Brenda Blethyn | |
|---|---|
 Blethyn in 2014 | |
| Born | Brenda Bottle (1946-02-20)20 February 1946 (age 79) |
| Alma mater | Guildford School of Acting |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Known for | Vera |
| Spouses | |
| Awards | Full list |
Brenda Blethyn (néeBottle; born 20 February 1946) is an English actress. Known for hercharacter work and versatility,[1][2] she is the recipient ofvarious accolades, including aGolden Globe, aBAFTA, and aCannes Film Festival Award, as well as nominations for twoAcademy Awards and twoPrimetime Emmys. She was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in 2003.[3]
Blethyn pursued an administrative career before enrolling at theGuildford School of Acting in her late 20s. She subsequently joined theRoyal National Theatre, gaining attention for her performances in plays such asBenefactors (1984), for which she received a nomination for theLaurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play. She made herBroadway debut in the revival of theMarsha Norman play'Night Mother (2004).
She made her feature film debut with a small part inNicolas Roeg'sThe Witches (1990). She starred in the Mike Leigh filmSecrets & Lies (1996), which earned her aCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress as well as a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actress. She was also Oscar-nominated for her role inLittle Voice (1998). Her other notable film credits includeA River Runs Through It (1992),Girls' Night (1998),Saving Grace (2000),Lovely & Amazing (2001),Plots with a View (2002),Pumpkin (2002),A Way of Life (2004),Pride & Prejudice (2005), andAtonement (2007).
Blethyn made her screen debut in theMike Leigh television filmGrown-Ups (1980). She has since starred in thesitcomsChance in a Million (1984–1986),The Labours of Erica (1989–1990),Outside Edge (1994–1996), andKate & Koji (2020–2022). She receivedPrimetime Emmy Award nominations playing Auguste van Pels inAnne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) and for her guest role inLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit (2008). From 2011 to 2025 she starred in ITV crime drama seriesVera portrayingDetective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.
Born inRamsgate,Kent, Blethyn was the youngest of nine children in aRoman Catholic, working-class family. Her mother, Louisa Kathleen (née Supple; 10 May 1904 – 21 June 1992), was a housewife and former maid who had met Blethyn's father, William Charles Bottle (5 March 1894 – 9 January 1985) in approximately 1922 while working for the same household inBroadstairs, Kent.[4][5] Bottle had previously worked as ashepherd, and spent six years inBritish India with theRoyal Field Artillery immediately prior to returning home to Broadstairs to become the family'schauffeur.[4] BeforeWWII, he found work as a mechanic at theVauxhallcar factory inLuton,Bedfordshire.[4]
The family lived in poor circumstances at their maternal grandmother's home.[when?] In 1944, after an engagement of 20 years and the births of eight children, the couple wed and moved into a small rented house in Ramsgate.[4] By the time Blethyn was born in 1946, her three eldest siblings—Pam, Ted, and Bernard—had already left home.[4] Her parents introduced Blethyn to film, taking her to the cinema weekly.[6]
Blethyn trained attechnical college and worked as astenographer andbookkeeper for a bank as a young adult. Towards the end of her first marriage, she opted to turn her hobby ofamateur dramatics to her professional advantage. After studying at theGuildford School of Acting, she went onto the London stage in 1976, performing several seasons at theRoyal National Theatre. In the following three years, she participated inTroilus and Cressida,Tamburlaine the Great,The Fruits of Enlightenment opposite SirRalph Richardson,Bedroom Farce,The Passion, andStrife.[7]
After winning theLondon Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress (forSteaming) in 1980, Blethyn made her screen debut, starring in the playGrown Ups as part of theBBC'sPlayhouse strand. Directed byMike Leigh, their first collaboration marked the start of a professional relationship which would later earn both of them huge acclaim. Blethyn followed this with roles inShakespearean adaptations for the BBC, playing Cordelia inKing Lear andJoan of Arc inHenry VI, Part 1. She also appeared withRobert Bathurst and others in the popularBBC Radio 4 comedy seriesDial M For Pizza. In the following years, Blethyn expanded her status as a professional stage actress, appearing in productions includingA Midsummer Night's Dream,Dalliance,The Beaux' Stratagem andBorn Yesterday. She was nominated for anOlivier Award for her performance as Sheila inBenefactors. Meanwhile, she continued with roles on British television, playing oppositeSimon Callow as Tom Chance's frustrated fiancée Alison Little in three series of the sitcomChance in a Million. She also had roles in comedies such asYes Minister (1981),Who Dares Wins and a variety of roles in theBBC Radio 4 comedyDelve Special alongsideStephen Fry and a role in the school comedy/dramaKing Street Junior.
In 1989, she starred inThe Labours of Erica, a sitcom written for her byChance in a Million writers Richard Fegen andAndrew Norriss. Blethyn played Erica Parsons, a single mother approaching her fortieth birthday who realises that life is passing her by. Finding her teenage diary and discovering a list of twelve tasks and ambitions which she had set for herself, Erica sets out to complete them before reaching the milestone. After 15 years of working in theatre and television, Blethyn made her big screen debut with a small role in 1990s darkfantasy filmThe Witches. The film, based on thesame-titled book byRoald Dahl, co-starred actressesAnjelica Huston andJane Horrocks.Witches received generally positive reviews, as did Blethyn, whom Craig Butler ofAll Media Guide considered as a "valuable support" for her performance of the mother, Mrs Jenkins.[8]
In 1991, after starring in a play in New York City, Blethyn was recommended toRobert Redford to audition for the soft-spoken mother role in his next projectA River Runs Through It (1992). Aperiod drama based on thesame-titled 1976 novel byNorman Maclean, also starringCraig Sheffer andBrad Pitt, the film revolves around two sons of aPresbyterian minister—one studious and the other rebellious—as they grow up andcome of age during theProhibition era in the United States. Portraying a second generation immigrant ofScottish heritage, Redford required Blethyn to adopt a Western American accent for her performance, prompting her to live inLivingston, Montana, in preparation of her role.[9] Upon its release, the film, budgeted at US$19 million, became a financial and critical success, resulting in a US box office total of US$43.3 million.[10]
Simultaneously Blethyn continued working on stage and in British television. Between 1990 and 1996, she starred in five different plays, includingAn Ideal Husband at theRoyal Exchange Theatre, Manchester,Tales from the Vienna Woods andWildest Dreams with theRoyal Shakespeare Company and her American stage debutAbsent Friends, for which eventually received a Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent. She played character parts in the BBC adaptation ofHanif Kureishi'sThe Buddha of Suburbia and theITV cricketing comedy-drama seriesOutside Edge, based on the play by television writerRichard Harris. Blethyn also performed in a variety of episodes ofAlas Smith & Jones andMaigret.
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Blethyn's breakthrough came withMike Leigh's 1996 dramaSecrets & Lies. Starring alongsideMarianne Jean-Baptiste, she portrayed a lower-class box factory worker, who after years once again comes in contact with her illegitimate grown-up black daughter, whom she gave up foradoption 30 years earlier. For her improvised performance, Blethyn was praised with a variety of awards, including theBest Actress Award at the1996 Cannes Film Festival,[11] the British Academy Award, aBAFTA Award, aGolden Globe and anAcademy Award nomination for Best Actress.[12] Upon its success, Blethyn later stated: "I knew it was a great film, but I didn't expect it to get the attention it did because none of his other films had and I thought they were just as good. Of course, I didn't know what it was about until I saw it in the cinema because of the way that he works—but I knew it was good. That it reached a wider audience surprised me." Besides critical acclaimSecrets & Lies also became a financial success; budgeted at an estimated $4.5 million, the film grossed an unexpected $13.5 million in its limited theatrical run in North America.[13]
The following year, Blethyn appeared in a supporting role inNick Hurran's debut featureRemember Me? (1997), a middle class suburban farce revolving around a family whose life is thrown into chaos upon the arrival of an old university crush.[14] Forging another collaboration with the director, the actress was cast alongsideJulie Walters for Hurran's next project, 1998'sGirls' Night, a drama film about two sisters-in-law, one dying of cancer, who fulfil a lifelong dream of going toLas Vegas, Nevada, after an unexpected jackpot win on thebingo. Loosely based upon the real experiences by writerKay Mellor, the production was originally destined for television untilGranada Productions found backing fromShowtime.[14] Premiered to a mixed response by critics at the 1998Sundance Film Festival, who noted it a "rather formulaic tearjerker [with] two powerhouse Brit actresses,"[15] Hurran won a Silver Spire at theSan Francisco International Film Festival and received aGolden Berlin Bear nomination at theBerlin International Film Festival for his work.[16] In John Lynch'sNight Train (1998), Blethyn played a timid spinster who strikes up a friendship withJohn Hurt's character, an ex-prisoner, who rents a room in her house while on the run from some nasty gangsters. A romantic drama with comedic and thrilling elements, the film was shot at several locations in Ireland, England and Italy in 1997, and received a limited release the following year.[17] The film received a mixed reception from critics. Adrian Wootton ofThe Guardian called it "an impressive directorial debut [that] mainly succeeds because [of] the talents of its lead actors". The film was nominated for a Crystal Star at the Brussels International Film Festival.[18] She also starred in James Bogle's film adaption ofTim Winton's 1988 novelIn the Winter Dark (1998).
Blethyn's last film of 1998 wasLittle Voice oppositeJane Horrocks andMichael Caine.[19] Cast against type, she played a domineering yet needy fish factory worker, who has nothing but contempt for her shy daughter and lusts after a local showbiz agent.[20] A breakaway from the kind at heart roles Blethyn had previously played, it was the character's antipathy that attracted the actress to accept the role of Mari: "I have to understand why she is the way she is. She is a desperate woman, but she also has an optimistic take on life which I find enviable. Whilst I don't approve of her behaviour, there is a reason for it and it was my job to work that out."[20] Both Blethyn's performance and the film received rave reviews, and the following year, she was again Oscar nominated, this time forBest Supporting Actress for her performance.[21] Blethyn's first film of 2000 was the indie comedySaving Grace withCraig Ferguson. Blethyn played a middle-aged newly widowed woman who is faced with the prospect of financial ruin and turns to growingmarijuana under the tutelage of her gardener to save her home. Her performance in the film received favourable reviews;Peter Travers wrote forRolling Stone: "It's Blethyn's solid-gold charm [that] turnsSaving Grace into a comic high."[22] The following year, Blethyn received her third Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film, which grossed an unexpected $24 million worldwide.[23] That same year, she also had a smaller role in theshort comedyYes You Can.
In 2001, Blethyn signed on to star in her ownCBS sitcom,The Seven Roses, in which she was to play the role of a widowed innkeeper and matriarch of an eccentric family. Originally slated to be produced by two former executive producers ofFrasier, plans for a pilot eventually went nowhere due to early casting conflicts.[24] Afterwards, Blethyn accepted a supporting role asAuguste van Pels in theABC mini seriesAnne Frank: The Whole Story based on thebook byMelissa Müller, for which she garnered her firstEmmy Award nomination.[25] Following this, Blethyn starred in the filmsDaddy and Them,On the Nose, andLovely & Amazing. InBilly Bob Thornton'sDaddy and Them, she portrayed an English neuroticpsychologist, who feels excluded by the American clan she married into due to her nationality. The film scored a generally positive reception but was financially unsuccessful, leading to adirect-to-TV release stateside.[26] In Canadian-Irish comedyOn the Nose, Blethyn played the minor role of the all-disapproving wife of Brendan Delaney, played byRobbie Coltrane.[27] Her appearance was commented as "underused" by Harry Guerin, writer forRTÉ Entertainment.[27] Blethyn depicted an affluent but desperate and distracted matriarch of three daughters inNicole Holofcener'sindependent dramaLovely & Amazing, featuringCatherine Keener,Emily Mortimer andJake Gyllenhaal.[28] The film became Blethyn's biggest box-office success of the year with a worldwide gross of $5 million only,[29] and earned the actress mixed reviews from professional critics.[28][30] She also did the UK voice of Dr. Florence Mountfitchet in theBob the Builder special, "The Knights of Can-A-Lot".
In 2002, Blethyn appeared withChristina Ricci in thedark comedyPumpkin, a financial disaster.[31] The film opened to little notice and grossed less than $300,000 during its North American theatrical run.[32] Her performance as the overprotective wine-soaked mother of a disabled teenage boy generated Blethyn mostly critical reviews.Entertainment Weekly writer Lisa Schwarzbaum called her "challenged, unsure [... and] miscast."[33] Her following film, limitedly-releasedNicolas Cage'sSonny, saw similar success. While the production was panned in general,[34] the actress earned mixed reviews for her performance of an eccentric ex-prostitute and mother, as some critics such as Kevin Thomas considered her casting as "problematic [due to] caricatured acting."[35] Blethyn eventually received more acclaim when she accepted the lead role in thedark comedyPlots with a View. Starring alongsideAlfred Molina, the pair was praised for their "genuine chemistry."[34] A year after, Blethyn co-starred withBob Hoskins andJessica Alba in historicaldirect-to-video dramaThe Sleeping Dictionary. The film earned her a DVDX Award but received mixed critics, as didBlizzard, aChristmas movie in which Blethyn played the eccentric character of Aunt Millie, the narrator of the film's story.[36] 2003 ended with the mini seriesBetween the Sheets, in which Blethyn starred as a woman struggling with her own ambivalent feelings towards her husband and sex.[37]
Blethyn co-starred asBobby Darin's mother Polly Cassotto inBeyond the Sea, a 2004 biographical film about the singer. The film was a financial disappointment: budgeted at an estimated US$25 million, it opened to little notice and grossed only $6 million in its North American theatrical run.[38]Margaret Pomeranz ofAt the Movies said that her casting was "a bit mystifying".[39] Afterwards, Blethyn starred inA Way of Life, playing a bossy and censorious mother-in-law of a struggling young woman, played byStephanie James, and in the television filmBelonging, starring as a middle-aged childless woman who is left to look after the elderly relatives of her husband and to make a new life for herself after he leaves her for a younger woman.[40] Blethyn received a Golden FIPA Award and a BAFTA nomination for the latter role.[40] That same year she made herBroadway debut in the play'Night Mother oppositeEdie Falco.Ben Brantley ofThe New York Times wrote that while "she has the requisite fretful voice and fidgety mannerisms down pat, it's as if she is doing a technically perfect impersonation in a vacuum."[41]
In early 2005, Blethyn appeared in the indie-dramaOn a Clear Day playing Joan, aGlasgow housewife, who secretly enrolls in bus-driving classes after her husband's dismissal. Her performance in the film received positive reviews; ABC writer MaryAnn Johanson wrote: "It's Blethyn, who wraps the movie in a cosy, comfortable, maternal hug that reassures you that it will weather its risk-taking with aplomb [...]."[42] The film became a minor success at the international box-office chart, barely grossing $1 million worldwide,[43] but was awarded aBAFTA Scotland Award for Best Film and Screenplay.[44]
A major hit for Blethyn came withJoe Wright'sPride & Prejudice, a 2005 adaptation of the same-titled novel byJane Austen.[45] Starring alongsideKeira Knightley andDonald Sutherland, Blethyn playedMrs. Bennet, a fluttery mother of five sisters who desperately schemes to marry her daughters off to men of means. During promotion of the film, she noted of her portrayal of the character: "I've always thought she had a real problem and shouldn't be made fun of. She's pushy with a reason. As soon asMr. Bennet dies, all the money goes down the male line; she has to save her daughters from penury."[46] With both a worldwide gross of over US$121 million and several Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations,[47] the film became a critical and commercial success,[45] spawning Blethyn anotherBAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[47] In 2007, she appeared in the independent Australian coming-of-age comedyClubland. Playing a character that was created specifically with her in mind, Blethyn portrayed a bawdy comedian with a sinking career faced with the romantic life of her young son, played byKhan Chittenden.[48] The film was released in Australia in June 2007, and was screenedSundance Film Festival where distributedWarner Independent Pictures for a $4 million deal and gained positive reviews.[49]Los Angeles Times film critic Carina Chocano wrote, "the movie belongs to Blethyn, who takes a difficult, easily misunderstood role and gracefully cracks it open to reveal what's inside."[50] The role earned her nominations for theAustralian Film Institute Award and anInside Film Award.[47]
Also in 2007, Blethyn reunited with Joe Wright onAtonement, an adaptation fromIan McEwan's critically acclaimednovel of the same name. On her role of a housekeeper in a cast that also featuresKeira Knightley,Saoirse Ronan andJames McAvoy, Blethyn commented: "It's a tiny, tiny part. If you blink you'll miss me."[51] The film garnered generally positive reviews from film critics and received aBest Picture nomination at the 2008 Academy Awards.[52][53] A box office success around the globe, it went on to gross a total of $129 million worldwide.[54] Blethyn also appeared as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa in a supporting role in the internationally produced 2007 miniseriesWar and Peace byRAI, filmed in Russia and Lithuania.[55]
In 2008, Blethyn made her Americansmall screen debut with a guest role onCBS sitcomThe New Adventures of Old Christine, playing the neurotic mother toJulia Louis-Dreyfus' character in thefourth season episode "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner."[56] The same year, she appeared in a singleseason ten episode of theNBClegal drama seriesLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit. Her performance of a sympathetic fugitive of domestic violence and rape that killed her first husband in self-defense earned Blethyn anotherPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series nomination.[57] Blethyn again provided the voice ofMama Heffalump in the animatedDisney direct-to-video animated sequelTigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009).
Blethyn's first film in two years,Rachid Bouchareb'sLondon River opened at the59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009 where it won a Special Mention by the Ecumenical Jury.[58][59] In the film, for which Blethyn had to learn French, she portrays a mother waiting for news of her missing child after theLondon bombings of July 2005, striking up a friendship with aMuslim man, whose child has also disappeared.[59] Blethyn, who had initially felt sceptical and reticent about the film due to its background, was originally not available for filming but Bouchareb decided to delay filming to work with her.[60] Upon release, the film received favourable reviews, particularly for its "dynamite acting".[61] Mike Scott fromThe Times-Picayune commented "that Blethyn's performance is nuanced [...] it's that performance—at turns sweet, funny and heartbreaking—that ultimately draws viewers in and defies them to stop watching".[62]
Also in 2009, Blethyn played aBenedictine nun inJan Dunn's filmThe Calling, also starringJoanna Scanlan andPauline McLynn. Dunn's third feature film, it tells the story of Joanna, played byEmily Beecham, who after graduating from university, goes against her family and friends when she decides to join a closed order of nuns. Released to film festivals in 2009, the independent drama was not released to UK cinemas until 2010, when it was met with mixed to negative reviews by critics, some of which declared it "halfDoubt, halfHollyoaks".[63] Blethyn however, earned positive reviews for her performance;The Guardian writer Catherine Shoard wrote that "only she, really, manages to ride the rollercoaster jumps in plot and tone."[64] Her last film of 2009 wasAlex De Rakoff's crime filmDead Man Running alongsideTamer Hassan,Danny Dyer, and50 Cent, in which she portrayed the wheelchair-using mother of a criminal who is taken hostage. The film received universally negative reviews from film critics, who deemed it to be full of "poor performances, stiff dialogue, [and] flat characters".[65]
In May 2011, Blethyn began playing the title role inITV's crime drama series,Vera as theNorth of England character Vera Stanhope, a nearly retired detective chief inspector obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons, based on the novels ofAnn Cleeves. Initially broadcast to mixed reviews, it has since received favourable reviews, with Chitra Ramaswamy fromThe Guardian writing in 2016: "Blethyn is the best thing aboutVera [...] She has the loveliest voice, at once girlish and gruff. Her face is kind but means business. Not many actors can pull off shambolic but effective but Blethyn can do it with a single, penetrating glance from beneath that hat."[66] Averaging 7.8 million people per episode in the United Kingdom,Vera became one of the most watched British dramas of the 2010s.[66] Blethyn received the2017 RTS North East & Border Television Award for her performance and has continued to portray Vera as of 2025[update] in 14 series of the show, available in 20 countries.[67] Blethyn's only film of 2011 was theChristmas dramaMy Angel about a boy looking for anangel to save his mother after an accident. Shot inNorthwood for less than £2 million,My Angel scooped best film, newcomer, director and screenplay, plus best actor and actress for Blethyn and Spall at theMonaco International Film Festival.[68] In 2012 Blethyn starred opposite singerTom Jones and actressAlison Steadman in the short filmKing of the Teds, directed byJim Cartwright, as part ofSky ArtsPlayhouse Presents series. She played an old flame who gets in touch with a former boyfriend byFacebook, introducing tensions and doubts from 40 years before.[69]
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In March 2013, Blethyn costarred withHilary Swank in theBBC movieMary and Martha.[70] Based on a screenplay byRichard Curtis and directed byPhillip Noyce, it involves two very different women who both lose their sons tomalaria. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with Linda Stasi fromThe New York Post writing that "while Swank and Blethyn make everything they're in more remarkable for their presence, the movie plays more like a based-on-factLifetime flick than an HBO work of fiction."[71] Also in 2013, Blethyn began voicing the supporting character of Ernestine Enormomonster in two seasons of the children's animated television seriesHenry Hugglemonster, based on the 2005 bookI'm a Happy Hugglewug by Niamh Sharkey.[72]
In 2014, Blethyn reteamed with filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb for the French–American drama filmTwo Men in Town (2014), a remake of the1973 film. Along withForest Whitaker andHarvey Keitel, Blethyn portrays a parole officer in theWestern film shot inNew Mexico.[73] Whilst critical reception towards the film as a whole was lukewarm, Sherilyn Connelly fromThe Village Voice remarked that Blethyn "is wonderful as an all-too-rare character, a middle-aged woman who holds her own in a position of authority over violent men."[69] In January 2015, Blethyn was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19thCapri Hollywood International Film Festival.[74]
In 2016, Blethyn lent her voice to the British animatedbiographical filmEthel & Ernest, based on thegraphic memoir of the same name that followsRaymond Briggs' parents through their marriage, from the 1920s to their deaths in the 1970s.[75] The film earned favorable reviews from critics, who called it "gentle, poignant, and vividly animated" as well as "a warm character study with an evocative sense of time and place."[76] Blethyn received a nomination in the Best Voice Performance category at the British Animation Awards 2018.[77] From 2020 to 2022, she played Kate Abbott, the cafe-owner inKate and Koji who developed strong friendships with two asylum-seeking doctors:Jimmy Akingbola in Series 1 and Okorie Chukwu in Series 2.[78][79]
Blethyn married Alan James Blethyn, agraphic designer she met while working forBritish Rail, in 1964. The marriage ended in 1973.[80][81]Blethyn kept her husband's surname as her professional name. British art director Michael Mayhew has been her partner since 1975,[82] and the couple married in June 2010.[83]
Blethyn was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in the2003 New Year Honours.[3]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Say No to Strangers | Teresa's Mum | Uncredited; short film |
| 1990 | The Witches | Mrs. Jenkins | |
| 1992 | A River Runs Through It | Mrs. Maclean | |
| 1996 | Secrets & Lies | Cynthia Rose Purley | |
| 1997 | Remember Me? | Shirley | |
| 1998 | Girls' Night | Dawn Wilkinson | |
| Music from Another Room | Grace Swan | ||
| Night Train | Alice Mooney | ||
| In the Winter Dark | Ida Stubbs | ||
| Little Voice | Mari Hoff | ||
| 2000 | Saving Grace | Grace Trevethyn | |
| 2001 | Daddy and Them | July Montgomery | |
| Lovely & Amazing | Jane Marks | ||
| On the Nose | Mrs. Delaney | ||
| 2002 | Pumpkin | Judy Romanoff | |
| Sonny | Jewel Phillips | ||
| Plots with a View | Betty Rhys-Jones | ||
| The Wild Thornberrys Movie | Mrs. Alice June Fairgood | Voice | |
| 2003 | The Sleeping Dictionary | Aggie Bullard | |
| Blizzard | Aunt Millie | ||
| 2004 | Piccadilly Jim | Nina Banks | |
| Beyond the Sea | Polly Cassotto | ||
| A Way of Life | Annette | ||
| Belonging | Jess Copple | ||
| 2005 | Pooh's Heffalump Movie | Mama Heffalump | Voice |
| On a Clear Day | Joan Redmond | ||
| Pride & Prejudice | Mrs. Bennet | ||
| 2006 | Mysterious Creatures | Wendy Ainscow | |
| 2007 | Clubland | Jean Dwight | |
| Atonement | Grace Turner | ||
| 2009 | London River | Elisabeth Sommers | |
| Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too | Mama Heffalump | Voice | |
| The Calling | Sister Ignatious | ||
| Dead Man Running | Mrs. Kane | ||
| 2011 | My Angel | Headmistress | |
| 2014 | Two Men in Town | Emily Smith | |
| 2016 | Ethel & Ernest | Ethel Briggs | Voice |
| 2020 | Strawberry Fields Forever | Gran | Short film |
| 2025 | Saving Grace Again! | Grace Trevethyn |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Grown-Ups | Gloria | Television film |
| Can We Get on Now, Please? | Miranda Plumley | Episode: "Variations in Two Flats" | |
| Play for Today | Mary | Episode: "The Imitation Game" | |
| Bedroom Farce | Kate | Television film | |
| 1981 | Yes Minister | Joan Littler | Episode: "The Greasy Pole" |
| 1982 | King Lear | Cordelia | Television film |
| 1983 | Tales of the Unexpected | Carol Hutchins | Episode: "Hit and Run" |
| Death of an Expert Witness | Angela Foley | Television miniseries; 6 episodes | |
| Play for Today | Janice | Episode: "Floating Off" | |
| Rumpole of the Bailey | Pauline | Episode: "Rumpole and the Genuine Article" | |
| The First Part of Henry the Sixth | Joan la Pucelle | Television film | |
| 1984 | Weekend Playhouse | Jean Saunders | Episode: "Singles Weekend" |
| 1984–1986 | Chance in a Million | Alison Little | Main role; 18 episodes |
| 1985 | That Uncertain Feeling | Mrs. Lewis | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 1987 | Sunday Premiere | Sylvia | Episode: "Claws" |
| Poor Little Rich Girl | Ticki Tocquet | Television film | |
| 1988 | The Storyteller | Storyteller's Wife | Episode: "A Story Short" |
| 1989 | The Play on One | Miss A. | Episode: "The Shawl" |
| 1989–1990 | The Labours of Erica | Erica Parsons | Main role; 12 episodes |
| 1991 | All Good Things | Shirley Frame | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 1993 | The Buddha of Suburbia | Margaret Amir | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 1994–1996 | Outside Edge | Miriam Dervish | 22 episodes |
| 2001 | Anne Frank: The Whole Story | Auguste van Pels | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Between the Sheets | Hazel Delany | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 2007 | War and Peace | Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa | 4 episodes |
| 2008 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Angela Kimble | Episode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner?" |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Linnie Malcolm/Caroline Cresswell | Episode: "Persona" | |
| 2011–2025 | Vera | DCI Vera Stanhope | Main role; 56 episodes |
| 2012 | Playhouse Presents | Nina | Episode: "King of the Teds" |
| 2020–2022 | Kate & Koji | Kate | Main role; 12 episodes |
Blethyn received aBAFTA Film Award, aGolden Globe Award, and aCannes Film Festival Award for her role inSecrets & Lies (1996). Over her career she has received nominations for anAcademy Award, aBAFTA Television Award, aLaurence Olivier Award, twoPrimetime Emmy Awards, and threeScreen Actors Guild Awards. In 2017, she was named Performer of the Year by theRoyal Television Society for her role inVera.[citation needed] She was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama in 2003.[102]
