--- name: "Geraldine Somerville" canonical: "https://film.one/person/geraldine-somerville" fi1m_id: "geraldine-somerville" imdb_id: "nm0813893" tmdb_id: 10988 wikidata_id: "Q235572" roles: ["Actor"] born: "19 May 1967" reviewed_on_fi1m: 8 average_fi1m_score: 73 average_as: "actor" average_over: 8 updated: "2026-10-01T21:31:44.688062+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." --- # Geraldine Somerville ## Identity Geraldine Somerville - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/geraldine-somerville - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** geraldine-somerville - **IMDb ID:** nm0813893 - **TMDB ID:** 10988 - **Wikidata ID:** Q235572 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Somerville, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q235572, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0813893/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10988 Actor. Born 19 May 1967 in County Meath, Republic of Ireland. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 19 May 1967, County Meath, Republic of Ireland - **Active:** 1993–present - **Also known as:** Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville - **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 8 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 85 (1), 2000s 74 (5), 2010s 62 (1), 2020s 68 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 71 to 70 across 7 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Adventure 4, Drama 4, Fantasy 4, Romance 2, Thriller 2, Crime 1 - **Screen time:** 16 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $3,814m across 6 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Somerville, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q235572, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0813893/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10988 ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*Cracker*](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md) (85) - **Netflix:** [*Fair Play*](https://film.one/film/fair-play.md) (68) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Geraldine Somerville > We value Geraldine Somerville for making supporting characters worth attending to, even alongside a performance as forceful as Robbie Coltrane's. *Cracker* gives her room; *Fair Play* gives her a telephone and a wedding to discuss. In *Cracker* (1993), our attention does not have to stay with Robbie Coltrane's Fitz. Geraldine Somerville's Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon helps draw it elsewhere, alongside Lorcan Cranitch's DS Jimmy Beck and Christopher Eccleston's Bilborough. We were grateful for their company, because Fitz's excesses could exhaust our interest if nobody around him seemed worth following. Coltrane's humour keeps Fitz compelling; Somerville and her colleagues make sure he is not the only person who matters. Penhaligon was her breakthrough, before film roles including Louisa Stockbridge in *Gosford Park* (2001) and Lily Potter in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (2001). She returned to Lily across the series. Mothers and aristocratic women recur among her roles, with Lady Pressfield in Guy Ritchie's *The Gentlemen* (2020) another example. That gives her film work a recognisable pattern, though the casting alone tells us little about how much she will be allowed to do. *Fair Play* (2023) makes the limits of a supporting role particularly clear. Chloe Domont's thriller is sharp for its first hour, but Somerville, as Emily's mother, is restricted to a phone line and talk of the wedding. Emily is allowed doubt and tact; her mother has one subject, and the script does not give their exchanges much chance to become anything else. We would have liked more of a person at the other end of that call. Our reservation is about what Domont has given her to play, not a failure to make the wedding sufficiently interesting. Somerville need not compete with the largest performance to be worth our attention. In *Cracker*, her contribution alongside Cranitch and Eccleston helps prevent Coltrane from becoming the only reason to stay, without diminishing what he does. Start there, with the caveat that the writing sometimes pushes its people harder than it needs to. ## Biography Geraldine Somerville is an Irish actress. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began her career in the late 1980s with stage work and early television appearances. She is known for playing Detective Sergeant Jane Penhaligon in the television series *Cracker* (1993–1995), for which she received a BAFTA nomination, and for her recurring role as Lily Potter in the *Harry Potter* film series (2001–2011). Other credits include *Gosford Park* (2001), *My Week with Marilyn* (2011) and *The Gentlemen* (2020). In 2023 she appeared as Emily's mother in the film *Fair Play*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (8) - *Fair Play* (2023), Fi1m 68, as Emily's Mother — [page](https://film.one/film/fair-play.md) - *My Week with Marilyn* (2011), Fi1m 62, as Lady Jane Clark — [page](https://film.one/film/my-week-with-marilyn.md) - *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince* (2009), Fi1m 66, as Lily Potter — [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince.md) - *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* (2007), Fi1m 68, as Lily Potter — [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix.md) - *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* (2004), Fi1m 82, as Lily Potter — [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban.md) - *Gosford Park* (2001), Fi1m 85, as Louisa Stockbridge — [page](https://film.one/film/gosford-park.md) - *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (2001), Fi1m 68, as Lily Potter — [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone.md) - *Cracker* (1993), Fi1m 85, as Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon — [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md) ## Complete filmography (55) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Gorka* (2023), as Tonya - *Fair Play* (2023), as Emily's Mother — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/fair-play.md) - *The Gentlemen* (2020), as Lady Pressfield - *Christmas in the Highlands* (2019), as Lady McLeod - *Kiss Me First* (2018), series, as Ruth Palmer - *Goodbye Christopher Robin* (2017), as Lady O - *The Hippopotamus* (2017), as Rebecca Logan - *Prime Suspect 1973* (2017), series, as Joyce Tennison - *Kids in Love* (2016), as Linda - *Automata* (2014), as Samantha - *The Riot Club* (2014), as Miles' Mother - *Grace of Monaco* (2014), as Princess Antoinette - *Quirke* (2014), series, as Sarah Griffin - *The Girl* (2012), as Sophie - *Titanic* (2012), series, as Louisa, Countess of Manton - *My Week with Marilyn* (2011), as Lady Jane Clark — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/my-week-with-marilyn.md) - *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2* (2011), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2.md) - *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1* (2010), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-1.md) - *Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince* (2009), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince.md) - *Survivors* (2008), series, as Fiona Douglas - *The Children* (2008), series, as Sue - *Inspector George Gently* (2008), series, as Alethea Blackstone - *J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life* (2007), as Lily Potter (archival footage) - *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* (2007), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix.md) - *Daphne* (2007), as Daphne Du Maurier - *Sixty Six* (2006), as Alice Barrie - *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* (2005), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire.md) - *Jericho* (2005), series, as Fiona Hewitt - *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* (2004), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban.md) - *New Tricks* (2004), series, as Asst. Commissioner Cynthia Kline - *The Safe House* (2002), as Dr. Samantha Graham - *The Inspector Lynley Mysteries* (2002), series, as DS Michelle Tate - *Gosford Park* (2001), as Louisa Stockbridge — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/gosford-park.md) - *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (2001), as Lily Potter — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone.md) - *Murder in Mind* (2001), series, as Angela Coates - *Daylight Robbery* (1999), series, as Val McArdale - *Aristocrats* (1999), series, as Lady Emily Lennox - *Aristocrats* (1999), as Lady Emily Lennox - *Jilting Joe* (1998), as Olivia - *Heaven on Earth* (1998), as Deborah Bennett - *True Blue* (1996), as Ruth MacDonald - *Silent Witness* (1996), series, as Lydia Hamilton - *After Miss Julie* (1995), as Miss Julie - *Haunted* (1995), as Kate - *The Deep Blue Sea* (1994), as Ann Welch - *A Business Affair* (1994), as Saleswoman - *Romeo and Juliet* (1994), as Juliet - *Cracker* (1993), series, as Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md) - *Close My Eyes* (1991), as Natalie's Boss - *Performance* (1991), series, as Ann Welch, Miss Julie - *The Black Velvet Gown* (1991), as Biddy Millican - *She-Play* (1990), series, as Elizabeth - *Agatha Christie's Poirot* (1989), series, as Pauline Weatherby — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/agatha-christies-poirot.md) - *Casualty* (1986), series, as Ruth — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/casualty.md) - *The Bill* (1984), series, as Marie Cousins ## Gallery - ![Geraldine Somerville](https://film.one/media/person/15752/gallery-f566f1baa157.jpg) Geraldine Somerville — Image via TMDB - ![Geraldine Somerville](https://film.one/media/person/15752/gallery-3c471cdb8e4f.jpg) Geraldine Somerville — 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/geraldine-somerville