Samantha Morton

Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress. Morton has won a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award; also, she has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a British Academy Film Award. A native of Nottingham, Morton joined the Central Junior Television Workshop, and soon began her career in British television in 1991. She guest-starred in Soldier Soldier and Cracker and appeared from 1995 to 1996 in the ITV series Band of Gold. She made the transition to film with lead roles in the dramas Emma (1996), Jane Eyre (1997) and the well-received Under the Skin (1997).The latter made director Woody Allen cast Morton in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), which earned her nominations for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Established as a prominent force on the independent film scene by the early 2000s, Morton starred in Morvern Callar (2002), which garnered her the BIFA Award for Best Actress, and for her performance in In America (2003), she received her second Academy Award nomination, this time in the Best Actress category. Her role in the sci-fi thriller Minority Report (2002), a big commercial success, was followed by the biographical portrayals of Myra Hindley in Longford (2006), Deborah Curtis in Control (2007), and Mary, Queen of Scots in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). For her role in Longford, Morton earned the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Morton made her directorial debut with the television film The Unloved (2009), winning the BAFTA Television Award for Best Single Drama. Subsequent acting credits include the films The Messenger (2009), John Carter (2012), Decoding Annie Parker (2013), and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016). By the late 2010s, she often ventured into television, starring in the series The Last Panthers (2015), Rillington Place (2016), Harlots (2017–present), and The Walking Dead (2019–present).