Lia Williams

• Born — 26 November 1964 • Birthplace — Birkenhead, Cheshire, England • Occupation — * Actress • director • Education — London Studio Centre • Years Active — 1984–present • Partner — Angus Wright (2015–present) • Children — Joshua James • Awards — Full List

Williams was born in Birkenhead. She graduated from the London Studio Centre. Her first job in 1984 was understudying in the play Daisy Pulls It Off in the West End. She then took over a main role, and was talent-spotted by Alan Ayckbourn.

Williams's breakthrough performance came in 1991 when she appeared in The Revengers' Comedies, for which she won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1992. In 1992, she played the role of Carol in the original production of David Mamet's Oleanna, at the Theatre Royal, Bath, transferring to the Royal Court Theatre in 1993. In 1995, Williams appeared opposite Michael Gambon in David Hare's Skylight at the National Theatre. She received a nomination for the 1996 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. Williams reprised her role in the 1997 Broadway production, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress. In 2001, Williams appeared again in the West End and on Broadway, playing Ruth in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. Her long-standing collaboration with Harold Pinter included roles in The Collection, Celebration, The Room, The Lover, The Hothouse and Old Times. Other leading theatre performances include Rosalind in As You Like It for the RSC, Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular, Henryk Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, and Pinter's Old Times, in which she alternated the roles of Anna and Kate with Kristin Scott Thomas. As Clytemnestra in Robert Icke's Oresteia Williams was nominated for both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. Also for Robert Icke, she alternated the roles of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots with Juliet Stevenson in Mary Stuart. In Dublin, Williams appeared at the Gate Theatre as Alma in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (2003) and Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (2013). Both roles earned her the Irish Theatre Award for Best Actress. In 2018, Williams was nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance as Jean Brodie in David Harrower’s adaptation of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2019, she played the role of Hannah Jelkes in the West End theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana at the Noël Coward Theatre opposite Clive Owen.

Williams has been directing short films since 2002, her debut being Feathers (2002), which was based on a short story by Raymond Carver. In 2008, her short film The Stronger (2007), which won Best Short Film at Raindance, and was nominated for the Best Short Film at the BAFTA Film Awards. In 2009, Williams directed Dog Alone, a dialogue-free short film which was broadcast as part of British Sky Broadcasting's series 10 Minute Tales. In 2016 she directed Nanabozhung, a feature-length documentary about the Batchewana First Nations, Canada. On stage, she has also directed The Matchbox, by Frank McGuinness for Liverpool Playhouse and the Tricycle Theatre and Ashes to Ashes as part of the Harold Pinter Season in the West End (2019). In 2021, Williams directed an acclaimed production of Doubt by John Patrick Shanley at Chichester Festival Theatre, West Sussex.

Williams has been in a relationship with the actor Angus Wright since 2015; they first met after starring together in a production of the Oresteia at the Almeida Theatre. Her son, Joshua James, is also an actor. In 2023, they worked together in The Vortex at Chichester Festival Theatre, in which they played mother and son.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1984 — Annika — Karen — Mini-series; episode: "The Beginning" • 1985 — Happy Families — Josephine — Episode: "Madeleine" • 1986 — Girls on Top — Secretary — Episode: "Who's Ya Uncle Shelly?" • 1987 — No Place Like Home — Cheryl Pitts — Episode: "Gone Fishing" • 1988 — Gems — Miranda — Series 3; 3 episodes • The Comic Strip Presents... — Lucy — Episode: "The Yob" • Les Girls — Jenna — Episode: "Meat Market" • Bread — Hotel Maid — Episode: "Christmas with the Boswells" • 1989 — Casualty — Carrie Langman — Episode: "Victim of Circumstances" • Red Dwarf — Carol Brown (voice) — Episode: "Bodyswap". Uncredited role • 1992 — Nightingales — Mary — Episode: "Silent Night" • 1993 — Mr. Wroe's Virgins — Joanna — Mini-series; 4 episodes • 1994 — Seaforth — Paula Wickham / Paula Austen / Paula Longman — Mini-series; 9 episodes • 1996 — Screen Two — Janet Hinton — Episode: "Flowers of the Forest" • 1997 — The Uninvited — Melissa Gates — 4 episodes • 1998 — Imogen's Face — Amanda — 3 episodes • Shot Through the Heart — Maida — Television film • 1999 — Bad Blood — Nina Harker • 2001 — The Russian Bride — Natasha Cherniavskaya • 2002 — Silent Witness — DCI Carol Deacon — Episodes: "The Fall Out: Parts 1 & 2" • Heartbeat — Lady Ashfordly — Episode: "A Many Splendoured Thing" • Arena — Mrs. Sands — Episode: "Harold Pinter - Part 1: The Room" • 2003 — Sparkling Cyanide — Ruth Lessing — Television film • 2004 — May 33rd — Ella Wilson • 2005 — The Last Detective — Dawn Luscombe — Episode: "Three Steps to Hendon" • A Touch of Frost — Sylvia Ford — Episode: "Near Death Experience" • 2006 — Agatha Christie's Marple — Nellie Bligh — Episode: "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" • 2009 — Doc Martin — Edith Montgomery — Series 4; 8 episodes • 2010 — Arena — Various characters — Episode: "Harold Pinter: A Celebration" • 2012 — Secret State — Laura Duchenne — Mini-series; 4 episodes • 2013 — Lewis — Emma Barnes — Episodes: "The Ramblin' Boy: Parts 1 & 2" • 2015 — Midsomer Murders — Maggie Markham — Episode: "The Dagger Club" • 2016–2022 — The Crown — Wallis, Duchess of Windsor — Main role (Seasons 1–2). Guest role (Season 5) • 2016 — The Missing — Nadia Herz — Series 2; 7 episodes • 2017 — Strike — Liz Tassel — Episodes: "The Silkworm: Parts 1 & 2" • 2018 — Kiri — Alice Warner — Mini-series; 4 episodes • 2019–2022 — His Dark Materials — Dr. Cooper — Recurring role; 5 episodes • 2019–2026 — The Capture — DSU Gemma Garland — Series 1–3; 17 episodes • 2020 — Riviera — Dr. Emilie Mathieu — Episodes: "Coup de Grace" & "Two Graves" • 2021 — Death in Paradise — Grace Verdinikov — Episodes: "Music to My Ears" & "Fake or Fortune" • Britney — Janet — Short television film • 2022 — The Lazarus Project — Ambassador Belov — 2 episodes • 2024 — Mr Bates vs The Post Office — Paula Vennells — Mini-series; 3 episodes • 2024–present — The Day of the Jackal — Isabel Kirby — 8 episodes • 2025 — MobLand — Emily Gutwell — Episode: "Rat Trap"

• Year — Work — Role — Venue — Ref • 1984 — Daisy Pulls It Off — Sybil Burlington — Gielgud Theatre • 1986–1988 — When Did You Last See Your Trousers? — Tove — Garrick Theatre • 1990 — Body Language — Angie Dell — Stephen Joseph Theatre • 1991–1992 — The Revengers' Comedies — Karen — Strand Theatre • 1992–1993 — Oleanna — Carol — Theatre Royal, Bath and Royal Court Theatre • 1993 — King Lear — Goneril — Royal Court Theatre • 1995–1996 — Skylight — Kyra Hollis — National Theatre and Royale Theatre • 1999–2001 — Celebration / The Room — Suki / Mrs. Sands — Almeida Theatre and Lincoln Center • 2001 — The Homecoming — Ruth — Gate Theatre and Comedy Theatre • 2002 — Mappa Mundi — Anna — National Theatre • 2003 — The Eccentricities of a Nightingale — Alma Winemiller — Gate Theatre • 2005 — Eric Larue — Janice Larue — The Attic Theatre • 2005–2006 — As You Like It — Rosalind — Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Novello Theatre • 2007 — My Child — Woman — Royal Court Theatre • The Hothouse — Miss Cutts — National Theatre • Absurd Person Singular — Eva Jackson — Garrick Theatre • 2008 — The Lady from the Sea — Ellida Wangel — Arcola Theatre • 2009 — God of Carnage — Véronique Vallon — Theatre Royal, Bath • 2010 — Earthquakes in London — Sarah — National Theatre • 2011 — Arcadia — Hannah Jarvis — Ethel Barrymore Theatre • 2013 — Old Times — Kate / Anna — Harold Pinter Theatre • A Streetcar Named Desire — Blanche DuBois — Gate Theatre • 2014 — The Father — Anne — Theatre Royal, Bath • 2015 — Oresteia — Clytemnestra — Almeida Theatre • 2016 — Mary Stuart — Queen Elizabeth I / Mary, Queen of Scots — Duke of York's Theatre • 2018 — The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie — Jean Brodie — Donmar Warehouse • 2019 — The Night of the Iguana — Hannah Jelkes — Noël Coward Theatre • 2022 — John Gabriel Borkman — Ella Rentheim — Bridge Theatre • 2023 — The Vortex — Florence Lancaster — Chichester Festival Theatre • 2025 — Macbeth — Lady Macbeth — The Other Place

Lia Williams is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded with the occupation stage actor. Recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom.

In 1993, Williams made her film debut in Michael Winner's Dirty Weekend. Winner chose her after seeing her in an Alan Ayckbourn play. Subsequent film appearances have included supporting roles in Firelight (1997), Shot Through the Heart (1998), The King Is Alive (2000), Girl from Rio (2001), and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (2007). Williams played the title role in the miniseries The Russian Bride (2001), for ITV, opposite Sheila Hancock and Douglas Hodge. Her performance earned her the 2002 Golden FIPA Award for Best Actress at the Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming. Williams played the lead role in May 33rd (2004) for the BBC, and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. In 2009, Williams had a main role in the fourth series of the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin with Martin Clunes. She played Wallis, Duchess of Windsor in the Netflix series The Crown, Nadia Herz in the second series of The Missing (2016), and starred in Kiri, a Channel 4 series, alongside Sarah Lancashire and Steven Mackintosh. Williams appears as a series regular in the BBC mystery thriller The Capture (2019-2026) and the Sky Atlantic spy thriller The Day of the Jackal (2024–present).

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1993 — Dirty Weekend — Bella • 1996 — Different for Girls — Defence Solicitor • This Is Not America — Mrs. Callan — Short film • 1997 — Firelight — Constance • The Fifth Province — Diana de Brie • 2000 — The King is Alive — Amanda • 2001 — Girl from Rio — Cathy • 2007 — Snow White: The Sequel — Sleeping Beauty (voice) — English version • The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey — Joan Tyler • 2016 — The Truth Commissioner — Prime Minister • Distance — Jane — Short film • 2017 — The Foreigner — Minister Katherine Davies • 2020 — Archive — House (voice) • 2021 — Benediction — Edith Sitwell • 2022 — Living — Mrs. Smith • 2024 — Scoop — Fran Unsworth • Decoy — Vivian — Short film