Noma Dumezweni | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dumezweni in 2024 | |
| Born | (1969-07-28)28 July 1969 (age 55) |
| Nationality |
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| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Laurence Olivier Award |
Noma Dumezweni (born 28 July 1969)[1] is a South African-British actress. In 2006, she won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Ruth Younger inA Raisin in the Sun at theLyric Hammersmith Theatre.[2] In 2017, she won theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance asHermione Granger in the originalWest End run ofHarry Potter and the Cursed Child; she reprised the role for the show's originalBroadway run and, in 2018, was nominated for theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Born inMbabane,Swaziland (present-dayEswatini) in 1969 toSouth African parents, Dumezweni lived inBotswana,Kenya andUganda. She arrived inEngland as a refugee at the age of seven with her sister and mother.[3] She first lived inFelixstowe,Suffolk, where she was educated,[2] before moving toLondon at 18 years old.
Dumezweni's work in theatre includes:President of an Empty Room andThe Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other[4] at theNational Theatre, London;[5]A Raisin in the Sun for theYoung Vic at theLyric Hammersmith, London[6] (for which she won her firstLaurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role);[7]A Midsummer Night's Dream,[8]The Master and Margarita,[9]Nathan the Wise[10] andThe Coffee House atChichester Festival Theatre,Six Characters in Search of an Author in theChichester Festival production at theGielgud Theatre[11][12] andThe Bogus Woman[13] at theTraverse and theBush.
Dumezweni performed in the 2014Macbeth withAnthony Sher as the First Witch.[14] In 2002, she played Charmian inAntony and Cleopatra[15] and Ursula inMuch Ado About Nothing[16] for theRSC. In 2006, she performed inBreakfast with Mugabe.[17]
She returned to the RSC in 2009-11. In spring of 2009 she appeared in the RSC'sThe Winter's Tale.[18][19][20] She also played Olyana inThe Grainstone, Calphurnia inJulius Caesar,[21] the Nurse inRomeo and Juliet, Morgan Le Fay inLe Morte d'Arthur, the Doctor inLittle Eagles,[22] and Alice inAdelaide Road.
In 2012, she played Rita inBelong at Royal Court Theatre.[23] In 2013, she played Mistress Quickly and Alice inHenry V starringJude Law at theNoël Coward Theatre. At Royal Court, she played Mrs. Twit inThe Twits, a stage adaptation of the story byRoald Dahl of the same name.
In 2013–2014, she appeared inAHuman Being Died That Night at theFugard Theater[broken anchor] in Cape Town, theMarket Theatre in Johannesburg, which later transferred to theHampstead Theatre in London.[24] In 2015, the show moved toBrooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and she was lauded for her "impeccable performance".[25] She starred inLinda at London'sRoyal Court Theatre in November 2015, stepping into the role vacated byKim Cattrall with a few days' notice before press night. Awarding the production five stars, theDaily Telegraph's chief theatre critic Dominic Cavendish wrote: "If they can bottle and mass-produce whatever it is that Noma Dumezweni has got then, please, I want to order a life-time's supply."[26] In 2014, she played Hippolita in'Tis Pity She's A Whore at theSam Wanamaker Playhouse.[27] In 2015, she played Don José inCarmen Disruption, an adaptation ofGeorges Bizet'sCarmen.[28]
In December 2015, it was announced that Dumezweni had been cast asHermione Granger inHarry Potter and the Cursed Child.[29] On the announcement, theatre critic Kate Maltby described her as "an actress who consistently engages and enthrals."[30] The casting of the black Dumezweni as Hermione sparked fervent discussion, to whichJ. K. Rowling responded that Hermione's skin was never specified as white.[31][32] In 2017, she won her secondLaurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.[33] Because of her performance in the role, Dumezweni was listed as one ofBBC's 100 women during 2018.[34] She reprised her role onBroadway at theLyric Theatre in 2018.[35]
In 2022, she playedNora Helmer inLucas Hnath'sA Doll's House, Part 2.[36]
Dumezweni appeared on numerous television shows, and in 2018, she starred inBlack Earth Rising, theHugo Blick drama about the prosecution of war criminals. She played the marine biologist Fiffany in theHBO Max comedy seriesMade for Love (2021–2022).[37]
In 2020, she appeared in theHBO seriesThe Undoing alongsideNicole Kidman,Hugh Grant, andDonald Sutherland.[38] The series received several nominations at theGolden Globes andEmmy Awards.[39] She plays Haley Fitzgerald, a powerhouse attorney hired by a wealthy New York psychotherapist (Kidman) to represent her husband (Grant), a pediatric cancer doctor who has been charged with the brutal killing of his mistress.[38] This role enabled Dumezweni to reach an American audience thanks to the success of the series.[40]
In 2022, Dumezweni appeared in theNetflix seriesThe Watcher as the private investigator hired by the Brannock family, Theodora Birch.[41]
Dumezweni has had several roles in feature films, including Miss Penny Farthing inDisney’sMary Poppins Returns in 2018. In 2019, she played Edith Sikelo inThe Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, directed by and starringChiwetel Ejiofor. She played Dionne Davis in Peter Hedges' large ensemble dramaThe Same Storm and critic Stephen Farber wrote, her "powerhouse performance strikes the right mournful but modestly hopeful note as we exit the theater."[42] She was in Disney'slive-action adaptation ofThe Little Mermaid asQueen Selina, the adoptive mother ofPrince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and a new character created for the film, and joinedLiam Neeson in the cast of the filmRetribution.[43][44]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dirty Pretty Things | Celia | |
| 2018 | Mary Poppins Returns | Miss Penny Farthing | |
| 2019 | The Kid Who Would Be King | Mrs. Lee | Directed by Joe Cornish[45] |
| The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind | Edith Sikelo | Directed byChiwetel Ejiofor[46] | |
| 2021 | The Same Storm | Dionne Davis | Drama |
| 2023 | The Little Mermaid | Queen Selina | |
| Retribution | Angela Brickman | Alongside Liam Neeson, Lilly Aspell, Arian Moayed[47] | |
| 2024 | The Friend[48] | Barbara | Directed by Scott McGehee & David Siegel[49] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Holby City | Hannah Keelan | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Silent Witness | DS Erin Jacobs | 1 episode |
| The Bill | Building Society Manager | 1 episode | |
| 2006 | Mysterious Creatures | Chanelle Pinkerton | Television film |
| Holby City | Hesta Mukaka | 1 episode | |
| After Thomas | Paula Murray | Television film | |
| 2007 | Shameless | Mrs. Newman | 1 episode |
| Fallen Angel | Carla | 1 episode | |
| New Tricks | Sophie Oyekambi | 1 episode | |
| EastEnders | D.C. Wright | 1 episode | |
| 2008 | The Last Enemy | Valerie | 1 episode |
| Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic | Marchessa | Television film | |
| Fallout | Joyce Abena | Television film | |
| 2008–2009 | Doctor Who | Captain Erisa Magambo | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Casualty | Marsha Chilcot | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Frankie | Angie Rascoe | 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Midsomer Murders | Ailsa Probert | 1 episode |
| Capital | Greaves | 2 episodes | |
| Casualty | Susan Blossom | 1 episode | |
| 2017 | Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams | Senior Agent Okhile | 1 episode |
| 2018 | Black Earth Rising | Alice Munezero | Main role, 7 episodes |
| 2020 | Normal People | Gillian | 1 episode |
| The Undoing | Haley Fitzgerald | Miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 2021 | Nature | Narrator | 1 episode |
| Pose | Tasha Jackson | 1 episode | |
| 2021–2022 | Made for Love | Fiffany | Main role |
| 2022 | The Watcher | Theodora Birch | Main role |
| 2023 | Best Interests | Dr. Samantha Woodford | 3 episodes |
| Only Murders in the Building | Maxine | 2 episodes | |
| 2024 | Presumed Innocent | Judge Lyttle | Miniseries, 8 episodes |
| TBA | Murderbot | Mensah | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Antony and Cleopatra | Chairmian | Theatre Royal Haymarket |
| 2008 | The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2014 | Henry V | Mistress Quickly/Alice | Noël Coward Theatre |
| 2016–2018 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Hermione Granger | Palace Theatre |
| Lyric Theatre | |||
| 2022 | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Nora Helmer | Donmar Warehouse |
In radio, she has appeared inJambula Tree,Seven Wonders of the Divided World,From Fact to Fiction,[50]From Freedom to the Future,Handprint,[51]Jane's Story,[52]Sagila,Shylock,[53]The Farming of Bones,[54]The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,[55][56]The Seven Ages of Car,The Bogus Woman[57] andBreakfast with Mugabe.[58]
She voiced various roles in the BBC Radio 4 dramatic recordings ofUrsula K. Le Guin'sEarthsea andThe Left Hand of Darkness.[59] From 2004–2014, she intermittently voiced characters for the long-running BBC Radio 4The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
She voiced the young adult adventure seriesSteeplejack byA. J. Hartley that is set in an imaginary world loosely resembling Victorian South Africa.
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Play | A Raisin in the Sun | Won | [60] |
| 2016 | Evening Standard Theatre Award | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Linda | Nominated | [61][62] |
| 2017 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Won | [63] |
| 2018 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Nominated | [64] | |
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | [65] | ||
| Theatre World Award | — | Honouree | [66] | ||
| 2021 | International Online Cinema Awards | Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Pose | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | The Undoing | Nominated |
JK Rowling tweeted this morning that she'd never specified Hermione's skin colour in the books.
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| Other | |
