1976–1999: Career beginnings and early roles Staunton graduated from
RADA in 1976, then spent six years in British
repertory theatre, including a period at the
Northcott Theatre,
Exeter, where she had the title role in
Shaw's
Saint Joan (1979). She then moved on to roles the
National Theatre, including Lucy Lockit in ''
The Beggar's Opera (1982), which earned her Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre. She also appeared in two revivals of Guys and Dolls'' at the National Theatre; the first in 1982 in which she met her husband
Jim Carter and the second in 1996 in which she played Miss Adelaide and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 1985, Staunton won her first
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work in both
The Corn Is Green at
The Old Vic and
A Chorus of Disapproval at the National Theatre. She also played
Dorothy Gale in the
Royal Shakespeare Company's 1987 revival of
The Wizard of Oz at the
Barbican Centre, which earned her another Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in the original London production of
Into the Woods (1990). Staunton's first big-screen role came in a 1986 film
Comrades. She then appeared in the 1991 film
Antonia and Jane, and in the 1992 film ''
Peter's Friends. Other film roles include performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Deadly Advice (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Twelfth Night (1996). In 1993, she appeared on television alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. Staunton also played the wife of Detective Burakov in the 1995 HBO movie, Citizen X, which recounted the pursuit and capture of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986), Midsomer Murders, and the sitcom Is It Legal? (1995–98), as well as A Bit of Fry and Laurie. She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994). Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love.'' On radio, she has appeared in the title role of the detective drama series
Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead "Izzy Comyn" in the comedy
Up the Garden Path (which later moved to
ITV with Staunton reprising the role), in
Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999), as "Courageous Kate" in Series 1 of
Elephants to Catch Eels and as "
Xanthippe" in Series 2 of
Acropolis Now. She starred opposite
Anna Massey in the post-World War II mystery series
Daunt and Dervish, and opposite
Patrick Barlow in
The Patrick and Maureen Maybe Music Experience. She played the role of a schoolboy as the lead character in the five part (15 minutes each): "The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth" for BBC Radio 4.
2000–2011: Vera Drake and Harry Potter films '' in 2011 In the early 2000s, Staunton appeared in supporting roles in
Chicken Run (2000),
Another Life (2001) and
Bright Young Things (2003). She received widespread acclaim for her performance in the title role of
Mike Leigh’s
Vera Drake (2004) as a working-class woman who secretly performs abortions. She won the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the
European Film Award for Best Actress, and the
Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the
Venice Film Festival; the film itself won the
Golden Lion. For the same role, she received her first
Academy Award nomination as well as
Golden Globe and
Screen Actors Guild Award nominatons. She went on to star in
Nanny McPhee (2005) and played Margaret Campbell in
Freedom Writers (2007) opposite
Hilary Swank. That same year she portrayed the free-thinking gossip Miss Pole in the BBC series
Cranford. Staunton portrayed
Dolores Umbridge in
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), for which she received widespread acclaim. She was nominated for Best British Actress in a Supporting Role at the
London Film Critics Circle Awards. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in 2010. In 2011, she played Grace Andrews in the second series of
Psychoville. Other film roles include the 2008 film
A Bunch of Amateurs, in which she starred alongside
Burt Reynolds,
Derek Jacobi and
Samantha Bond, and the character of Sonia Teichberg in
Ang Lee's
Taking Woodstock (2009). Staunton provided the voice of the Talking Flowers in ''
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), and played one of the lead roles in the supernatural drama film The Awakening (2011). In the ensuing twenty years, Staunton mainly had roles in plays, including Sonya in Uncle Vanya (1988), Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane (2009) and Margie Good People'' (2014), for which she received Olivier nominations for
Best Actress in a Play. She also appeared in two productions at the
Almeida Theatre; firstly in the premiere of
Frank McGuinness's
There Came a Gypsy Riding in 2007 and secondly in a revival of
Edward Albee's
A Delicate Balance in 2011. Also in 2011, she was the Voice of the Interface in the highly-acclaimed and
Hugo Award-nominated episode of
Doctor Who, "
The Girl Who Waited". In 2012, she portrayed
Alma Reville, the wife of
Alfred Hitchcock, in the
HBO television movie
The Girl, which also starred
Toby Jones and
Sienna Miller. Her performance saw her nominated for a
BAFTA Television Award and a
Primetime Emmy Award.
2012–2019: Return to musical theatre Most recently, Staunton has appeared in two
Chichester Festival Theatre productions, taking on the role of
Mrs. Lovett in a revival of
Stephen Sondheim's
Sweeney Todd between 2011 and 2012, starring opposite
Michael Ball, before starring as Rose in a revival of
Gypsy between 2014 and 2015. Both productions transferred to London for critically and commercially acclaimed runs. Staunton won her second and third Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for the two productions in 2013 and 2016 respectively. In 2012, she voiced
Queen Victoria in the
Aardman film
The Pirates! Band of Misfits, where she serves as the main antagonist. In 2014, she co-starred in
Maleficent as well as the British comedy-drama
Pride. In late 2014, she had a voice role in
Paddington, a film based on the
Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Staunton and her
Harry Potter co-star
Michael Gambon voiced Paddington's Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, respectively. Staunton returned to the
Harold Pinter Theatre in
London's West End in 2017 as Martha in ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', starring alongside
Conleth Hill,
Luke Treadaway and
Imogen Poots at the
Harold Pinter Theatre. This play was broadcast in
National Theatre Live on 18 May 2017. Staunton performed the role of Sally in the 2017
National Theatre revival of
Stephen Sondheim's
Follies, alongside
Janie Dee as Phyllis, and
Philip Quast as Ben. The show was broadcast through the
National Theatre Live initiative on 16 November 2017. An August 2018 announcement revealed that Staunton would be among the new cast to join the original actors in
Downton Abbey, which started principal photography at about the same time.
2020–present: The Crown and theatre roles Staunton starred as Penny in seasons 1 and 2 of the
Apple TV+ comedy series
Trying. Season One premiered on 1 May 2020 and Season Two premiered on 14 May 2021. On 31 January 2020, it was announced that she would be portraying
Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth season of the critically acclaimed
Netflix series
The Crown. On 9 July 2020, it was announced that the series had been extended to a sixth and final season, with Staunton again to reprise her role of the Queen. Staunton's performance in the fifth season earned her
Golden Globe Award and
British Academy Television Award nominations. Her performance in season six earned her
Golden Globe Award and
Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She has stated that she was filming scenes for
The Crown on 8 September 2022, the day of the
death of Queen Elizabeth II, and that she and co-star
Lesley Manville were informed of the news during the shoot and chose to complete the day’s filming before observing a period of mourning. In summer 2024, Staunton played the role of
Dolly Gallagher Levi in a revival of the musical
Hello, Dolly! at the
London Palladium. For her performance, she won her fourth
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Staunton has narrated unabridged audio-book versions of many of
Julia Donaldson's children's books, including
The Gruffalo, ''
The Gruffalo's Child, Monkey Puzzle, The Snail and the Whale, Stick Man and Zog'', as well as other children's books. In 2014 she collaborated with her husband,
Jim Carter, and
Show of Hands on
Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War, an album of songs and poetry from and inspired by
World War I. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge for the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction, which opened at
Universal Epic Universe on May 22, 2025. ==Personal life==