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Natalie Dormer
Dormer at the Game of Thrones season 3 premiere in March 2013
Born	(1982-02-11) 11 February 1982 (age 42) Reading, Berkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present

Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors, Irene Adler in Elementary, and Margaery Tyrell in the HBO series Game of Thrones. She will also appear as Cressida in the science fiction adventure films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

Early life

Dormer was born in Reading, Berkshire. She attended Chiltern Edge Secondary School before moving to Reading Blue Coat School, an independent boys' school that admits girls in the sixth form. She grew up with her stepfather, mother, sister Samantha, and brother Mark. She has said that she was the victim of bullying while at school, but "still to this day can't place why". At school, Dormer was head girl, a first class student, vice-captain of the school netball team, and she also got to travel the world with her school's public speaking team.

During her school years, Dormer trained in dance at the Allenova School of Dancing. She describes herself as the "academic hopeful" of the family and hoped to be offered a place to study history at Cambridge; but, in her A-level History exam, she did not achieve the A grade she needed to attend. Dormer decided she would audition for drama schools and decided to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Career

Six months after graduating from Webber Douglas, Dormer won the role of Victoria in Casanova. This was her film debut and it was released in 2005. The director, Lasse Hallström, was so impressed with Dormer's comedic timing that he had the script writer expand her part. On the strength of her audition for the role and her performance, she secured a three-film deal with Touchstone Pictures, which was never exercised. In 2005, Dormer had a small part in Distant Shores. After the filming of Casanova, Dormer was out of work for nine months and has said that "it was the best lesson I could have had in the first 12 months of my career". In 2006, she guest starred as Phillippa Balfour in the Rebus episode "The Falls".

In 2007 and 2008, Dormer played Anne Boleyn in the first two seasons of The Tudors, for which she received highly positive reviews. Robert Abele of LA Weekly wrote: "Natalie Dormer presents a painterly exquisiteness and complexity in her portrayal of Anne Boleyn... her enigmatic, time-halting loveliness is a boon for The Tudors, and damn near worth losing your head over." After her character's death at the end of the second season, The Boston Herald noted: "Dormer gave Anne Boleyn life, making her not just a beautiful schemer but a rebellious, defiantly independent tragic hero in the tradition of Rebel Without a Cause and Cool Hand Luke... her departure from The Tudors leaves a tremendous void."

In 2008, Dormer played Moira Nicholson in Agatha Christie's Marple: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" and appeared in a number of films such as Fence Walker and City of Life. Dormer's Marple appearance aired in the US in the summer of 2009 as part of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery anthology series. Also in that year, she appeared in Incendiary, but her scenes were cut from the final film. In March 2010, she made her stage debut at the Young Vic theatre in London as Mizi in the play Sweet Nothings. In The Observer, theatre critic Susannah Clapp praised the performances of the cast and wrote: "Natalie Dormer is lissome as a dirty, delightful gadabout, pushing aside an entire chess game in order to put down her hat."

After six months of playing Mizi, Dormer went on to film some new roles, including the Duchess of York in Madonna's film W.E., Pvt. Lorraine in Captain America: The First Avenger, and Niamh Cranitch in the BBC court drama Silk. She then went on to her next stage role of Pat in .45 at Hampstead Theatre in November 2010. She returned to The Tudors as Anne Boleyn in a dream sequence for the fourth and final season in mid-2010. This was confirmed when the first promotional picture of the season showed Anne on the cover.

In June 2011, Dormer joined the cast of the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones as Margaery Tyrell of the noble House Tyrell. In March 2012, she returned to the Young Vic to play the title role in After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber. Her performance received critical acclaim, with reviews describing her as "little short of sensational", "outstanding", and "the perfect Miss Julie". The online theatre magazine Exeunt wrote that her portrayal of Miss Julie contained "all the anger, desire, wit, loneliness, merriment, melancholy and desperation of the casts of several plays together... Dormer has still more presence and eerie beauty than is apparent from her appearances on-screen, and she shape-shifts almost supernaturally between seductress, child, and tormentor." In March 2013, she played the Lady Door in the radio play of Neverwhere, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Later that year, she appeared in the car racing drama Rush and the thriller The Counselor. She will appear in A Long Way From Home. In April 2013, it was announced that Dormer would star in the final three episodes of the first season of the CBS series Elementary as Irene Adler; she also reprised the role in the second season. In August 2013, it was announced that Dormer was cast as Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2. In preparation for the role, she shaved the left side of her head.

In September, 2014, Deadline Hollywood announced Dormer has been cast in Screen Gems upcoming action thriller Patient Zero. The film is to be directed by Oscar-Winning filmmaker Stefan Ruzowitzky and based on a script by Mike Le.

In October, 2014, Dormer signed to star in the Lava Bear Films/David S. Goyer-produced film The Forest, to be directed by mutiple award-winning Jason Zada as his feature film debut. Focus Features picked up the North American distribution rights to the film.

Personal life

Dormer has been engaged to Irish director Anthony Byrne since 2011, whom she met in Dublin while filming The Tudors in 2007. Dormer has stated that Cate Blanchett has been an influence in her career as an actress.

Despite rumours that Dormer is related to historical lady-in-waiting Jane Dormer, who served Queen Mary I, they have no familial connection. On this subject, Dormer stated, "There was a woman, called Jane Dormer, in the Royal Court who happened to have the same family name as me, but I think that's as far as it goes."

Dormer took part in the 2008 PartyPoker.com Women's World Open in London, where she came in second to Emma Kennedy in the Celebrity Heat.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

References

1. "Carice van Houten heads back to Westeros, and new photos from Lokrum and Moneyglass". Watchers On The Wall. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
2. ^ Paton, Maureen. Boho Boleyn girl: Actress Natalie Dormer's dramatic entrance, Daily Mail, 7 November 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
3. ^ Gilbert, Gerard. Golden girl: How Natalie Dormer became the new queen of the screen, The Independent, 17 September 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013. Cite error: The named reference "golden" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. ^ Gilbert, Sophie. Natalie Dormer on playing England's naughtiest queens, London Evening Standard, 12 November 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
5. "Past Pupils". Allenova School of Dance. Retrieved 4 April 2009. and spent two years with Starmaker Theatre Company, both performing in a number of shows and being choreographer for a Starmaker review.
6. ^ Bamigboye, Baz. Casanova girl won me over, Daily Mail, 10 February 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
7. Abele, Robert. "The Tudors: Heads Will Roll". LA Weekly.
8. Perigard, Mark. "'Tudors' rules: Showtimes on a roll with killer season finale". Boston Herald. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
9. Clapp, Susannah (14 March 2010). "Sweet Nothings – Young Vic, London". The Observer.
10. Bill Nighy and Natalie Dormer Set to Star in Peter Straub's Shadowland 3D
11. Hibberd, James (23 June 2011). "'Tudors' star joins 'Game of Thrones' cast". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
12. Bosanquet, Theo. "Natalie Dormer returns to Young Vic in After Miss Julie". whatsonstage.com.
13. Cavendish, Dominic (22 March 2012). "After Miss Julie, Young Vic, review". The Daily Telegraph. London.
14. "After Miss Julie". Time Out London.
15. Stanbury, Kate. "After Miss Julie". Official London Theatre.
16. Perry, Sarah. "After Miss Julie at Young Vic". Exeunt Magazine.
17. "Natalie Dormer". Internet Movie Database.
18. Natalie Abrams (9 April 2013). "Elementary Exclusive: Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer to Play Irene Adler". TV Guide. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
19. Rosen, Christopher (22 August 2013). "Natalie Dormer Cast In 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' As Cressida". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
20. Farrar, Leah (13 May 2014). "Game of Thrones Natalie Dormer opens up about her shaved head in Hunger Games Mockinjay". Glamour Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
21. McNary, Dave (21 October 2014). "'Game of Thrones' Actress Natalie Dormer Joins Supernatural Thriller 'The Forest'". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
22. Fleming Jr, Mike (5 November 2013). "Lava Bear Sets Jason Zada To Helm David Goyer-Hatched 'The Forest': Video". Deadline.com. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
23. Kit, Borys (22 May 2014). "Focus Picks Up David Goyer Supernatural Thriller 'The Forest'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
24. McNary, Dave (23 May 2014). "David Goyer's 'The Forest' Gets North American Distribution". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
25. Sheridan, Emily (30 July 2013). "She's got some front: Game Of Thrones star Natalie Dormer takes the plunge in a low-cut dress at Hugo gallery party". The Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
26. "Tudors beauty: Nude scenes were harrowing". The Tudor News Site. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
27. "Natalie Dormer Keen To Get Away From Royal Corset Roles". Contact Music. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
28. "Partypoker.com Women's World Open II, Celebrity Heat: Hendon Mob Poker Database". pokerdb.thehendonmob.com. 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.

Further reading

• Armstrong, S (30 September 2007). "She won't lose her head". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 3 October 2007.

• Collins, S (1 April 2013). "Game of Thrones' Q&A: Natalie Dormer on Playing 'the Kate Middleton of Westeros". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved 16 April 2013.

External links

• Natalie Dormer at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from September 2013
• 1982 births
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from Berkshire
• Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
• English atheists
• English film actresses
• English poker players
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• Female poker players
• Living people
• People educated at Reading Blue Coat School
• People from Reading, Berkshire