Abigail Lawrie is persuasive when she gives a troubled young woman something ordinary to enjoy. We rate her warmth and restraint, especially in Murdered for Being Different, though the distressed characters she is often given risk becoming too familiar.
Fi1m perspective
In Murdered for Being Different (2017), Abigail Lawrie’s Sophie Lancaster reads Harry Potter. Lawrie makes that small pleasure matter, giving us a young woman whose company we would enjoy. We were moved because, for a moment, we could think about what Sophie likes without having to think about the violence. It is a useful way into Lawrie’s work: she is often cast in distressing stories, but she can make a character’s interests seem worth a film’s attention in their own right.
She made her screen debut as Krystal Weedon in The Casual Vacancy (2015), then found a sustained role as Anna Worth in Tin Star (2017–2020). The latter kept her opposite Tim Roth for three seasons, drawing on her ability to sustain emotional strain. Finnoula in the coming-of-age comedy-drama Our Ladies (2019) put her in a lively ensemble of young women; Lana in No Escape (2023) was another guarded, observant character. These parts suggest a casting habit we would not want to see become a restriction.
Paul Andrew Williams gives her room to be less guarded in Murdered for Being Different, paying proper attention to Sophie and Nico Mirallegro’s Rob Maltby as a couple. Their affection is convincing, and Lawrie’s warmth makes the violence harder to bear. The supporting characters need more room, particularly beside the care given to these two. We would not want the film’s upsetting subject to obscure how much of her performance rests on making Sophie good company.
Our Ladies offers a useful change of emphasis, with Lawrie effective among its ensemble of young women, although the writing limits how fully individual characters develop. The reservation is about the opportunities the parts allow her, rather than any need for bigger acting. Her quiet, unmannered presence deserves more occasions for pleasure and humour alongside the ordeal. Start with Murdered for Being Different, but be prepared for the tenderness to make it more upsetting.
Biography
Abigail Lawrie is a Scottish actress. Born in 1997 in Aberdeen, she moved with her family to London at the age of 14 and attended The Harrodian School, where she became involved in drama and performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
She made her screen debut in the 2015 BBC miniseries The Casual Vacancy as Krystal Weedon. In 2017 she portrayed Sophie Lancaster in the television film Murdered for Being Different and began a three-series run as Anna Worth in the Sky Atlantic drama Tin Star, for which she won a Scottish BAFTA. Her other credits include The Man with the Iron Heart (2017), Our Ladies (2019), Strike (2022) and No Escape (2023).
