Monica Dolan

Acting

Monica Dolan

Born 1969-03-15 · Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier Award winning actor whose work spans television, film and stage. Monica was born in March 1969 into an Irish family and has a sister Gabrielle. She studied drama at the Guildhall School in London, graduating in 1991 and soon afterwards went into television. A supremely versatile character actress, she has tended to specialize in stunning portrayals of the darker side of life, as real-life stalker Maria Marchese in U Be Dead (2009), demure but deadly Miss Gilchrist in the superior Poirot adaptation Poirot: After the Funeral (2006) and, particularly, as serial killer Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011) for which she, along with fellow Guildhall graduate Dominic West, deservedly received a BAFTA award.

Acting credits

Kick-Ass 2 poster
6.4

After Kick-Ass' insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, he joins a patrol led by the Colonel Stars and Stripes. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist — reborn as The Mother Fucker — only the blade-wielding Hit-Girl can prevent their annihilation.

Kick-Ass 2

2013

Eye in the Sky poster
7.0

A UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” As American pilot Steve Watts is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.

Eye in the Sky

2015

Official Secrets poster
7.2

The true story of British intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun who—prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion—leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing member states into voting for war.

Official Secrets

2019

Elsinore poster
NR

The deeply emotional and inspirational true story of Ian Charleson, a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. Facing his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit, and grace, Charleson delivers a courageous performance that becomes a source of healing and inspiration for those around him.

Elsinore

2026

The Dig poster
6.8

As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain's past resonate in the face of its uncertain future‎.

The Dig

2021

Never Let Me Go poster
6.8

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for the haunting reality awaiting them.

Never Let Me Go

2010

Empire of Light poster
6.6

The duty manager of a seaside cinema, who is struggling with her mental health, forms a relationship with a new employee on the south coast of England in the 1980s.

Empire of Light

2022

Pride poster
7.7

In 1984, a group of LGBT activists decide to raise money to support the National Union of Mineworkers during their lengthy strike. There is only one problem: the Union seems embarrassed to receive their support.

Pride

2014

Cyrano poster
6.3

A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne, Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her—and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian.

Cyrano

2021

King Lear poster
6.7

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

King Lear

2008

Topsy-Turvy poster
6.6

For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in 1884, as a London heat wave cuts into the theater trade, their latest work, "Princess Ida", receives lukewarm press. In an effort to reconcile their creative differences and drawing inspiration from Japanese culture, they went on to create the hit opera "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.

Topsy-Turvy

1999

Sightseers poster
6.3

Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.

Sightseers

2012

The Falling poster
5.1

England, 1969. The fascinating Abbie and the troubled Lydia are great friends. After an unexpected tragedy occurs in the strict girls' school they attend, a mysterious epidemic of fainting breaks out that threatens the mental sanity and beliefs of the tormented people involved, both teachers and students.

The Falling

2015

This Time Next Year poster
6.1

Minnie and Quinn were both born in London on New Year’s Day, in the same hospital, one minute apart. Thirty years later — and very different people — they find themselves thrown together again in the same city on New Year’s Eve.

This Time Next Year

2024

Guernsey poster
5.5

Guernsey is the story of a woman who suddenly looks at her own life and wonders how she became miles apart from the people she is closest to.

Guernsey

2005

Onwards and Sideways poster
NR

Tony Evans is the deputy head of a local primary school. Emma Dretzin is a pianist, composer and single mother of two daughters. Neither knows the other until a startling encounter changes the course of their lives: on the same morning, they are both confronted with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.

Onwards and Sideways

2026

Days of the Bagnold Summer poster
6.1

Sue works in a library. Daniel eats crisps and listens to Metallica. This was the summer Daniel was due to spend with his father and his father's new wife in Florida. But when they cancel his trip at the last minute, Sue and Daniel suddenly face the prospect of six long weeks together.

Days of the Bagnold Summer

2020

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa poster
6.6

When famous DJ Alan Partridge’s radio station is taken over by a new media conglomerate, it sets in motion a chain of events which see Alan having to work with the police to defuse a potentially violent siege.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

2013

Book Club poster
NR

The first meeting of a new community book club is thrown off-track when an overly-zealous attendee tries to convince the group to read his favourite book: the sci-fi epic 'Lady Dalamide and the Crusade of the Cosmos’.

Book Club

The Lost Children of Tuam poster
NR

When amateur historian Catherine Corless begins examining records from a former Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co. Galway, she stumbles upon evidence pointing towards a deeply troubling past. Refusing to let the questions go, she embarks on a painstaking investigation, putting her in conflict with the Church, State, and local town. As official resistance mounts, and unsettling discoveries emerge, her determination challenges powerful institutions, exposing a hidden chapter of Ireland's past that many would rather keep hidden.

The Lost Children of Tuam

2026

Within the Whirlwind poster
5.0

During Stalin's reign of terror, Evgenia Ginzburg, a literature professor, was sent to 10 years hard labor in a gulag in Siberia. Having lost everything, and no longer wishing to live, she meets the camp doctor and begins to come back to life.

Within the Whirlwind

2009

Fern poster
6.0

A woman loses her husband and finds a potted plant.

Fern

2017

The Arbor poster
7.3

The lives of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and Lorraine, one of her daughters, and the community of Bradford, in the 30 years since the 18-year-old Andrea penned a play about growing up in the community titled "The Arbor".

The Arbor

2010

Wallis & Edward poster
5.6

The story of the divorcee who dared to fall in love with the future King of England.

Wallis & Edward

2005