---
name: "Brenda Blethyn"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/brenda-blethyn"
fi1m_id: "brenda-blethyn"
imdb_id: "nm0000950"
tmdb_id: 4154
wikidata_id: "Q229952"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "20 February 1946"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 79
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-10-07T11:54:25.031590+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Brenda Blethyn

## Identity

Brenda Blethyn

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/brenda-blethyn
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** brenda-blethyn
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000950
- **TMDB ID:** 4154
- **Wikidata ID:** Q229952
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Blethyn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229952, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000950/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4154

Actor. Born 20 February 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 20 February 1946, Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
- **Active:** 1980–2011
- **Frequently works with:** [Eric Fellner](https://film.one/person/eric-fellner.md), [Joe Wright](https://film.one/person/joe-wright.md), [Keira Knightley](https://film.one/person/keira-knightley.md), [Paul Webster](https://film.one/person/paul-webster.md), [Tim Bevan](https://film.one/person/tim-bevan.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as actor, over 9 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 86 (2), 1990s 81 (3), 2000s 75 (3), 2010s 72 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 72 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 6 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 4 of 8 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Comedy 3, Crime 2, Family 2, Romance 2, Action & Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $311m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Blethyn, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229952, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000950/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4154

## Streaming the US now

- **Peacock:** [*The Witches*](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md) (82), [*The Storyteller*](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md) (82)
- **HBO Max:** [*Secrets & Lies*](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md) (88)
- **Apple TV:** [*Vera*](https://film.one/tv/vera.md) (72)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Saving Grace*](https://film.one/film/saving-grace.md) (60)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Brenda Blethyn

> Brenda Blethyn makes fretful, difficult women funny without asking us to excuse their behaviour. We value her most when she has room to be unreasonable, and someone beside her whose quieter performance can hold its own.

Cynthia’s fussing in *Secrets & Lies* (1996) is funny until we begin to hear how much distress there is in it. Brenda Blethyn gives her an exhausting nervous energy, and allows her exasperation with her daughter Roxanne to be unfair. We laughed at Cynthia’s fussing, then regretted our impatience with her, because Blethyn made the hurt beneath it impossible to dismiss. Blethyn does not tidy the woman up to make her easier company. This is the performance to start with: funny, wearing and worth the attention it demands.

Blethyn’s screen debut was in Mike Leigh’s television film *Grown-Ups* (1980); *Secrets & Lies* later brought her film breakthrough. Her subsequent parts allowed for less sympathetic company, including the domineering mother Mari Hoff in *Little Voice* (1998). There was lighter work as Grace Trevethyn in *Saving Grace* (2000), then comedy as Mrs Bennet in *Pride & Prejudice* (2005). The lead as DCI Vera Stanhope in *Vera* (2011–2025) gave the later career a sustained television role.

In *Secrets & Lies*, Leigh gets something crucial right by giving Blethyn actors who can resist her. Claire Rushbrook’s Roxanne has enough force to challenge Cynthia’s account of their difficulties, while Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s Hortense listens without seeming to have less at stake. We need that steadiness beside Blethyn’s agitation, otherwise the most distressed person could too easily become the only one who matters. Her performance works because the film lets us question Cynthia as well as feel for her.

Jon Gregory’s patient editing gives these conversations time, though some continue after their point is clear. Andrew Dickson’s music adds tenderness that Blethyn has often supplied already, and Leigh’s writing occasionally explains feelings she has made plain. We could do with less encouragement to sympathise with Cynthia when Blethyn has made her unhappiness so hard to ignore. Start with *Secrets & Lies*, and give as much attention to the people listening to her as to Blethyn herself.

## Biography

Brenda Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Born Brenda Anne Bottle on 20 February 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent, she trained at the Guildford School of Acting after an earlier career in administration. She joined the Royal National Theatre in the mid-1970s and received critical acclaim for her stage work, including in *Steaming* (1981).

Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's *Grown-Ups* (1980). Her breakthrough film role came as Cynthia Rose Purley in Leigh's *Secrets & Lies* (1996), for which she received a BAFTA Film Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award nomination. Subsequent film credits include *Pride & Prejudice* (2005) as Mrs Bennet, *Atonement* (2007) and *Saving Grace* (2000). She was appointed OBE for services to drama in 2003.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

- *Vera* (2011), Fi1m 72, as DCI Vera Stanhope — [page](https://film.one/tv/vera.md)
- *Atonement* (2007), Fi1m 83, as Grace Turner — [page](https://film.one/film/atonement.md)
- *Pride & Prejudice* (2005), Fi1m 82, as Mrs. Bennet — [page](https://film.one/film/pride-and-prejudice-2005.md)
- *Saving Grace* (2000), Fi1m 60, as Grace Trevethyn — [page](https://film.one/film/saving-grace.md)
- *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88, as Cynthia Rose Purley — [page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md)
- *The Buddha of Suburbia* (1993), Fi1m 74, as Margaret Amir — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-buddha-of-suburbia.md)
- *The Witches* (1990), Fi1m 82, as Mrs Jenkins — [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)
- *The Storyteller* (1988), Fi1m 82, as Storyteller's Wife — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md)
- *Yes Minister* (1980), Fi1m 89, Actor — [page](https://film.one/tv/yes-minister.md)

## Complete filmography (89)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *A Woman of Substance* (2026), series, as Older Emma Harte
- *Dragonfly* (2025), as Elsie
- *Charlotte* (2022), as Grossmama (voice)
- *Kate & Koji* (2020), series, as Kate Abbott
- *Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen* (2018), as Narrator
- *Ethel & Ernest* (2016), as Ethel Briggs (voice)
- *Two Men in Town* (2014), as Emily Smith
- *Mary and Martha* (2013), as Martha
- *Playhouse Presents* (2012), series, as Nina
- *My Angel* (2011), as Headmistress
- *The Many Faces of... Michael Caine* (2011), Actor
- *Vera* (2011), series, as DCI Vera Stanhope — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/vera.md)
- *The Calling* (2010), as Sister Ignatious
- *My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths* (2010), as Mama Heffalump (voice)
- *Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too* (2009), as Mama Heffalump (voice)
- *London River* (2009), as Elisabeth
- *Dead Man Running* (2009), as Mother
- *War and Peace* (2007), series, as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
- *Clubland* (2007), as Jean · Writer
- *Atonement* (2007), as Grace Turner — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/atonement.md)
- *Mysterious Creatures* (2006), as Wendy Ainscow
- *The New Adventures of Old Christine* (2006), series, as Angela Kimble
- *Pride & Prejudice* (2005), as Mrs. Bennet — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/pride-and-prejudice-2005.md)
- *On a Clear Day* (2005), as Joan
- *Pooh's Heffalump Movie* (2005), as Mama Heffalump (voice)
- *Beyond the Sea* (2004), as Polly Cassotto
- *A Way of Life* (2004), as Annette
- *Piccadilly Jim* (2004), as Nesta Pett
- *Belonging* (2004), as Jess Copplestone
- *Between The Sheets* (2003), series, as Hazel Delany
- *Blizzard* (2003), as Aunt Millie
- *Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot* (2003), as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
- *The Sleeping Dictionary* (2003), as Aggie
- *The Wild Thornberrys Movie* (2002), as Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
- *Undertaking Betty* (2002), as Betty Rhys-Jones
- *Sonny* (2002), as Jewel
- *Lovely & Amazing* (2002), as Jane Marks
- *Pumpkin* (2002), as Judy Romanoff
- *The Yellow Bird* (2002), as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
- *Daddy and Them* (2001), as Julia Montgomery
- *On the Nose* (2001), as Mrs. Delaney
- *Anne Frank: The Whole Story* (2001), series, as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
- *Saving Grace* (2000), as Grace Trevethyn — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/saving-grace.md)
- *RKO 281* (1999), as Louella Parsons
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Linnie Malcolm
- *Little Voice* (1998), as Mari Hoff
- *In the Winter Dark* (1998), as Ida Stubbs
- *Girls' Night* (1998), as Dawn Wilkinson
- *Music from Another Room* (1998), as Grace Swan
- *Night Train* (1998), as Alice Mooney
- *Remember Me?* (1997), as Shirley
- *Secrets & Lies* (1996), as Cynthia Rose Purley — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md)
- *Outside Edge* (1994), series, as Miriam Dervish
- *The Buddha of Suburbia* (1993), series, as Margaret Amir — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-buddha-of-suburbia.md)
- *The Bullion Boys* (1993), as Gwen
- *A River Runs Through It* (1992), as Mrs. Maclean
- *Maigret* (1992), series, Actor
- *All Good Things* (1991), series, as Shirley Frame
- *The Witches* (1990), as Mrs Jenkins — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)
- *Screen One* (1989), series, as Gwen
- *Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story* (1989), series, as Ticki Tocquet
- *The Shawl* (1989), as Miss A
- *The Labours of Erica* (1989), series, Actor
- *The Storyteller: A Story Short* (1988), as The Storyteller's Wife
- *The Storyteller* (1988), series, as Storyteller's Wife — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md)
- *The Play on One* (1988), series, as Miss A
- *Claws* (1987), as Sylvia
- *Sunday Premiere* (1986), series, as Sylvia
- *The Mysteries* (1985), series, as Mary Magdalene / Mary
- *Chance in a Million* (1984), series, as Alison Little
- *Weekend Playhouse* (1984), series, as Jean Saunders
- *Who Dares Wins* (1984), series, as Various
- *Floating Off* (1983), as Janice
- *Dalgliesh* (1983), series, as Angela Foley
- *Death of an Expert Witness* (1983), series, as Angela Foley
- *Henry VI Part 1* (1983), as Joan La Pucelle
- *King Lear* (1982), as Cordelia
- *Say No to Strangers* (1981), as Policewoman
- *Grown-Ups* (1980), as Gloria
- *Bedroom Farce* (1980), as Kate
- *Sheppey* (1980), as Miss Grange
- *The Imitation Game* (1980), Actor
- *Yes Minister* (1980), series, Actor — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/yes-minister.md)
- *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Carol Hutchins
- *Rumpole of the Bailey* (1975), series, as Pauline
- *Playhouse* (1974), series, as Gloria
- *King of the Teds*, as Nina
- *Fools*, Actor
- *Strawberry Fields Forever*, as Grannie Nellie

## Gallery

- ![Brenda Blethyn](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-7468c736032a.jpg) Brenda Blethyn — che (Please credit as "Petr Novák, Wikipedia" in case you use this outside Wikimedia projects.), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Brenda_Blethyn.jpg/1280px-Brenda_Blethyn.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![British actress Brenda Blethyn leaving the press conference for "Two Men in Town (La voie de l'ennemi)" (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-fd8d246bfdad.jpg) British actress Brenda Blethyn leaving the press conference for "Two Men in Town (La voie de l'ennemi)" (2014) — Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Brenda_Blethyn_at_the_2014_Berlin_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Brenda_Blethyn_at_the_2014_Berlin_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Panel discussions at the premiere of A Woman of Substance](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-41cbbd8a4919.jpg) Panel discussions at the premiere of A Woman of Substance — Lajmmoore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Panel_discussions_at_the_premiere_of_A_Woman_of_Substance.jpg/1280px-Panel_discussions_at_the_premiere_of_A_Woman_of_Substance.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Cast and director at the premiere of the movie "Two Men in Town (La voie de l'ennemi)" with festival director Dieter Kosslick (right) (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-9682f8073ef5.jpg) Cast and director at the premiere of the movie "Two Men in Town (La voie de l'ennemi)" with festival director Dieter Kosslick (right) (2014) — Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/The_cast_of_Two_Men_in_Town_%28La_voie_de_l%27ennemi%29.jpg/1280px-The_cast_of_Two_Men_in_Town_%28La_voie_de_l%27ennemi%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Brenda Blethyn](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-7e53456ae228.jpg) Brenda Blethyn — Image via TMDB
- ![Brenda Blethyn](https://film.one/media/person/86533/gallery-071979fdf443.jpg) Brenda Blethyn — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1999: Best Supporting Actress (nominated), for *Little Voice*
- 1997: Best Actress (nominated), for *Secrets & Lies*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Malice Domestic Poirot Award 2018: Malice Domestic Poirot Award (won)
- Theatre World Award 1991: Theatre World Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/brenda-blethyn