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Lia Williams

Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, on stage, in film and television. She has had television roles in The Crown (playing Wallis Simpson), in May 33rd (2004) for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, and in The Missing (2016), Kiri (2016), His Dark Materials (2019–2022) and The Capture (2019–2021).

On stage, she was twice nominated for Laurence Olivier Awards in The Revengers' Comedies (1992), and Skylight (1997).

Early life

Williams was born in Birkenhead. 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.

Theatre career

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 a nomination for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1992.

In 1993, she created the role of Carol in the London production of David Mamet's Oleanna, at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 1997, Williams appeared opposite Michael Gambon in London's West End and on Broadway in David Hare's Skylight, (Olivier and Tony Award nominations). 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 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.

In Dublin, Williams appeared at the Gate Theatre as Alma in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale and Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. She won The Irish Times best Actress Award for both roles.

Film and television

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).

Leading television roles include Seaforth starring Williams and Linus Roache, The Russian Bride opposite Sheila Hancock and Douglas Hodge and the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin with Martin Clunes.

Williams played the lead role in May 33rd for the BBC, for which she won a FIPA Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA.

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.

In 2022, she played Dr Cooper in His Dark Materials, and Gemma Garland in the two series of the BBC mystery thriller The Capture.

Director

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 Ten Minute Tales season. 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.

Personal life

Williams lives in Portobello, London. 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.