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Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen, and a narrator. She is known for her role in the film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other film appearances include Emma (1996), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Being Julia (2004), Infamous (2006), (2015), Wolf (2023), and Reawakening (2024).
In theatre, she has starred in numerous Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre productions, including Olivier Award nominated roles in Measure for Measure (1984), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1986), and Yerma (1987). For her role as Paulina in Death and the Maiden (1991–92), she won the 1992 Olivier Award for Best Actress. Her fifth Olivier nomination was for her work in the 2009 revival of Duet for One. She has also received three nominations for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress: for A Doll's House (1992), The Politician's Wife (1995) and Accused (2010). Other stage roles include The Heretic (2011) and Happy Days (2014).
In the 1987 TV film Life Story, Stevenson played the part of scientist Rosalind Franklin, for which she won a Cable Ace award. She played the leading role in the Anthony Minghella film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) and her roles in The Secret Rapture (1993), Emma (1996), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). She has more recently starred in Pierrepoint (2006), Infamous (2006) as Diana Vreeland and Breaking and Entering (2006) as Rosemary, the therapist. In 2003, she played the mother of an autistic child in the television film Hear the Silence, a film promoting the now debunked claims of Andrew Wakefield that the MMR vaccine was responsible for autism in children. The film makers and Stevenson were criticised as Wakefield's professionalism was already seriously in doubt. In 2008, she starred in ITV's A Place of Execution. The role won her the Best Actress Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. She performs as a book reader, and has recorded all of Jane Austen's novels as unabridged audiobooks, as well as a number of other novels, such as Lady Windermere's Fan, Hedda Gabler, Stories from Shakespeare, and To the Lighthouse. She received lifetime achievement prize at Women in Film And TV awards.
In 2024, she played Mary, the mother of a returning missing child in the British psychological thriller film Reawakening, alongside Erin Doherty and Jared Harris.
In 2008, she campaigned on behalf of refugee women with a reading at the Young Vic of Motherland, in protest against conditions at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre. Directed by Stevenson, with a script written by Natasha Walter, Motherland was described in The Guardian as "an intelligent and shocking piece of theatre", with Anthony Barnett characterising it as "skilful and engrossing, a mixture of drama and performance, witness and testimony, music and reporting."
Stevenson is patron of the UK registered charity LAM Action, which provides support, information and encouragement to patients with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) and their families, and raises funds to advance research into LAM. She is also an Amnesty Ambassador, and is patron of two other charities: Young Roots, a charity for young refugees; and Antenatal Results and Choices, which supports parents who have had a diagnosis of fetal anomaly.
On 12 September 2016, Stevenson, as well as Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Capaldi, Douglas Booth, Neil Gaiman, Keira Knightley, Jesse Eisenberg, Kit Harington and Stanley Tucci, featured in a video from the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign, which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities and education.
Stevenson's friends and frequent collaborators include director Robert Icke, comedian and feminist broadcaster Deborah Frances-White, poet Aviva Dautch and concert pianist Lucy Parham.
Stevenson is also a painter and has talked about how her art has helped her through difficult moments such as the COVID-19 lockdown and the death of her stepson.
Stevenson regularly attends protests in support of the people of Palestine. On 30 November 2024 she spoke at the National March for Palestine in London, highlighting the difference in the way the plight of the Palestinian people is portrayed in comparison to other people, and saying: "As artists we cannot remain silent in the face of such gross violations. Violations of human rights and of international law. Violations of the truth and of every human instinct."
In September 2025, she signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."
| 1988 | Drowning by Numbers | Cissie Colpitts 2 | |
| 1990 | Ladder of Swords | Alice Howard | |
| Clare Fitzgerald | |||
| Truly, Madly, Deeply | Nina | ||
| 1993 | Fräulein Bürstner | ||
| Isobel Coleridge | |||
| 1996 | Augusta Hawkins Elton | ||
| 2001 | Play | Second Woman | Short film |
| Mrs. Cratchit / Mother Gimlet (voice) | |||
| Gwenyth Moore | |||
| 2002 | Pamela Porterfield | ||
| Bend It Like Beckham | Paula Paxton | ||
| Mrs. Squeers | |||
| 2003 | Mona Lisa Smile | Amanda Armstrong | |
| 2004 | Being Julia | Evie | |
| 2005 | Anne Fletcher | ||
| Sofia Warburton | |||
| 2006 | Diana Vreeland | ||
| Rosemary McCloud | |||
| 2007 | And When Did You Last See Your Father? | Kim Morrison | |
| 2008 | A Previous Engagement | Julia Reynolds | |
| Miss Heliotrope | |||
| 2009 | Quietus | Jayne | Short film |
| Lucinda | |||
| Amy | aka: Shell Shock | ||
| 2013 | Sonia | ||
| Penelope | Penny | Short film | |
| 2014 | Mother Teresa | ||
| Laura Burrell | Short film | ||
| Mayday | May | Short film | |
| 2015 | Departure | Beatrice | |
| 2016 | Love Is Thicker Than Water | Ethel | |
| Let Me Go | Helga | ||
| 2018 | London Unplugged | Jayne | |
| 2019 | Four | The Dowager | Short film |
| 2022 | Walls Like Windows | Maggie | Short film |
| Ceres | Ceres | Short film | |
| 2024 | Reawakening | Mary | |
| Rhoda | Rhoda | Short film | |
| Post-production | |||
| Filming |
| 1980 | Barbara Mallen/Bensham | 6 episodes | |
| 1981 | Maybury | Joanna Langston | Episodes: "A Fall from Grace", "What I Mean Is...", "Ten Green Bottles" |
| 1983 | Bazaar and Rummage | Fliss | TV film |
| 1984 | Crown Court | Catherine Lloyd | Episodes: "Dirty Washing: Parts 1–3" |
| Freud | Elizabeth von Reitberg | Mini-series; episode: "The Secret of Dreams" | |
| Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Thaisa | TV film | |
| 1986 | Antigone | Episodes: "Oedipus at Colonus", "Antigone" | |
| 1987 | Horizon | Rosalind Franklin | Episode: "Life Story" |
| 1988 | Screenplay | Ruth | Episode: "Out of Love" |
| Screen Two | Hilda Carline | Episode: "Stanley Spencer" | |
| This is David Lander | Penny Foster | Episode: "The Nicholson Story" | |
| 1990 | Vicky Marshall | Episode: "Living with Dinosaurs" (originally aired in UK, 1989) | |
| 1991 | 4 Play | Margaret | Episode: "In the Border Country" |
| Screen Two | Lucy | Episode: "Aimée" | |
| 1992 | Performance | Nora Helmer | Episode: "A Doll's House" |
| 1993 | Jane (voice) | Main role; 13 episodes | |
| Who Dealt? | Tom's Wife | Short story in the form of a monologue by Ring Lardner | |
| Screen Two | Fraulein Burstner | Episode: "The Trial" | |
| 1994 | Verdi | Giuseppina Strepponi (voice) | TV film |
| 1995 | Flora Matlock | Mini-series; all 3 episodes | |
| 1997 | Screen Two | Jean | Episode: "Stone, Scissors, Paper" |
| 1998 | Cider with Rosie | Annie Lee | TV film |
| 1999 | Trial by Fire | Helen West | TV film |
| 2002 | Eve | TV film | |
| The Pact | Gus Harte | TV film | |
| 2003 | Hear the Silence | Christine Shields | TV film |
| 2005 | Gerda's Mother | TV film | |
| 2007 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Gwenda Vaughn | Episode: "Ordeal by Innocence" |
| 2008 | 10 Days to War | Elizabeth Wilmshurst | Mini-series; episode: "A Simple Private Matter" |
| Place of Execution | Catherine Heathcote | Mini-series; 3 episodes | |
| Dustbin Baby | Marion Bean | TV film | |
| 2010 | Rachel Callaghan | Episode: "Denial" | |
| Accused | Helen Ryland | Episode: "Helen's Story" | |
| 2011 | Lewis | Diana Ellerby | Episode: "Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things" |
| Lady Elms | Recurring role; 4 episodes | ||
| 2012 | White Heat | Charlotte (Present Day) | Mini-series; 6 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Clem Allingham | Main role; 12 episodes | |
| 2013–2015 | Atlantis | The Oracle | Main role; 12 episodes |
| 2014 | On Angel Wings | Mary (voice) | TV short film |
| 2015 | X Company | Mayor Marie Bellaire | Episode: "Walk with the Devil" |
| Betty Grosse | Mini-series; 3 episodes | ||
| Artsnight | Contributor | Episode: "Richard Wilson on Samuel Beckett" | |
| 2016 | One of Us | Louise Elliot | Mini-series; 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Hamlet | Gertrude | TV film; filmed stage production |
| 2019 | Riviera | Lady Cassandra Eltham | 10 episodes |
| 2020 | Out of Her Mind | Carol | Series regular; 6 episodes |
| 2021 | The Long Call | Dorothy Venn | Main role; 4 episodes |
| Death in Paradise | Natasha Carlton | Christmas Special | |
| 2022 | The Man Who Fell to Earth | Sister Mary Lou Prescott | Episodes: "Under Pressure", "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" |
| 2022–2025 | Professor T. | Dr. Helena Goldberg | Recurring role; 15 episodes |
| 2023 | Secret Invasion | Elizabeth Hill | Mini-series; episode: "Promises" |
| Wolf | Matilda Anchor-Ferrers | 6 episodes | |
| 2025 | Charity Taylor | Mini-series; 4 episodes | |
| King & Conqueror | Lady Emma | 4 episodes | |
| The Deal | Cindy Cohen | 6 episodes |
| 1978 | Spirit | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| Antony and Cleopatra | Iras / Octavia | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| Measure for Measure | Whore / Nun | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| Caroline Thompson | |||
| Aphrodite / Artemis | |||
| Lovers and Kings | |||
| Widow / Curtis | |||
| Yeliena | |||
| Miss Chasen | |||
| 1980 | Henry IV | Lady Percy | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1981 | Hippolyta / Titania | ||
| Susan | Royal Shakespeare Company | ||
| Money | Clara Douglas | ||
| 1983 | Other Worlds | Emma / Betsy | Royal Court Theatre, London |
| 1984 | Measure for Measure | Isabella | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre |
| Breaking the Silence | Polya | Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre, London | |
| 1985 | Troilus and Cressida | Cressida | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre |
| As You Like It | Rosalind | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Theatre | |
| 1986 | Les Liaisons dangereuses | Madame de Tourvel | Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit Theatre |
| 1987 | Yerma | Yerma | National Theatre, London |
| 1988–1990 | Kyllene | Theatre of Delphi/National Theatre, London | |
| 1989 | Hedda Gabler | Hedda | National Theatre, London |
| Fanny | Sadler's Wells Theatre, London | ||
| 1990 | Burn This | Anna | Hampstead Theatre, London |
| 1991–1992 | Paulina | Theatre Upstairs, Duke of York Theatre, London | |
| 1993 | Scenes from an Execution | Galactia | Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles |
| 1995 | Greenwich Theatre/Wyndham's Theatre, London | ||
| 1997 | Royal National Theatre, London | ||
| 1999 | Private Lives | Amanda | The National Theatre |
| 2000 | Royal Court Theatre | ||
| 2003 | Desirée Armfeldt | New York City Opera | |
| 2004 | Gielgud Theatre, London | ||
| 2005 | Royal Court Theatre | ||
| 2006 | Irina Arkadina | The National Theatre | |
| 2009 | Duet for One | Stephanie Anderson | London |
| 2011 | Dr Diane Cassell | Royal Court Theatre | |
| 2014–2015 | Winnie | Young Vic | |
| 2016–2018 | Mary Stuart / Elizabeth I | Almeida Theatre & Duke of York's Theatre | |
| 2017 | Gertrude | Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre | |
| 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 | Professor Ruth Wolff | Almeida Theatre Adelaide Festival UK Tour & Duke of York's Theatre Park Avenue Armory, New York |
She is a patron of the London International Festival of Theatre. "Meet The Team" , LIFT. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
| Best Actress in a Leading Role |
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