---
name: "Catherine McCormack"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/catherine-mccormack"
fi1m_id: "catherine-mccormack"
imdb_id: "nm0001517"
tmdb_id: 2462
wikidata_id: "Q138327"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "3 April 1972"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-19T12:37:21.839301+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."
---

# Catherine McCormack

## Identity

Catherine McCormack

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/catherine-mccormack
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** catherine-mccormack
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001517
- **TMDB ID:** 2462
- **Wikidata ID:** Q138327
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_McCormack, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138327, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001517/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2462

Actor. Born 3 April 1972 in Epsom, Surrey, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 3 April 1972, Epsom, Surrey, England, UK
- **Active:** 1995–present
- **Also known as:** 캐서린 맥코맥 , Кетрін МакКормак, Catherine Jane McCormack, کاترین مک‌کورمک, کاترین مک کورمک
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 68 (1), 2000s 72 (1), 2020s 81 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 74 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 1, Crime 1, History 1, Horror 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $286m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_McCormack, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138327, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001517/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2462

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*28 Weeks Later*](https://film.one/film/28-weeks-later.md) (72)
- **Apple TV:** [*Braveheart*](https://film.one/film/braveheart.md) (68)

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

## Fi1m on Catherine McCormack

> Catherine McCormack brings feeling to *Braveheart* without letting its hero become the only person who matters. We value that dignity; her substantial theatre work deserves attention beyond that familiar screen role.

In *Braveheart* (1995), Catherine McCormack makes us wish the film would spend a little less time insisting on Wallace. Her Murron MacClannough gives the romance feeling without depending entirely on admiration for the hero. We warmed to her because her dignity made Murron worth attending to in her own right. Mel Gibson stages the fighting with force and clarity, and McCormack gives us a different reason to stay with the film.

That breakthrough came after *Loaded* (1994), followed by leading roles in *The Land Girls* (1998) and *Dangerous Beauty* (1998). Supporting parts in *Shadow of the Vampire* (2000), *Spy Game* (2001) and *28 Weeks Later* (2007) took her into different kinds of film. The change in billing is worth noting without treating it as a verdict on the acting. It is too easy to expect every conspicuous early role to produce a succession of larger ones.

Theatre complicates any account based only on the films. She played Ann Deever in Arthur Miller’s *All My Sons* (2000) at the National Theatre, and Mary Carney in *The Ferryman* (2018), directed by Sam Mendes. She has spoken of valuing the rehearsal theatre allows and the freedom of performing without a director at hand. Those are useful things to know about an actor whose part in *Braveheart* gives her so little room to surprise us.

We should not mistake that restriction for a complete account of what she can do. In *Braveheart*, the screenplay’s broad division between goodness and malice limits Murron as it limits the other characters, and McCormack’s dignity cannot supply the complexity the writing lacks. Admiration for her work is no reason to pretend the film is more attentive to character than it is. Watch it for her, but allow for the stretches when Wallace wants all the attention.

## Biography

Catherine McCormack is an English actress. Born on 3 April 1972 in Epsom, Surrey, she trained at the Oxford School of Drama.

Her film roles include Murron MacClannough in *Braveheart* (1995), Stella in *The Land Girls* (1998), Veronica Franco in *Dangerous Beauty* (1998), Elizabeth Hadley in *Spy Game* (2001), Greta Schröder in *Shadow of the Vampire* (2000), and Alice in *28 Weeks Later* (2007). She has also appeared in television series such as *The Witcher* (2019) and *Slow Horses* (2022).

Her theatre work includes National Theatre productions of *All My Sons* (2000) and *Honour* (2003). She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for *All My Sons*.

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

## On Fi1m (4)

- *A Thousand Blows* (2025), Fi1m 80, as Sophie Lyons — [page](https://film.one/tv/a-thousand-blows.md)
- *Slow Horses* (2022), Fi1m 82, as Alex Tropper — [page](https://film.one/tv/slow-horses.md)
- *28 Weeks Later* (2007), Fi1m 72, as Alice — [page](https://film.one/film/28-weeks-later.md)
- *Braveheart* (1995), Fi1m 68, as Murron MacClannough — [page](https://film.one/film/braveheart.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

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

- *Prisoner* (2026), series, as Josephine Campbell
- *My Oxford Year* (2025), as Antonia Davenport
- *A Thousand Blows* (2025), series, as Sophie Lyons — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/a-thousand-blows.md)
- *Lockerbie: A Search for Truth* (2025), series, as Jane Swire
- *Slow Horses* (2022), series, as Alex Tropper — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/slow-horses.md)
- *The Song of Names* (2019), as Helen Simmonds
- *The Witcher* (2019), series, as Anika — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-witcher.md)
- *Cordelia* (2019), as Kate
- *Women on the Verge* (2018), series, as Claire
- *Promise at Dawn* (2017), as Lesley Blanch
- *Genius* (2017), series, as Marija Ruzic-Marić
- *The Journey* (2017), as Kate Elgar
- *Sherlock: The Abominable Bride* (2016), as Lady Carmichael
- *Life in Squares* (2015), series, as Virginia Woolf
- *Magic in the Moonlight* (2014), as Olivia
- *The Fold* (2014), as Rebecca Ashton
- *Lucan* (2013), series, as Lady Lucan
- *Lucan* (2013), as Lady Veronica Lucan
- *Playhouse Presents* (2012), series, Writer, Director
- *Lights Out* (2011), series, as Theresa Leary
- *Midnight Man* (2008), series, as Alice Ross
- *Stevie* (2008), as Claire
- *28 Weeks Later* (2007), as Alice — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/28-weeks-later.md)
- *The Moon and the Stars* (2007), as Kristina Baumgarten / Tosca
- *Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire* (2006), series, as Poppaea Sabina
- *Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes* (2006), as Elizabeth David
- *A Sound of Thunder* (2005), as Sonia Rand
- *Strings* (2004), as Zita
- *Gunpowder, Treason & Plot* (2004), series, as Elizabeth I of England
- *Spy Game* (2001), as Elizabeth Hadley
- *The Weight of Water* (2001), as Jean Janes
- *The Tailor of Panama* (2001), as Francesca Deane
- *Born Romantic* (2000), as Jocelyn
- *A Rumor of Angels* (2000), as Mary Neubauer
- *Shadow of the Vampire* (2000), as Greta Schröder
- *The Debtors* (1999), Actor
- *Love in the 21st Century* (1999), series, as Fay
- *This Year's Love* (1999), as Hannah
- *Dancing at Lughnasa* (1998), as Christina 'Chrissy' Mundy
- *The Land Girls* (1998), as Stella
- *Dangerous Beauty* (1998), as Veronica Franco
- *Deacon Brodie* (1997), as Annie Grant
- *North Star* (1996), as Sarah
- *Braveheart* (1995), as Murron MacClannough — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/braveheart.md)
- *Loaded* (1994), as Rose
- *Wycliffe* (1994), series, as Asenath Gardner

## Gallery

- ![Catherine McCormack](https://film.one/media/person/86028/gallery-1bcc1a7b0eff.jpg) Catherine McCormack — Simon Richards, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Catherine_McCormack_in_Midnight_Man_2008.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Catherine McCormack](https://film.one/media/person/86028/gallery-68e26bdaea5f.jpg) Catherine McCormack — Image via TMDB

---
© 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/catherine-mccormack