Louise Brealey

Acting

Louise Brealey

Born 1979-03-27 · Bozeat, Northamptonshire, England

Louise Brealey (born 27 March 1979) is an English actress, writer and journalist. She played Molly Hooper in Sherlock (2010–), Cass in Back (2017), Scottish professor Jude McDermid in Clique (2017), Gillian Chamberlain in A Discovery of Witches (2018) and Donna Harman in Death in Paradise (2020). She made her TV debut as Nurse Roxanne Bird in two series of BBC drama Casualty (2002–2004) before playing Judy Smallweed in Bleak House (2005). Brealey plays pathologist Molly Hooper in all four series of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's television drama, Sherlock. She has also made her name as an accomplished stage actress. Her stage debut was at London's Royal Court in 2001 as 14-year-old Sophie in Max Stafford-Clark's production of Judy Upton's Sliding With Suzanne. She portrayed child prodigy Thomasina in the Bristol Old Vic production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 2005. In 2011, she was the short-frocked daughter of Julian Barratt and Doon Mackichan at the Young Vic in Richard Jones's Government Inspector. She next played three lead roles – Cassandra, Andromache and Helen of Troy – in Caroline Bird's sold-out production of The Trojan Women at London's Gate Theatre. In February 2014, she starred as Julie in August Strindberg's Miss Julie at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. She won Best Actress at the Manchester Theatre Awards for her role as Marianne in Constellations, directed by Michael Longhurst and played the lead alongside Anne Marie Duff in Marianne Elliott's Husbands and Sons at the National Theatre. Description above is from the Wikipedia article Louise Brealey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel poster
7.0

British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways as the residents find new purpose in their old age.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2012

Victor Frankenstein poster
6.0

Eccentric scientist Victor Von Frankenstein creates a grotesque creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.

Victor Frankenstein

2015

Brian and Charles poster
6.3

An endearing outlier, Brian lives alone in a Welsh valley, inventing oddball contraptions that seldom work. After finding a discarded mannequin head, Brian gets an idea. Three days, a washing machine, and sundry spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and proves a charming, cheeky companion. Before long, however, Charles also develops autonomy. Intrigued by the wider world — or whatever lies beyond the cottage where Brian has hidden him away — Charles craves adventure.

Brian and Charles

2022

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride poster
7.8

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson find themselves in 1890s London in this holiday special.

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

2016

Madfabulous poster
6.0

When the flamboyant Henry Paget arrives in 1890s North Wales to claim his aristocratic inheritance, his theatrical flair and defiant eccentricities send shockwaves through the upper-class elite, much to the amusement of the local townspeople. Alongside his spirited cousin, Lily, and loyal butler, Gelert, Henry tries to carve out his own identity as the Fifth Marquess, navigating suffocating traditions, scheming relatives, and the long shadow cast by his estranged father.

Madfabulous

2026

Containment poster
5.9

Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?

Containment

2015

Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel poster
7.0

Since 2017, Letters Live has produced 11 shows at the Union Chapel, with no two shows being the same.

Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel

2021

In Wonderland poster
9.0

A magic realist story of love, told through the memories of one person.

In Wonderland

2018

Sherlock: Many Happy Returns poster
7.8

John and Lestrade try to move on with their lives after Sherlock's apparent death. However, Anderson believes he is still alive.

Sherlock: Many Happy Returns

2013

Daughters of the Late Colonel poster
NR

After the death of their ill-tempered and controlling father, two middle-aged sisters find themselves at a loss.  An unexpected visitor sparks the courage in them to begin their lives anew.. ‘Daughters of the Late Colonel’ is a merry, rude, and lyrical, animated adaptation of the modernist short story of the same name, written by Katherine Mansfield in 1920.

Daughters of the Late Colonel

2026

Birthday poster
6.7

Sky Arts’ adaptation of Joe Penhall’s 2012 Royal Court play Birthday sees Mangan reprise the role of Ed who endures a caesarian birth with his high-flying wife by his side.

Birthday

2015

Chuck Chuck Baby poster
6.7

Helen's mundane life at the chicken factory takes an unexpected turn with Joanne's return. They were each other's secret teenage passion. As they fall in love, Helen's zest for life returns but Joanne faces something darker from her past.

Chuck Chuck Baby

2024

Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day poster
8.7

Celebrate International Women’s Day with this brand new inspiring film from LETTERS LIVE. In “LETTERS LIVE from the Archive: International Women’s Day”, remarkable letters are read by a diverse array of outstanding luminaries, including stunning performances from Olivia Colman, Gillian Anderson, Daisy Ridley, Caitlin Moran, Rose McGowan, Adwoa Aboah, Louise Brealey and more. Plus music from Roxanne Tataei.

Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day

2021

No artwork available
NR

Maddie is tasked with cleaning the house of a hoarder, an old woman who recently died. As she starts to become increasingly paranoid that she is not alone, Maddie has to face the horrifying reality of what her life might become.

Deep Clean

2022

Delicious poster
5.2

Recently released from prison, French chef Jacques pursues an obsession -- to leave his past behind and work for the great British chef Victor Ellwood. He knows Victor had an affair with his mother and may even be his dad. Working for iron-fisted Victor is back-breaking, but his existence is softened by the presence of a curious girl living in the downstairs flat. As he falls in love with her, he realises she not only has an aversion to restaurants, but food of all kinds. Is her eating disorder a force too resilient for anything, even love to cure?

Delicious

2013

The Darkest Hour poster
NR

Bearing many similarities to Albert Camus' 1946 existentialist text L'Etranger (The Outsider), The Darkest Hour is a powerful portrait of contemporary urban angst, isolation and unrequited love. Pat leads an apparently ordinary life as an attendant in a notorious public toilet where the majority of the clientele are either involved in drug deals or cottaging. The only light in his otherwise solitary life is Kim, a girl he is infatuated with, who works in a local cafe he frequents. When he is 'provoked' into committing an act of extreme violence, Pat's subsequent unorthodox reaction to his crime leads inevitably to his life changing forever.

The Darkest Hour

2001

Jamie poster
4.0

A young girl struggling with bulimia and depression is contemplating ending her life. Preoccupied with suicidal yearnings on the train to her nan’s, her journey is interrupted by another young woman’s death.

Jamie

2020

I Want You poster
4.0

A boy meets girl love story. Nearly.

I Want You

2007

Limbo poster
7.0

One man's search for his kidnapped daughter causes his reality to unravel.

Limbo

2021

The Blair Witch Phenomenon poster
NR

Documentary about the impact of the film The Blair Witch Project, hosted and presented by film critic Mark Kermode.

The Blair Witch Phenomenon

1999