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Monica Dolan
English actress (born 1969) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress.[1] She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011) and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for All About Eve in 2019.[2][3]
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Early life and education
Dolan was born in Middlesbrough, England, to Irish parents, and raised in Woking, Surrey, with three older siblings.[4] She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[5]
Career
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Her credits include Agatha Christie's Poirot, Dalziel and Pascoe, Tipping the Velvet (with Rachael Stirling) and Judge John Deed. She also starred in ITV drama U Be Dead.[6][7][8][9] In 2006, she played the future Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the television drama Wallis and Edward.
Her stage appearances include Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer,[10] Regan in King Lear[11] and Masha in The Seagull,[12] the latter two with Ian McKellen.[13]
Dolan played British serial killer Rosemary West in the ITV drama Appropriate Adult in 2011, receiving critical acclaim and a BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress.[14][15]
On stage, she starred as Loretta in Chalet Lines, written by Lee Mattinson, at the Bush Theatre.[16] In 2013, she portrayed twin sisters Meg and Mave Carter in the BBC TV series Call the Midwife. She appeared in W1A (a three-series follow-up to BBC2's BAFTA-winning comedy series Twenty Twelve), as Senior Communications Officer Tracey Pritchard.[17]
In 2016, Dolan appeared as Janet McIntyre in the BBC two-part drama The Witness for the Prosecution, an Agatha Christie play adapted for television by Sarah Phelps.[18]
In 2017, she made guest appearances in Catastrophe, Death in Paradise and Strike, whilst also writing and starring in her debut one-woman play, The B*easts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play went on to win an Edinburgh Stage Award.[19][20]
In 2018, Dolan made a guest appearance in an episode of the fourth series of Inside No 9. Later that year, she portrayed Marion Thorpe in the critically acclaimed miniseries A Very English Scandal, receiving her second BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[21][22] The B*easts also transferred for a limited London run at the Bush Theatre.[23]
In 2019, she portrayed Karen Richards in the stage production of All About Eve for which she received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress.[24]
June 2020 saw her appearing in the remade television series of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads on BBC One. In one of two newly-written episodes, Dolan performed a monologue in "The Shrine". This was one of the episodes staged at London's Bridge Theatre in September 2020, with Dolan reprising her role.[25]
In 2021, she appeared in The Dig, playing May Brown, wife of the archaeologist and astronomer Basil Brown, who discovered the Anglo-Saxon treasure at Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, Suffolk.[26]
In 2022, Dolan starred as Sister Aloysius in Doubt: A Parable at the Chichester Festival Theatre, receiving critical acclaim.[27] She also appeared alongside Eddie Marsan in the ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe as Anne Darwin.[28][29] She has appeared in two episodes of Black Mirror: "Smithereens", from Series 5, and, more recently, "Loch Henry", from Series 6.[30]
In 2023, she played Carmel in six-part Channel 4 comedy drama The Change. She also starred in Typist Artist Pirate King, directed by Carol Morley, as British artist Audrey Amiss. The film had its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in March, and was released in October 2023, to positive reviews.[31]
In January 2024, she played the role of subpostmistress Jo Hamilton in Mr Bates vs The Post Office, an acclaimed four-part ITV drama based on the true story of the Horizon IT scandal, which saw numerous innocent subpostmasters prosecuted for fraud. The series ignited considerable public and media interest and was watched by an estimated 13.5 million viewers.[32][33][34] In August 2024, she appeared as Ann Branson, the mother of a murdered son, in the second series of the BBC TV drama Sherwood.
In March 2025, Dolan was nominated for both performances at the British Academy Television Awards, in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively.[35][36] She also received a nomination for Leading Actor - Female at the Royal Television Society Awards for Mr Bates vs The Post Office.[37] In August 2025, it was announced that Dolan would be joining the cast of award-winning BBC sitcom Smoggie Queens.[38]
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Personal life
Dolan was raised Catholic and has spoken about its lasting influence on her outlook. In a 2020 interview, she remarked, “You never stop being a Catholic really – not culturally. It goes deep.”[39]
Acting credits
Film
Television
Theatre
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Awards and nominations
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References
External links
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