Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in period films, blockbusters, independent films, as well as her work on prominent television series. Her accolades include winning an Empire Award, and receiving nominations for a Critics' Choice Award, two Gemini Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Dormer had her breakthrough playing the role of Anne Boleyn on the Showtime series The Tudors (2007–08), which earned her widespread acclaim. She made her stage debut in Sweet Nothings (2010) and portrayed the Duchess of York in Madonna's film W.E. (2011) and Private Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Dormer then gained international attention for playing Margaery Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones (2012–2016) and Cressida in the last two parts of The Hunger Games franchise (2014–2015), which rank as her highest-grossing films. She has also portrayed Irene Adler on the CBS series Elementary (2013–15) and Sara Price/Jess Price in The Forest (2016), and voiced Onica in the series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019). She earned praise for her leading role in the miniseries Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020).
Early life and education
Natalie Dormer was born in Reading, Berkshire, on 11 February 1982, the daughter of Gary Dormer and Claire Richards, and the sister of Mark and Samantha. She is of English, Norwegian, and Welsh descent.
She attended Chiltern Edge Secondary School before joining the sixth form at Reading Blue Coat School. She says she was bullied at school, but "still, to this day, can't place why".
While at school, Dormer trained in dance at the Allenova School of Dancing. She says she was the "academic hopeful" of the family and was provisionally offered a place to study history at the University of Cambridge, but on her A-level history examination, she did not achieve the A grade she needed, having misread a question. Dormer chose to audition for drama schools and trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Career
2005–2011: Early work and breakthrough
Six months after graduating from Webber Douglas, Dormer won the role of Victoria in Casanova. Her film debut, it was released in 2005. The director, Lasse Hallström, was so impressed with Dormer's comedic timing, that he had the scriptwriter expand her part. In 2005, Dormer had a small part in Distant Shores. After the filming of Casanova, Dormer was out of work for 10 months, which she ascribes to "bad representation". She was attached to an independent film, although financing caused delays. Removed from the audition circuit, Dormer worked as a waitress and in data entry. She says her out-of-work phase "was the best lesson".
In 2007 and 2008, Dormer played Anne Boleyn in the first two seasons of The Tudors, for which she received highly positive reviews. Robert Abele of LA Weekly wrote: "Natalie Dormer presents a painterly exquisiteness and complexity in her portrayal of Anne Boleyn... her enigmatic, time-halting loveliness is a boon for The Tudors, and damn near worth losing your head over". After her character's death at the end of the second season, The Boston Herald noted: "Dormer gave Anne Boleyn life, making her not just a beautiful schemer, but a rebellious, defiantly independent tragic hero in the tradition of Rebel Without a Cause and Cool Hand Luke... her departure from The Tudors leaves a tremendous void."
In 2008, Dormer played Moira Nicholson in Agatha Christie's Marple: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" and appeared in the film City of Life. Dormer's Marple appearance aired in the US in the summer of 2009 as part of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery anthology series. Also in that year, she appeared in Incendiary, but her scenes were cut from the final film. Following Marple, Dormer went on to film some new roles, including the Duchess of York in Madonna's film W.E., Pvt. Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger, and Niamh Cranitch in the BBC court drama Silk. She returned to The Tudors as Anne Boleyn in a dream sequence for the fourth and final season in mid-2010.
In March 2010, Dormer debuted at the Young Vic theatre in London as Mizi in the play Sweet Nothings. In The Observer, theatre critic Susannah Clapp praised the performances of the cast and wrote: "Natalie Dormer is lissome as a dirty, delightful gadabout, pushing aside an entire chess game to put down her hat". She received a commendation for her performance at the Ian Charleson Awards 2010. Her next stage role was Pat in.45 at Hampstead Theatre in November 2010.
2012–2016: Worldwide recognition and praise
From 2012 to 2016, Dormer played Margaery Tyrell in the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones. She received international recognition for the role, and she received critical acclaim for her performance. Dormer, along with the rest of the ensemble cast, was nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and the cast was awarded the Empire Hero Award in 2015 by British film magazine Empire. For her performance in the third season of the show, Dormer won the Ewwy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Drama.
In March 2012, Dormer worked at the Young Vic to play the title role in After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber. Her performance earned acclaim, with reviews describing her as "little short of sensational", "outstanding", and "the perfect Miss Julie". The online theatre magazine Exeunt says her portrayal of Miss Julie contained "all the anger, desire, wit, loneliness, merriment, melancholy, and desperation of the casts of several plays together... Dormer has more presence and eerie beauty than is apparent from her appearances on-screen, and she shape-shifts almost supernaturally between seductress, child, and tormentor."In March 2013, she played the Lady Door in the radio play of Neverwhere, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Later that year, she appeared in the car racing drama Rush and the thriller The Counselor. She appeared in A Long Way From Home. In 2013, Dormer played Irene Adler in the final three episodes of the first season of the CBS series Elementary; she reprised the role in the second season. A November 2014 press-release said Dormer was to star as the scandalous 18th-century noblewoman Lady Worsley in a BBC drama called The Scandalous Lady W, based on the book Lady Worsley's Whim by the historian Hallie Rubenhold; it aired in August 2015. Dormer also played Cressida in the final two films in The Hunger Games franchise, which were released in 2014 and 2015. For the role, she shaved the left side of her head. Both films were financial successes, with the former grossing $755.4 million and the latter grossing $658.3 million, ranking as Dormer's highest grossing releases to date.
In August 2016, Dormer worked in The Professor and the Madman alongside Mel Gibson and Sean Penn. Dormer starred in the Lava Bear Films/David S. Goyer-produced horror film The Forest, directed by music video and short-film director Jason Zada as his feature film debut. Focus Features has the North American distribution rights to the film released in January 2016.
2017–present: Other ventures and current work
In September 2014, Deadline Hollywood announced Dormer was cast in Screen Gems' action thriller Patient Zero, alongside Matt Smith and Game of Thrones co-star John Bradley. The film was directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Stefan Ruzowitzky based on a script by Mike Le. Patient Zero was released through video on demand on 14 August 2018, before receiving a limited theatrical release on 14 September 2018, by Vertical Entertainment. A February 2017 press-release announced Dormer was cast as schoolteacher Mrs Hester Appleyard in Picnic at Hanging Rock, an adaptation of the 1967 Australian novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay. The six-episode feature aired on Amazon Prime and on BBC2 in the United Kingdom. Dormer's performance was…