Biography
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in R...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Dragonfly
2025
as Elsie
When Colleen volunteers to care for her elderly neighbor Elsie, the two quickly bond. But beneath the pleasantries, motives start to be questioned lea...

Charlotte
2022
as Grossmama (voice)
The true story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative...

Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
2018
as Narrator
Playful, moving portrait of Raymond Briggs, told through interviews with Raymond, animation illustrated by Chris Riddell, and contributions from frien...

Ethel & Ernest
2016
as Ethel Briggs (voice)
This hand drawn animated film, based on the award winning graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, is an intimate and affectionate depiction of the life and t...

Two Men in Town
2014
as Emily Smith
A convict is released from prison in a small town in New Mexico. 18 years ago he killed a deputy. The then-and-now sheriff seeks revenge.

Mary and Martha
2013
as Martha
Wealthy American housewife Mary Morgan takes her bullied son George out of school for home education,including a trip to Southern Africa. Whilst in Mo...

My Angel
2011
as Headmistress
Fifteen year old Eddie's mother falls very ill after a serious car accident. Eddie and his brother Stewart end up having to take care of themselves an...
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
2011
This retrospective follows Sir Michael Caine's impressive career, featuring archive clips woven together with interviews from colleagues and critics. ...

The Calling
2010
as Sister Ignatious
Joanna - a university student - leaves her course to become a nun.

Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
2009
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Strike up the band with Pooh, Tigger, Darby and all your favorite friends in a spectacular full-length movie featuring seven original songs. It's a pe...

London River
2009
as Elisabeth
After traveling to London to check on their missing children in the wake of the 2005 terror attacks on the city, two strangers come to discover their ...

Dead Man Running
2009
as Mother
A loan shark gives ex-con Nick a period of 24 hours in order to pay back the money he owes. Up against it, Nick involves his best mate on a multi-part...

Clubland
2007
as Jean
The shy son of an aging comedienne tries to find a balance between his demanding home life, his new girlfriend, and his mother's second chance at fame...

Clubland
2007
Writer
The shy son of an aging comedienne tries to find a balance between his demanding home life, his new girlfriend, and his mother's second chance at fame...

Atonement
2007
as Grace Turner
As a 13-year-old, fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime ...

Mysterious Creatures
2006
as Wendy Ainscow
Feature-length ITV drama based on real events. Bill and Wendy Ainscow (Timothy Spall and Brenda Blethyn) are a middle class, middle-aged Birmingham co...

Pride & Prejudice
2005
as Mrs. Bennet
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbeari...

On a Clear Day
2005
as Joan
After decades of laboring as a Glasgow shipbuilder, Frank Redmond, a no-nonsense 55-year-old working-class man, suddenly finds himself laid off. For t...

Pooh's Heffalump Movie
2005
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Who or what exactly is a Heffalump? The lovable residents of the Hundred Acre Wood -- Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga and the rest of t...

Beyond the Sea
2004
as Polly Cassotto
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the t...

A Way of Life
2004
as Annette
At 17 Leigh-Anne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet...

Piccadilly Jim
2004
as Nesta Pett
Set in the 1930s, an American with a scandalous reputation on both sides of the Atlantic must do an about-face in order to win back the woman of his d...

Belonging
2004
as Jess Copplestone
Jess (Brenda Blethyn) and town handyman Jacob (Kevin Whately) have been happily married 20 years, recently taking in a trio of Jacob's elderly relativ...

Blizzard
2003
as Aunt Millie
A young girl's aunt tells her the tale of a young ice skater and an enchanted reindeer.

Bob the Builder: The Knights of Fix-A-Lot
2003
as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
When an old castle needs repairs, it's time to call Bob the Builder! Unfortunately a case of mistaken identity puts Bob's father in charge, resulting ...

The Sleeping Dictionary
2003
as Aggie
A young Englishman is dispatched to Sarawak to become part of the British colonial government. He encounters some unorthodox local traditions, and fin...

Undertaking Betty
2002
as Betty Rhys-Jones
A politician's wife and the mortician who has secretly loved her for years plan to fake her death so they can run away together.

Sonny
2002
as Jewel
New Orleans, 1981. Sonny Phillips, just discharged from the Army, returns home. The only life he's known is as a gigolo, working for his mother, but h...

Lovely & Amazing
2002
as Jane Marks
An intimate family portrait of four hapless but resilient women and the bittersweet lessons they learn in keeping up with the hectic demands of their ...

Pumpkin
2002
as Judy Romanoff
Carolyn's sorority sisters set their sights on the Sorority of the Year award and coaching challenged athletes is their ticket to the trophy. But when...

The Yellow Bird
2002
as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
A young girl escapes the boredom of a small town existence in the 1930s.

Daddy and Them
2001
as Julia Montgomery
Ruby and her husband Claude are a working-class couple who live in suburban Arkansas. As crazy as they are for each other, their relationship is far f...

On the Nose
2001
as Mrs. Delaney
Brendan is a janitor at a university who has a fondness for gambling, especially betting on horse races. However, he doesn't have much skill at it, an...

RKO 281
2000
as Louella Parsons
In 1939, boy-wonder Orson Welles leaves New York, where he has succeeded in radio and theater, and, hired by RKO Pictures, moves to Hollywood with the...

Saving Grace
2000
as Grace Trevethyn
Unexpectedly widowed, prim and proper housewife Grace Trevethyn finds herself in dire financial straits when she inherits massive debts her late husba...

Little Voice
1998
as Mari Hoff
After the death of her father, Little Voice or LV becomes a virtual recluse, never going out and hardly ever saying a word. She just sits in her bedro...

In the Winter Dark
1998
as Ida Stubbs
Fear of an unidentified livestock predator unites an Australian couple, an outcast, and an abandoned woman.
Girls' Night
1998
as Dawn Wilkinson
Two British best friends and in-laws Dawn and Jackie work together at a factory. When Dawn is diagnosed with a brain tumor Jackie shares $100,000 she'...

Music from Another Room
1998
as Grace Swan
Music From Another Room is a romantic comedy that follows the exploits of Danny, a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry the girl h...

Inside the Golden Statue
1998
as Self
A behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for the live broadcast of the 69th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.

Night Train
1998
as Alice Mooney
A man released from jail, where he had served time for doctoring the books of a gangster, has to go into hiding from the gangster's men. He moves into...

Remember Me?
1997
A domestic farce exposes the eccentricities of a "typical" middle class, suburban family who find their lives thrown into a crisis with the unexpected...

Secrets & Lies
1996
as Cynthia Rose Purley
After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cyn...

The Bullion Boys
1993
as Gwen
Based on a true story. In 1940, Britain's gold reserves were transferred for safety to Liverpool because of the threat of a German invasion. The top-s...

A River Runs Through It
1992
as Mrs. Maclean
The Maclean brothers, Paul and Norman, live a relatively idyllic life in rural Montana, spending much of their time fly fishing. The sons of a ministe...

The Witches
1990
as Mrs Jenkins
A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is hosting an international witch convention, where the Grand H...

The Shawl
1989
as Miss A
Miss A, troubled by problems, consults a clairvoyant. Can he solve them for her by summoning the spirits? Or is he just a fraud, out to steal her mone...

Claws
1987
as Sylvia
A tale of cat lovers, the social circle they inhabit and the power struggles between them.

Floating Off
1983
as Janice
Businessman Jack Humpage and his secretary Janice try to make an unconventional deal with a merchant bank before Humpage's son finds out.

Henry VI Part 1
1983
as Joan La Pucelle
The life of King Henry the Sixth, in three parts.

King Lear
1982
as Cordelia
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

Mike Leigh: Making Plays
1982
as Self
Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.
Say No to Strangers
1981
as Policewoman
A short film to warn children of sexual predators.

Grown-Ups
1980
as Gloria
Dick and Mandy, a young working class couple, move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next...
Bedroom Farce
1980
as Kate
Trevor and Susannah, whose marraige is on the rocks, inflict their miseries on their nearest and dearest: three couples whose own relationships are te...

The Imitation Game
1980
Second World War drama - A young woman decides against working in a munitions factory, and lands a post with the signals corps attempting to crack the...
Fools
N/A
In 1553, England’s first Queen, Mary I, takes the throne. The country is on the brink of chaos, and ambitious Cardinal Pole plots to secure control. H...

Strawberry Fields Forever
N/A
as Grannie Nellie
Steven Shepherd’s short life beheld just one very special day amidst his world of total and utter torment. He lived with his Grannie Nellie, who loved...

King of the Teds
N/A
as Nina
Ron and Tina's lives are changed when long lost friend Nina calls, reawakening memories of when Ron was the charismatic 'King of the Teds' and both wo...