---
name: "Katrin Cartlidge"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/katrin-cartlidge"
fi1m_id: "katrin-cartlidge"
imdb_id: "nm0001020"
tmdb_id: 1641
wikidata_id: "Q254620"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "15 May 1961"
died: "7 September 2002"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-26T03:20:02.835548+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."
---

# Katrin Cartlidge

## Identity

Katrin Cartlidge

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/katrin-cartlidge
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** katrin-cartlidge
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001020
- **TMDB ID:** 1641
- **Wikidata ID:** Q254620
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrin_Cartlidge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q254620, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001020/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1641

Actor. Born 15 May 1961 in London, England, UK. Died 7 September 2002.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 15 May 1961, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 7 September 2002
- **Active:** 1993–2001
- **Also known as:** 카트린 카틀리지, Katrin Juliet Cartlidge
- **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 85 (3), 2000s 77 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 79 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, History 2, Action 1, Music 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $37m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrin_Cartlidge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q254620, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001020/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1641

## Streaming the US now

- **The Criterion Channel:** [*Naked*](https://film.one/film/naked.md) (84)
- **MUBI:** [*Breaking the Waves*](https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md) (82)
- **Apple TV:** [*No Man's Land*](https://film.one/film/no-mans-land.md) (77)

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

## Fi1m on Katrin Cartlidge

> Katrin Cartlidge gives troubled women an inward intensity without making them seem remote. We value her firmness most of all: in *Breaking the Waves*, she provides welcome relief from a film determined to make us suffer.

In *Breaking the Waves* (1996), Katrin Cartlidge's Dodo McNeill brings a firmness that the film badly needs. Lars von Trier keeps returning to Bess's vulnerability, while Emily Watson makes the suffering painfully convincing. We were grateful for Cartlidge's steadiness because the repeated pressure on Bess had begun to wear us down. She gives us someone else to attend to, with a different way of meeting distress. It is a supporting performance that matters to how much of the film we can bear.

The breakthrough had come with Sophie in Mike Leigh's *Naked* (1993), a raw ensemble drama that established her as a key collaborator. International work followed with *Before the Rain* (1994) and then *Breaking the Waves*. Leigh brought her back for *Career Girls* (1997), as Hannah Mills at different ages in a story concerned with memory and friendship. That part is a useful corrective to a reputation built so heavily around damaged women. Playing the same person at different ages asks for more than a capacity to show distress.

Anders Refn's editing gives the performances room in *Breaking the Waves*, and Cartlidge benefits from that patience. Her contribution has time to register, without her needing to compete with Watson for our attention. We recommend the film, with a firm warning about the suffering von Trier asks us to accept. Joachim Holbek's music adds emotional pressure that the acting hardly needs. Cartlidge cannot cure that excess, but her steadiness helps us stay with a film that sometimes pushes too hard.

Calling her an actor for unconventional parts tells us little about the acting. *Claire Dolan* (1998) gave her the lead in an American independent film, playing a prostitute seeking change. We would not ask for a more conventional part simply to prove her worth. Dodo already shows how much she can contribute without carrying the story. Approach *Breaking the Waves* with care, and give Cartlidge some of the attention its leading performance rightly demands.

## Biography

Katrin Cartlidge was an English actress. She began her career in theatre and made her screen debut as Lucy Collins in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside (1982–1983). She later appeared in films including Mike Leigh's Naked (1993), in which she played Sophie.

Cartlidge worked frequently with Leigh, starring as Hannah Mills in Career Girls (1997), for which she won the Evening Standard Film Award for Best Actress. She played Dodo McNeill in Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) and appeared in Before the Rain (1994), Topsy-Turvy (1999), From Hell (2001) and No Man's Land (2001). She died in 2002.

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

## On Fi1m (4)

- *No Man's Land* (2001), Fi1m 77, as Jane Livingstone — [page](https://film.one/film/no-mans-land.md)
- *Topsy-Turvy* (1999), Fi1m 88, as Madame — [page](https://film.one/film/topsy-turvy.md)
- *Breaking the Waves* (1996), Fi1m 82, as Dodo McNeill — [page](https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md)
- *Naked* (1993), Fi1m 84, as Sophie — [page](https://film.one/film/naked.md)

## Complete filmography (36)

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

- *Dimension* (2010), Actor
- *Dogville* (2003), In Memory Of — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/dogville.md)
- *Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali* (2002), as Gala Dali
- *Crime and Punishment* (2002), as Katerina Ivanovna
- *Crime and Punishment* (2002), series, as Katerina Ivanovna
- *No Man's Land* (2001), as Jane Livingstone — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/no-mans-land.md)
- *The Weight of Water* (2001), as Karen Christenson
- *From Hell* (2001), as Dark Annie Chapman
- *Sword of Honour* (2001), as Julia Stitch
- *Hotel Splendide* (2000), as Cora Blanche
- *Cinderella* (2000), as Goneril
- *Topsy-Turvy* (1999), as Madame — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/topsy-turvy.md)
- *The Lost Son* (1999), as Emily
- *The Cherry Orchard* (1999), as Varya
- *Hi-Life* (1998), as April
- *Claire Dolan* (1998), as Claire Dolan
- *Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars von Trier* (1997), Actor
- *Career Girls* (1997), as Hannah Mills
- *Saint-Ex* (1996), as Gabrielle de Saint-Exupéry
- *Nightlife* (1996), as Robin
- *Breaking the Waves* (1996), as Dodo McNeill — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md)
- *Seasick* (1996), as Elena Polakov
- *Narance* (1995), Actor
- *3 Steps to Heaven* (1995), as Suzanne / Candy / Billie
- *Fever* (1994), as Claire
- *Look Me in the Eye* (1994), as Lover in Cafe
- *Before the Rain* (1994), as Anne
- *Nobody's Children* (1994), as Viorica
- *Normandy: The Great Crusade* (1994), as Clara Milburn (voice)
- *Naked* (1993), as Sophie — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/naked.md)
- *The Chief* (1990), series, as Liz Williams
- *Funseekers* (1988), as Maria
- *Eat the Rich* (1987), as Katrin
- *Sacred Hearts* (1985), as Doris
- *The Caucasian Chalk Circle* (1985), as Girl Tractor Driver/Petitioner/Younger Lady/Neighbour
- *The Comic Strip Presents...* (1982), series, as Maria

## Gallery

- ![Katrin Cartlidge1 in Nightlife (1996) from Nightlife 1min Cutdown from 40min TV Drama, uploaded to Vimeo by Simon Richards - the film's Director of Photography, (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-8341c8eb7e15.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge1 in Nightlife (1996) from Nightlife 1min Cutdown from 40min TV Drama, uploaded to Vimeo by Simon Richards - the film's Director of Photography, (2016) — Simon Richards, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Katrin_Cartlidge1_in_Nightlife_%281996%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Katrin Cartlidge from Nightlife 1min Cutdown from 40min TV Drama, uploaded to Vimeo by Simon Richards - the film's Director of Photography, under CC-BY-3.0 Unpo (2016)](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-3fe290ebe68b.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge from Nightlife 1min Cutdown from 40min TV Drama, uploaded to Vimeo by Simon Richards - the film's Director of Photography, under CC-BY-3.0 Unpo (2016) — Simon Richards, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Katrin_Cartlidge_from_Nightlife_1996.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Katrin Cartlidge](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-0e1d54fa00e7.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge — Simon Richards, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Katrin_Cartlidge_in_Nightlife_TV_film_1996.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Katrin Cartlidge](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-3a5af359ccee.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge — Image via TMDB
- ![Katrin Cartlidge](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-f2a480d3cbfb.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge — Image via TMDB
- ![Katrin Cartlidge](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-3264d13df412.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge — Image via TMDB
- ![Katrin Cartlidge](https://film.one/media/person/82761/gallery-b134dc72f4a8.jpg) Katrin Cartlidge — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won, 1 nominated

- Bodil Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1997: Bodil Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (won), for *Breaking the Waves*
- European Film Award for Best Actress 1997: European Film Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *Career Girls*
- Robert Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1997: Robert Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (won), for *Breaking the Waves*

*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/katrin-cartlidge