Ruth Sheen

Acting

Ruth Sheen

Born 1952-01-01 · London, England, UK

Ruth Sheen (born 1952) is an English actress. Born in London, Sheen began her career by training at the East 15 Acting School, and has appeared regularly on British television and in British films since 1988. On television, she had recurring roles as Nanny Simmons in Berkeley Square (1998), and as Nurse Ethel Carr in the series Bramwell (1995–1998). She has also appeared as four different characters in six episodes of The Bill between 1989 and 2004. She has also appeared in five Mike Leigh films: in the female lead role of Shirley in High Hopes (1988); as Laughing Woman in Secrets & Lies (1996); as Maureen in All or Nothing (2002), as Lily in Vera Drake (2004) and as Gerri in Another Year (2010). Her role in High Hopes won her the Best Actress award at the 1989 European Film Awards. In 2007, she played the role of Lyn, opposite Ben Whishaw's Steven, in the world premiere of Philip Ridley's stage play, Leaves of Glass at the Soho Theatre, London. She also plays the mother of Jim Sturgess's character, Jamie, in Philip Ridley's feature film, Heartless.

Acting credits

The Thursday Murder Club poster
6.6

A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.

The Thursday Murder Club

2025

Welcome to the Punch poster
5.9

When notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London, it gives detective Max Lewinsky one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.

Welcome to the Punch

2013

A Street Cat Named Bob poster
7.9

James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.

A Street Cat Named Bob

2016

Touch poster
7.4

Soon after the break of the pandemic and realizing that his clock is ticking, Kristofer gets the urge to embark on a journey to try to find out what really happened when his Japanese girlfriend mysteriously vanished without a trace from London fifty years earlier.

Touch

2024

Vanity Fair poster
5.8

In early 19th century England, orphaned Becky Sharp defies her poverty-stricken background and ascends the social ladder alongside her best friend.

Vanity Fair

2004

Imagine Me & You poster
7.6

During her wedding ceremony, Rachel notices Luce in the audience and feels instantly drawn to her. The two women become close friends, and when Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian, she realizes that despite her happy marriage to Heck, she is falling for Luce. As she questions her sexual orientation, Rachel must decide between her stable relationship with Heck and her exhilarating new romance with Luce.

Imagine Me & You

2006

Another Year poster
7.0

During a year, a very content couple approaching retirement are visited by friends and family less happy with their lives.

Another Year

2010

Mr. Turner poster
6.5

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

Mr. Turner

2014

Secrets & Lies poster
7.6

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

Secrets & Lies

1996

Run Fatboy Run poster
6.2

Five years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.

Run Fatboy Run

2007

All or Nothing poster
7.1

Penny works at a supermarket and Phil is a gentle taxi-driver. Penny’s love for Phil has run dry and they lead joyless lives with their two children, Rachel, a cleaner, and Rory, who is unemployed and aggressive.

All or Nothing

2002

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

Vera Drake poster
7.2

Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.

Vera Drake

2004

A Royal Night Out poster
6.5

The re-imagining of VE Day in 1945, when Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret were allowed out from Buckingham Palace for the night to join in the celebrations, and encounter romance and danger.

A Royal Night Out

2015

Fanny Hill poster
5.8

Orphaned by smallpox, young Lancashire country lady Fanny Hill cheerfully accepts her friend Esther Davies's offer to join the London 'working girls' with Mrs. Brown, a madam who recruits her as charmingly fresh enough to wait, in-living, on gentlemen.

Fanny Hill

2007

High Hopes poster
7.0

Working-class couple Shirley and Cyril are in conflict over whether they should have children, their problems with 'yuppies' moving into the neighbourhood and outpricing them, and the advent of Cyril's ageing mother's seventieth birthday.

High Hopes

1989

Cheeky poster
6.6

Consumed with sadness after the death of his wife and subsequent rejection from his son, a widower, at the urging of his friends, opts to appear on a vulgar, wildly popular game show (for which his wife signed him up) and watches his life start to change for the better.

Cheeky

2003

Lorna Doone poster
5.8

The year is 1675. England is threatened by religious and political rivalries. King Charles II's Catholic brother, James, is next in line for the throne, but many Protestants put their faith in Charles' illegitimate son, The Duke of Monmouth. On the king's death, conflict is inevitable... Over seven days journey from London, Exmoor is a primitive and lawless area. Here, farmer Jack Ridd lives with his wife Sarah, son John, and two daughters. The only shadow over their simple life is cast by the notorious outlaw family the Doones. The aristocratic Doones were banished from their ancestral lands and now live through looting, theft, and murder. Their brutality is legendary...

Lorna Doone

2001

Heartless poster
5.9

Jamie Morgan is a troubled young man with a facial birthmark, which has left him isolated and fearful, hiding from the world outside. He lives in the East End, notorious for its violent hooded gangs. According to news reports, the gangs are now wearing demon masks. But, one night, after the murder of his mother, Jamie discovers the terrifying truth.

Heartless

2010

The After poster
5.6

After losing a family member to a violent crime, a shattered rideshare driver picks up a passenger that forces him to confront his grief.

The After

2024

Little Dorrit poster
6.4

Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked.

Little Dorrit

1987

Don Quixote poster
6.3

Adapted from the work of Miguel de Cervantes, this is the story of a hidalgo, fanatic for chivalry novels, who loses his sanity and believing to be a knight named Don Quixote de La Mancha, decides to go on imaginary adventures along with his friend, the simple farmer Sancho Panza, who becomes his squire. On their journeys, they rescue dames in distress in honorable acts and fight giants among other perils, with Don longing to be with the love of his life, lady Dulcinea, and Sancho waiting to be rewarded with an island where he's about to become a governor.

Don Quixote

2000

Different for Girls poster
7.1

Paul and Kim meet when their vehicles collide. Paul is fascinated with the attractive Kim. It turns out that the two were childhood friends in Catholic boys' school, but back then, before the operation, Kim was named Karl.

Different for Girls

1996

Plain Jane poster
9.0

Drama set in 1911 about a love triangle concerning a father, his son and their maid, Jane.

Plain Jane

2002