Lydia Leonard

Acting

Lydia Leonard

Born 1981-12-05 · Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1980) is a British actress. She was born in Paris to an Irish mother, a teacher, and Anglo-French father, a financial accountant; she lived in France until the age of five. Originally, Leonard wanted to be a barrister, which she considers to be a profession very similar to acting onstage. Her first acting role was in Nativity spectacle in school, where she played King Herod. Leonard went from Bedales School to graduate from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2003, and then won a BBC Radio Drama Carleton Hobbs bursary. Her radio credits include playing Lady Mabel in a twelve-part adaptation of Anthony Trollope's series of political novels, and Goodwill in The Pilgrim's Progress. On television she had an ongoing role in 50s-set detective series Jericho starring Robert Lindsay, and appeared in True True Lie (2006) and The Long Walk to Finchley (2008), along with a cameo in Rome (2006, The Stolen Eagle), and as a nurse in the BBC's Casualty 1909. Leonard appeared on stage as Polyxena in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hecuba starring Vanessa Redgrave and alongside Francesca Annis in the National Theatre's production of Time and the Conways. In 2005 Leonard appeared as Caroline Cushing in the original Donmar Theatre and West End productions of Frost/Nixon. In 2008 Leonard played a major role in the BBC re-make of The 39 Steps. Part of the Christmas scheduling, its first showing was the most watched program on BBC One on that day. Leonard starred as Cynthia in Joanna Hogg's 2010 feature film Archipelago. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lydia Leonard, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Pretty Lethal poster
6.8

A troupe of ballerinas find themselves fighting for survival as they attempt to escape from a remote inn after their bus breaks down on the way to a dance competition.

Pretty Lethal

2026

Last Christmas poster
7.2

Kate is a young woman who has a habit of making bad decisions, and her last date with disaster occurs after she accepts work as Santa's elf for a department store. However, after she meets Tom there, her life takes a new turn.

Last Christmas

2019

The Fifth Estate poster
6.0

A look at the relationship between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his early supporter and eventual colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and how the website's growth and influence led to an irreparable rift between the two friends.

The Fifth Estate

2013

Northern Comfort poster
5.4

A special forces veteran, an uptight property developer, an influencer with half a million followers and an incompetent instructor are thrown together on a high-end fear of flying course. The course's final challenge is an experience flight from London to Iceland, which ends up being a horrendous ordeal. Lost in Iceland, freezing and terrified, they must find a way of facing their fears and working together to spread their wings... and fly.

Northern Comfort

2023

Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon poster
4.1

Travis and his team travel to China in search of what isn't supposed to exist ... their mission to capture a Cryptid which is wreaking havoc in a remote village and they need to do this before it is killed by Harker, the legendary bounty hunter.

Legendary: Tomb of the Dragon

2013

No artwork available
NR

A playful exploration on the themes of love, virginity, and sex through intimately irreverent scenes, where four women explore the constructs that have helped shape their sexual confidence, and their love for fucking.

All These Men That I've Done

2021

The 39 Steps poster
6.5

Richard Hannay, a mining engineer on holiday from the African colonies, finds London socialite life terribly dull. Yet it's more than he bargained for when a secret agent bursts into his room and entrusts him with a coded notebook, concerning the impending start of World War I. In no time both German agents and the British law are chasing him, ruthlessly coveting the Roman numerals code, which Hannay believes he must personally crack.

The 39 Steps

2008

Born of War poster
3.9

After her parents are brutally murdered in a home invasion, college student Mina learns that her real father is a ruthless warlord who now wants her back. In retaliation, she works alongside British intelligence in order to take him down.

Born of War

2013

Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley poster
6.7

A light hearted look at future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's rise from research chemist in 1949 to becoming MP for Finchley in 1959, encompassing her early relationship and marriage to oil millionaire Denis Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley

2008

Archipelago poster
5.7

Deep fractures within a family dynamic begin to surface during a getaway to the Isles of Scilly.

Archipelago

2011

True True Lie poster
4.5

After 12 years in an asylum, as she is reunited with friends and family, Dana begins to realize the events that led to her stay there may not have been imaginary.

True True Lie

2006

No artwork available
NR

Playground politics soon boil over when Paul and Kate excitedly arrive for dinner at the home of a cool couple from their kids’ school, only to discover an interloping third couple already in attendance.

Playdate

2013

The Prevailing Winds poster
NR

A lone hiker searches for her sister across moorland, despite an invisible and deadly threat in the air.

The Prevailing Winds

2016

Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall poster
7.5

One of the world’s greatest living writers - Hilary Mantel - delves into her past and present, intertwining the themes of the Wolf Hall trilogy with stories from her own life.

Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall

2020