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Catherine Jane McCormack (born 3 April 1972)[1][2] is an English actress. Her film appearances include Braveheart (1995), The Land Girls (1998), Dangerous Beauty (1998), Dancing at Lughnasa (1998), Spy Game (2001), and 28 Weeks Later (2007). Her theatre work includes National Theatre productions of All My Sons (2000) and Honour (2003).
Catherine McCormack | |
|---|---|
 McCormack in Midnight Man 2008 | |
| Born | Catherine Jane McCormack[1] 3 April 1972 |
| Education | Oxford School of Drama |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1994–present |
McCormack was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. She is of part Irish ancestry as one of her grandfathers was Irish.[3] Her mother died of lupus when McCormack was six years old and her steelworker father subsequently raised her and her brother Stephen.[4] She was brought up as Roman Catholic[5] and attended the Convent of Our Lady of Providence. She went on to study at the Oxford School of Drama.[6]
Film
McCormack's first important role was as the character Murron MacClannough in the multiple Academy Award-winning film Braveheart (1995). Her screen debut was as the lead in the Anna Campion-directed film Loaded (1994). She has subsequently stated that she had a "miserable time with the director (Anna Campion)... it was my first film job, I needed to be mollycoddled, I needed to be helped through it, and I wasn't. Mostly, it was a horrible experience."[4]
After Braveheart, McCormack starred alongside Anna Friel and Rachel Weisz in David Leland's The Land Girls and had lead roles in Nils Gaup's Northstar and Marshall Herskovitz's Dangerous Beauty. Other films include Spy Game (2001) and 28 Weeks Later. In 1998, she stated that "I read very few scripts I'm passionate about... Maybe one in every twenty or thirty."[7]
Theatre
McCormack has shown a preference in her career for the theatre,[4] saying that "theatre really is an actor's medium: you're on stage with no director anymore, whereas in film very rarely do you get much rehearsal other than running through the scene very quickly. Then everyone comes in and shoots it."[8] McCormack was one of the original 2006 London cast of Patrick Barlow's play of The 39 Steps.[9] In 2008, she performed the role of Nora in A Doll's House,[10] directed by Peter Hall at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and also the role of Isabel Archer in a stage adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady,[11] both of which commenced their runs in July 2008, ending in August, before transferring to the Rose Theatre in Kingston later that year.
In 2009, she appeared in the British tour of Headlong's adaptation of Six Characters in Search of an Author. In 2012, she starred as Juana Inés de la Cruz in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's play The Heresy of Love.[12]
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As of 2009, McCormack was living with her boyfriend in Richmond.[13]
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Loaded | Rose | |
| 1995 | Braveheart | Murron MacClannough | |
| 1996 | North Star | Sarah | |
| 1998 | The Land Girls | Stella | |
| Dangerous Beauty | Veronica Franco | ||
| Dancing at Lughnasa | Christina 'Chrissy' Mundy | ||
| 1999 | This Year's Love | Hannah | |
| The Debtors | |||
| 2000 | Shadow of the Vampire | Greta Schröder | |
| A Rumor of Angels | Mary Neubauer | ||
| The Weight of Water | Jean Janes | ||
| Born Romantic | Jocelyn | ||
| 2001 | The Tailor of Panama | Francesca Deane | |
| Spy Game | Elizabeth Hadley | ||
| 2004 | Strings | Zita (voice) | |
| 2005 | A Sound of Thunder | Sonia Rand | |
| 2006 | Renaissance | Bislane Tasuiev (voice) | |
| 2007 | The Moon and the Stars | Kristina Baumgarten / Tosca | |
| 28 Weeks Later | Alice | ||
| 2013 | The Fold | Rebecca Ashton | |
| 2014 | Magic in the Moonlight | Olivia | |
| 2016 | The Journey | Kate Elgar | |
| 2017 | Promise at Dawn | Lesley Blanch | |
| 2019 | The Song of Names | Helen | |
| Cordelia | Kate | ||
| TBA | My Oxford Year | TBA |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Wycliffe | Asenath Gardner | Episode: "The Scapegoat" |
| 1997 | Deacon Brodie | Annie Grant | TV film |
| 1999 | Love in the 21st Century | Fay | Episode: "Reproduction" |
| 2001 | Armadillo | Flavia | Main cast, miniseries |
| 2003 | Broken Morning | Kathy | TV film |
| 2004 | Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | Elizabeth I | TV film |
| 2005 | Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore | Kathleen Tynan | TV film |
| 2006 | Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes | Elizabeth David | TV film |
| Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | Poppaea Sabina | Episode: "Nero" | |
| 2008 | Midnight Man | Alice Ross | Main cast, miniseries |
| 2011 | Lights Out | Theresa Leary | Main cast |
| 2013 | Lucan | Veronica | Main cast, miniseries |
| 2015 | Life in Squares | Virginia Woolf | Main cast, miniseries |
| 2016 | Sherlock | Lady Carmichael | Episode "The Abominable Bride" |
| 2017 | Genius | Marija Ružić–Marić | Recurring role (season 1) |
| 2018 | Women on the Verge | Claire | 4 episodes |
| 2019–2021 | Temple | Beth Milton | Main cast |
| 2022 | Slow Horses | Alex Tropper | Recurring role (series 2) |
| 2023 | The Witcher | Anika | Episode: "Reunion" |
| TBA | Lockerbie: A Search for Truth † | Jane Swire | In production |
| † | Denotes TV productions that have not yet been released |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue or Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Anna Weiss | Anna Weiss | Whitehall Theatre |
| 2000 | All My Sons | Ann | National Theatre |
| 2001 | A Lie of the Mind | Beth | Donmar Warehouse |
| Kiss Me Like You Mean It | Ruth | Soho Theatre | |
| White Horses | Paula | Gate Theatre, Dublin | |
| 2002 | Free | Sophie | National Theatre |
| Dinner | Sian | National Theatre | |
| 2003 | Honour | Claudia | National Theatre |
| Under the Curse | Iphigenia | Gate Theatre, London | |
| 2004 | Vermillion Dream | Miriam | Salisbury Playhouse |
| 2006 | The 39 Steps | Various | Tricycle Theatre |
| 2007 | The Lady from Dubuque | Jo | Theatre Royal Haymarket |
| 2008 | A Doll's House | Nora | Theatre Royal Haymarket |
| The Portrait of a Lady | Isabel Archer | Theatre Royal Haymarket | |
| 2009 | Six Characters in Search of an Author | ||
| 2012 | The Heresy of Love | Juana Inés de la Cruz | Royal Shakespeare Company |
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