Lorraine Ashbourne

Acting

Lorraine Ashbourne

Born 1961-01-07 · Manchester, England, UK

Lorraine Ashbourne (born 1961 in Manchester) is an English stage, film and television actress. She attended Wilbraham High School, when living in Fallowfield. She joined Stretford Children's Theatre. She took part in the University of Manchester Stage Society and Manchester Youth Theatre. She joined the Webber Drama School on 19 April 1982. Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: Playing the Field (1998), Unforgotten (2017), Grantchester (2017), Maigret in Montmartre (2017), Midsomer Murders (2018), The Street, and Jericho. As a stage actor, Lorraine regularly appeared at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, portraying roles such as Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Emilia in Othello, acting in both of these alongside her husband Andy Serkis. In 2019, she starred as Barbara Castle in The Crown (2019), and from 2020, she starred as Mrs. Varley in Bridgerton. She played Joan Nuthall in Alma's Not Normal (2020), and was Daphne Sparrow in Sherwood (2022). She played Karen in I Hate Suzie (2024), and appeared in After the Flood (2024)

Acting credits

King Kong poster
6.9

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

King Kong

2005

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim poster
6.5

A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and traitorous lord of Rohan seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

2024

Child 44 poster
6.3

Set in Stalin-era Soviet Union, a disgraced MGB agent is dispatched to investigate a series of child murders -- a case that begins to connect with the very top of party leadership.

Child 44

2015

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

Breathe poster
7.4

Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.

Breathe

2017

Hitpig! poster
6.7

A porcine bounty hunter accepts his next hit: Pickles, a naive, ebullient elephant. Though he initially sets out to capture the perky pachyderm, the unlikely pair find themselves crisscrossing the globe on an adventure that brings out the best in both of them.

Hitpig!

2024

Blinded by the Light poster
6.9

In 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family, and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Blinded by the Light

2019

Fever Pitch poster
6.5

A romantic comedy about a man, a woman and a football team. Based on Nick Hornby's best selling autobiographical novel, Fever Pitch. English teacher Paul Ashworth believes his long standing obsession with Arsenal serves him well. But then he meets Sarah. Their relationship develops in tandem with Arsenal's roller coaster fortunes in the football league, both leading to a nail biting climax.

Fever Pitch

1997

A Christmas Carol poster
7.5

The radical new take on Dickens’ classic seeks both to exhume the original story’s gritty commentary on social inequality and the corrupting influence of greed, and to breathe new life into the lyricism of the original text by setting its scenes to extraordinary tableaux of modern dance.

A Christmas Carol

2020

Jack & Sarah poster
6.8

Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. When he comes around he discovers he is the proud father of a baby girl, but deficient in the spouse department to the tune of 1.

Jack & Sarah

1995

I Used to Be Famous poster
6.9

A former boy band star unexpectedly gets a second shot at success when he forms a bond with a gifted young drummer.

I Used to Be Famous

2022

Housewife, 49 poster
6.0

Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops - provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.

Housewife, 49

2006

The Selfish Giant poster
7.2

A hyperactive boy and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.

The Selfish Giant

2013

Allelujah poster
5.2

When news of the closure of a small hospital's geriatric ward begins to reach the community, the hospital invites a local news crew to document their planning of a concert in honor of the hospital's most celebrated nurse. But there might be something more threatening to the hospital itself, more deadly than the politicians ready to shut down the place at a moment's notice.

Allelujah

2023

I Hate Suzie Too poster
NR

I Hate Suzie Too, the three-part anti-Christmas special, written by Lucy Prebble (Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Effect, Succession) and Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Yerma, Rare Beasts), follows former child star Suzie Pickles, also played by Piper, as she attempts to rebuild her public image after losing her marriage, her agent and primary custody of her son in the wake of the photo-hacking scandal. Desperate for redemption, Suzie signs on to the chaotic reality dance competition Dance Crazee Xmas, where every performance becomes another battle for public approval.

I Hate Suzie Too

2022

Adult Life Skills poster
6.2

Anna is stuck: she’s approaching 30 and has just moved back to her rural home-town, and into a shed in her mother’s backyard. She spends her time working a menial job at a local boating center and hides in the depths of her imagination, making movies with her thumbs. Irritated by her childish behavior, Anna's mother insists that she move out of her shed and on with her life. When a troubled young boy starts hanging around, the two form an unlikely bond. Through their strange yet mutually beneficial friendship, Anna slowly begins to confront her perpetual state of arrested development.

Adult Life Skills

2016

No Masks poster
NR

No Masks from Theatre Royal Stratford East and Moonshine Features present a new work based on the real-life experiences and testimonies of key workers from East London.

No Masks

2020

Resurrected poster
6.4

A Falklands War soldier missing, believed dead, turns up claiming amnesia.

Resurrected

1989

Oranges and Sunshine poster
6.9

The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

Oranges and Sunshine

2010

Distant Voices, Still Lives poster
6.9

Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

1988

Twenty poster
NR

Twenty follows Emily, a homeless ballet dancer undertaking a potentially life-changing audition. In the audition room, identified by the auditioners as the girl wearing the number twenty, Emily is graceful and poised. Still, in the real world, she struggles to find somewhere to sleep, let alone focus on her artistry.

Twenty

The Martins poster
5.3

Out of work, scrounger Robert Martin lives with his dysfunctional family - long suffering wife accident prone son and pregnant teenage daughter in a shabby house next door to a giant shopping center in the London suburbs. The Martins are the family from hell! Robert dreams if winning a dream holiday for his family, and when he fails to win yet another competition he flips, out tracks down the elderly winners, ties them up in the cellar and steals their tickets!

The Martins

2001

The Queen and I poster
6.3

A new republican prime minister strips the British monarch and her family of their money and assets, and forces them to live on a rundown council estate.

The Queen and I

2018

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas poster
4.0

This is the time of year when friends and family gather round the television to exchange the traditional greeting -“Don’t bother, there’s nothing on”. Well this Christmas join Victoria Wood for her ‘Mid Life Christmas’ featuring highlights from the Mid Life Olympics 2009, with the most unlikely sporting events and a dance number that brings together the killer combo of midriff bulge. Victoria then dons a bonnet and corset, for the popular costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford, and revel in the further adventures of soap star Bo Beaumont played by long term collaborator Julie Walters. DVD extras include the searing in-depth documentary (!) ‘What larks!’

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas

2009