---
name: "Michele Austin"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michele-austin"
fi1m_id: "michele-austin"
imdb_id: "nm0042475"
tmdb_id: 145694
wikidata_id: "Q6836690"
roles: ["Actor"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-23T20:57:03.773337+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."
---

# Michele Austin

## Identity

Michele Austin

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/michele-austin
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** michele-austin
- **IMDb ID:** nm0042475
- **TMDB ID:** 145694
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6836690
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Austin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6836690, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0042475/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/145694

Actor. Born in UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Active:** 1996–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Mike Leigh](https://film.one/person/mike-leigh.md), [Georgina Lowe](https://film.one/person/georgina-lowe.md), [Marianne Jean-Baptiste](https://film.one/person/marianne-jean-baptiste.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 70 (2), 2010s 87 (1), 2020s 81 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 84 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Comedy 4
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $32m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Austin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6836690, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0042475/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/145694

## Coming up

- *Elsinore* (2026-11-20), as Yvonne (Costume Designer) — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)
- *Pierre*, as Charlotte Manners — [page](https://film.one/tv/pierre.md)

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Secrets & Lies*](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md) (88)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Another Year*](https://film.one/film/another-year.md) (87)
- **Hulu:** [*Hard Truths*](https://film.one/film/hard-truths.md) (84)
- **AMC+:** [*This Is Going to Hurt*](https://film.one/tv/this-is-going-to-hurt.md) (84)

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

## Fi1m on Michele Austin

> Michele Austin is particularly good at playing warm women with difficult people to accommodate. We rate her work with Mike Leigh highly: in *Hard Truths*, she makes the patience of a loving sister feel hard-earned.

In the salon in *Hard Truths* (2024), Michele Austin carries on working while her clients talk over one another about men and mothers. As Chantelle, she gives these conversations the ease of people who have other things to be getting on with. Her daughters come and go with jobs and complaints, and she has time for them too. We like the way Austin lets Chantelle be busy without making her seem impatient. The pleasure comes from watching a woman take an interest in people while still getting her work done.

The work with Leigh runs from her film debut as Dionne in *Secrets & Lies* (1996) through Tanya in *Another Year* (2010) to Chantelle. Television has also given her regular work, including three years as Yvonne Hemmingway in *The Bill* from 2003 and Tracy, a straight-talking senior midwife, in *This Is Going to Hurt* (2022). Her parts repeatedly place her in families and working communities. In *Hard Truths*, the part becomes more demanding because Chantelle's warmth has to survive repeated rejection.

Opposite Marianne Jean-Baptiste as her sister, Austin keeps the effort visible without turning Chantelle into a lesson in goodness. She keeps ringing and inviting a woman who habitually says no. We were moved more by Austin's persistence than by the rants, because each fresh invitation showed what it cost Chantelle to keep trying. The salon matters here: she has work, daughters and pleasures beyond managing her sister, so we understand that she could be spending her time more happily elsewhere.

Leigh's extended rehearsal and improvisation suit an actor who can make overlapping conversation feel this natural. There is a danger with such parts that the agreeable woman will be left to soothe everyone else and given little to do herself. Austin gets enough attention in *Hard Truths* to avoid that, even when the film gives its men less to work with. We would start there, and pay as much attention to the woman making the next invitation as to the woman refusing it.

## Biography

Michele Austin is a British actress. She trained at Rose Bruford College and has worked in film, television and theatre since the mid-1990s.

She is known for playing PC Yvonne Hemmingway in the ITV series *The Bill* (2003–2006), for which she received the Screen Nation Award for Best Television Actress. Austin has appeared in several films by Mike Leigh, including *Secrets & Lies* (1996) as Dionne and *Another Year* (2010) as Tanya. Other credits include *What We Did on Our Holiday* (2014) as Lucy, *The Children Act* (2018) as Donna, and *This Is Going to Hurt* (2022) as Tracy.

In *Hard Truths* (2024) she played Chantelle, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actress. She is married to playwright Nick Stafford.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com, bifa.film, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

- *Elsinore* (2026), Fi1m 74, as Yvonne (Costume Designer) — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)
- *Hard Truths* (2024), Fi1m 84, as Chantelle — [page](https://film.one/film/hard-truths.md)
- *This Is Going to Hurt* (2022), Fi1m 84, as Tracy — [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-going-to-hurt.md)
- *Another Year* (2010), Fi1m 87, as Tanya — [page](https://film.one/film/another-year.md)
- *Gimme Gimme Gimme* (1999), Fi1m 52, as Priest — [page](https://film.one/tv/gimme-gimme-gimme.md)
- *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88, as Dionne — [page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md)

## Complete filmography (30)

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

- *Elsinore* (2026), as Yvonne (Costume Designer) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md)
- *Hard Truths* (2024), as Chantelle — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/hard-truths.md)
- *National Theatre Live: The Effect* (2024), as Dr Lorna James
- *Boat Story* (2023), series, as Camilla Wells
- *This Is Going to Hurt* (2022), series, as Tracy — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/this-is-going-to-hurt.md)
- *The Other One* (2020), series, as Angela
- *Meet the Richardsons* (2020), series, as Dani Julian
- *National Theatre Live: Cyrano de Bergerac* (2020), as Leila Ragueneau
- *The Children Act* (2018), as Donna
- *Birds Like Us* (2017), as Jula (voice)
- *The Coroner* (2015), series, as Maggie Fordham-Bryce
- *Nipplejesus* (2015), as Denise
- *The Casual Vacancy* (2015), series, as Kaye Bawden
- *What We Did on Our Holiday* (2014), as Lucy
- *Black Mirror* (2011), series, as Jen Minter — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)
- *Death in Paradise* (2011), series, as Estelle Du Bois
- *Another Year* (2010), as Tanya — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/another-year.md)
- *The Infidel* (2010), as Zadie
- *Never Better* (2008), series, Actor
- *Secret Life* (2007), as Probation Officer
- *Peep Show* (2003), series, as Midwife — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/peep-show.md)
- *Canterbury Tales* (2003), series, as Trish
- *Tricia* (2003), as WPC Cheryl
- *The Last Detective* (2003), series, as WPC Cheryl
- *All or Nothing* (2002), as Care Worker
- *Gimme Gimme Gimme* (1999), series, as Priest — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/tv/gimme-gimme-gimme.md)
- *The Perfect Blue* (1998), as Frances
- *Secrets & Lies* (1996), as Dionne — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md)
- *Silent Witness* (1996), series, as Cherie Maskell
- *Pierre*, series, as Charlotte Manners — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/tv/pierre.md)

## Gallery

- ![Michele Austin as Chantelle in Hard Truths (2024)](https://film.one/media/title/937/still-b875e6eb5399.jpg) Michele Austin as Chantelle in *Hard Truths* (2024) — Image via TMDB
- ![Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-9914cdbb457e.jpg) Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michele Austin](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-9711ffb99874.jpg) Michele Austin — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-23b52998b216.jpg) Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-bca6e5b2a7fd.jpg) Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michele Austin](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-b222ec42df79.jpg) Michele Austin — Image via TMDB
- ![Michele Austin](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-96c10969e15f.jpg) Michele Austin — Image via TMDB
- ![Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-73b39a6a7959.jpg) Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/9995/gallery-277ba520511f.jpg) Michele Austin, actor in 'Hard Truths', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3_%28cropped%29_2.jpg/1280px-Michele_Austin_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_3_%28cropped%29_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© 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/michele-austin