Polly Walker


Polly Alexandra Walker is an English actress. She has starred in the films Enchanted April, Patriot Games, Sliver, Restoration, The Gambler, and Savage Messiah. In 2006, she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her role in the drama series Rome.

Early life

Walker was born in Warrington, Lancashire. She attended Padgate
Church of England Primary School in Warrington and Bush Davies School of Ballet and Performing Arts in East Grinstead until joining Ballet Rambert School at 16. She had to abandon dancing after a leg injury at the age of 18. She then decided to become an actress. She moved from the Drama Centre in London to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she played bit parts for six months before graduating to small roles on television.

Film and television

Walker landed the title role in the television series Lorna Doone before making her feature debut in Shogun Mayeda . In that same year she appeared in Les Equilibristes and in Mike Newell's Enchanted April, in which she played an aristocrat eager to escape the attentions of her persistent male admirers. Walker first gained international attention in 1992 as a single-minded English member of an Irish terrorist group in Phillip Noyce's Patriot Games. In 2003 she had a starring role in the BBC drama series State of Play.
Between 2005 and 2007, Walker played Atia of the Julii in both seasons of the HBO–BBC2 television series Rome. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 2005 for Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama. She next played the sinister Catherine Braithwaite in "Deus Ex Machina", a two-episode story of the BBC television "cold case" crime series Waking the Dead, which also aired in January 2007. In May 2007, she appeared as Lady Bess Sedgwick in ITV's Marple: At Bertram's Hotel, and then played sugar heiress Ellis Samuels in the CBS television drama Cane, which premiered 25 September 2007.
In May 2008, Walker was cast as Sister Clarice Willow, headmistress of a private religious school, in Syfy's Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica. In 2011 she guest starred as Ranna Seneschal, leader of the underground city of Praxis, on Sanctuary.
In 2012, she starred in BBC's crime drama Prisoners Wives as crime wife Francesca Miller. She returned to the role in 2013 for the second series.
In 2014, she had a recurring role as the character Delphine Day in the ITV series Mr Selfridge.
In 2015, she appeared in The Syndicate as DI Baker.
In 2018, she starred as Bel, the leading character in Age Before Beauty.
In 2020, she appeared as Lady Lunete, the Queen Regent and mother to Uther Pendragon, a recurring character for 5 episodes in the Netflix series, Cursed.

Personal life

On 23 October 2008, Walker married the former actor Laurence Penry-Jones with whom she lived in the United States for several years. In 2015 they returned to London.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Lorna DooneLorna DooneTelevision film
1991Journey of HonourCecilia
1991Ao Fim da Noite
1992'Mme. DumontTelevision film
1992'AnnetteTelevision film
1992Walking a TightropeHélène Lagache
1992Enchanted AprilCaroline Dester
1992Patriot GamesAnnette
1993'Leni
1993SliverVida Warren
1995RestorationCelia Clemence
1996EmmaJane Fairfax
1997Roseanna's GraveCecilia
1997Robinson CrusoeMary McGregor
1997'Polina
1997'Mrs. CharmondTelevision film
1997BastardMara
1998Curtain CallJulia
1998Talk of AngelsMary Lavelle
1998Dark HarborAlexis Chandler Weinberg
19998½ WomenPalmira
2000After AliceDr. Vera Swann
2002D-ToxJenny
2002Savage MessiahPaula JacksonNominated—Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
2002'Mrs. ArcherTelevision film
2004ControlBarbara Copeland
2006Scenes of a Sexual NatureEsther
2010Clash of the TitansCassiopeia
2012John CarterSarkoja