Lydia Leonard
Born: 1981-12-05 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Known For: Acting
Biography
Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1980) is a British actress. She was born in Paris to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, a financial accountant; she lived in France until the age of five. Originally, Leonard wanted to be a barrister, which she considers to be a profession very similar to acting onstage. Her first acting role was in Nativity spectacle in school, where she played King Herod. Leonard went from Bedales School to graduate from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2003, and then won a BBC Radio Drama Carleton Hobbs bursary. Her radio credits include playing Lady Mabel in a twelve-part adaptation of Anthony Trollope's series of political novels, and Goodwill in The Pilgrim's Progress. On television she had an ongoing role in 50s-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. Leonard appeared on stage as Polyxena in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hecuba starring Vanessa Redgrave and alongside Francesca Annis in the National Theatre's production of Time and the Conways. In 2005 Leonard appeared as Caroline Cushing in the original Donmar Theatre and West End productions of Frost/Nixon. In 2008 Leonard played a major role in the BBC re-make of The 39 Steps. Part of the Christmas scheduling, its first showing was the most watched program on BBC One on that day. Leonard starred as Cynthia in Joanna Hogg's 2010 feature film Archipelago. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lydia Leonard, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2026
- Pretty Lethal as Miss Thorna
- Secret Service as Amanda Walker
- A Woman of Substance as Olivia Wainwright
2025
- Down Cemetery Road as Defence Minister Talia Ross
2024
- A Very Royal Scandal as Esme Wren
2023
- Northern Comfort as Sarah
2022
- Ten Percent as Rebecca Fox
2021
- We Are Lady Parts as Clarice
- Red Election as Beatrice Ogilvy
- All These Men That I've Done as Unnamed
2020
- McDonald & Dodds as Lucy Holgate
- Flesh and Blood as Natalie
- Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall as Self - Reader (voice)
2019
- Gentleman Jack as Mariana Lawton
- Last Christmas as Marta Andrich
2017
- Absentia as Laurie Colson
- Apple Tree Yard as Bonnard
- Quacks as Caroline Lessing
2016
- The Crown as Cherie Blair
- The Prevailing Winds as The Hiker
2015
- Wolf Hall as Jane Rochford
- River as Marianne King
- Life In Squares as Young Virginia Woolf
2013
- The Fifth Estate as Alex Lang
- Lucan as Melissa
- Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon as Katie
- Born of War as Olivia
- Playdate
2011
- Archipelago as Cynthia
2008
- Ashes to Ashes as Sara Templeton
- The 39 Steps as Victoria Sinclair
- Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley as Joyce
2006
- The Line of Beauty as Penny Kent
- True True Lie as Dana
2002
- Spooks as Martha Ford
- Foyle's War as Marion Greenwood
1997
- Midsomer Murders as Phoebe Frears