine Braithwaite in "Deus Ex Machina", a two-episode story of the BBC television "cold case" crime series '' Waking the Dead'', which also aired in January 2007. In May 2007, she appeared as Lady Bess Sedgwick in ITV's '' Marple'': ''

At Bertram's Hotel ''At Bertram's Hotel'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Ed ...

'', and then played sugar heiress Ellis Samuels in the CBS television drama ''

Cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are ...

'', which premiered 25 September 2007. In May 2008, Walker was cast as Sister Clarice Willow, headmistress of a private religious school, in

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

's ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

series ''

Caprica ''Caprica'' is an American science fiction drama television series. A spin-off prequel of the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), Caprica is set 58 years before the main series. ''Caprica'' shows how humanity first created the Cylon a ...

''. In 2011 she guest starred as Ranna Seneschal, leader of the underground city of Praxis, on ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

''. In 2012, she starred in BBC's crime drama ''

Prisoners' Wives ''Prisoners' Wives'' is a BBC drama series, created and written by Julie Gearey and starring Polly Walker, Pippa Haywood, Emma Rigby, Natalie Gavin, Sally Carman and Karla Crome, with supporting cast including Iain Glen, Adam Gillen, Jonas Armst ...

'' as crime wife Francesca Miller. She returned to the role in 2013 for the second series. In 2014, she had a recurring role as the character Delphine Day in the ITV series ''

Mr Selfridge ''Mr Selfridge'' is a British period drama television series about Harry Gordon Selfridge and his department store, Selfridge & Co, in London, set from 1908 to 1928. It was co-produced by ITV Studios and Masterpiece/WGBH for broadcast on ITV ...

''. In 2015, she appeared in '' The Syndicate'' as DI Baker. In 2018, she starred as Bel, the leading character in '' Age Before Beauty''. In 2020, she appeared as Lady Lunete, the Queen Regent and mother to

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon ( Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few ...

, a recurring character for 5 episodes in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series, '' Cursed''. Since December 2020, Walker has starred in the Netflix series ''

'' as Lady Featherington.

Personal life

On 23 October 2008, Walker married the former actor Laurence Penry-Jones (brother of

Rupert Penry-Jones Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series ''The ...

) with whom she lived in the United States for several years. In 2015, they returned to London.Katherine Hassell
''Paranoid's Polly Walker: I like playing a troublemaker''
Express, 25 September 2016

Filmography

Film

Television

Video Games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Polly 1966 births 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Alumni of the Drama Centre London English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Living people Royal Shakespeare Company members English Shakespearean actresses Actresses from Warrington