Louise Brealey

Acting

Louise Brealey

Born

1979-03-27 (47)

Place of birth

Bozeat, Northamptonshire, England

Known for

Acting

Credits

34 titles

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…

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 9 titles

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

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

Madfabulous poster
6.6

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

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

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

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

Limbo poster
7.0

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

Limbo

2021

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

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

2010s · 8 titles

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

Victor Frankenstein poster
6.0

While searching for animal body parts at a London circus, radical scientist Victor Frankenstein meets gifted surgeon Igor Strausman. Not only does the brilliant doctor offer Strausman his friendship, but also a chance to work with him on groundbreaking research that could change the world forever. When Victor's experiments with life and death go too far, only Igor can bring him back from the brink of madness and save him from his monstrous creation.

Victor Frankenstein

2015

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

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

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
7.7

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

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

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

Series credits

Death in Paradise poster
7.5

A brilliant but idiosyncratic British detective and his resourceful local team solve baffling murder mysteries on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie.

Death in Paradise

2011

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986

Father Brown poster
7.7

Father Brown is based on G. K. Chesterton's detective stories about a Catholic priest who doubles as an amateur detective in order to try and solve mysteries.

Father Brown

2013

Shetland poster
7.5

Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.

Shetland

2013

Sherlock poster
8.5

A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.

Sherlock

2010

A Discovery of Witches poster
7.8

Closet witch Diana Bishop and centuries-old vampire Matthew Clairmont are drawn into a deadly mystery and forbidden romance when a magical book shows up in an Oxford library.

A Discovery of Witches

2018

Ripper Street poster
7.4

A drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the "Ripper" murders. The action centres around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel. Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper's legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama's heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.

Ripper Street

2012

Hotel Babylon poster
7.3

Hotel Babylon is a British television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones. The show followed the lives of workers at a glamorous five-star hotel.

Hotel Babylon

2006

Lockwood & Co. poster
7.5

A girl with extraordinary psychic abilities joins two gifted teen boys at a small ghost-hunting agency to fight the many deadly spirits haunting London.

Lockwood & Co.

2023

Clique poster
6.3

In the first year of uni, childhood best friends Holly and Georgia find themselves drawn to an elite clique. When Holly begins to suspect darkness lurks beneath the glamour, she will do anything to save her soulmate.

Clique

2017

The Widow poster
6.9

A woman's search to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of her husband leads her to the Congo, where she's forced to seek the truth about what happened to the man she loved.

The Widow

2019

Such Brave Girls poster
7.3

Sisters Josie and Billie and their single mother Deb navigate life armed with nothing but poor judgement and self-esteem exclusively tied to people who couldn't care less about them. They're vain, selfish, heavily in debt, pathologically desperate for affection and bursting with misplaced, terrifying love.

Such Brave Girls

2023

Back poster
7.1

Estranged foster-brothers Stephen and Andrew vie to take over the family business following the death of their father.

Back

2017

Mayo poster
4.2

Charismatic detective Gil Mayo wise-cracks his way through a variety of murder mysteries alongside his sexy colleague, Alex Jones. Matters aren't simple between the old flames as flirtation could become something more - but who will make the first move? Life is further complicated by Gil's precocious teenage daughter Julie, who he's bringing up by himself after the disappearance of his wife. The detective does come up with a novel way to deal with the piles of bills he keeps receiving though - hiding them in the cupboard!

Mayo

2006