Summary
Kathryn Hunteris an esteemed theater actor who has also managed an impressive movie and TV career in notable franchises, indie favorites, and critically acclaimed productions. Hunter’s career began on the stage in 1986, and it didn’t take long for audiences, directors, and critics to realize what a unique talent she was. As the first British woman to play King Lear professionally (viaThe Guardian), it’s clear that there’s something special about Hunter. She’s an incredibly bold and dignified actor with incredible range, which she’s brought to many notable movies and TV shows.
Hunter’s first on-screen performance came in 1990 in the TV movie,Anything for a Quiet Life. A few more movie and TV roles followed, but she truly started dedicating her time to the screen until around the mid-2000s, when she began popping up in more notable productions. Since then, Hunter has been a memorable part of everything she’s been in, from the Oscar-winningPoor Thingsto HBO’sRome. Her schedule only seems to get more packed as well, with upcoming roles inThe Front Room,Viscious, andBlack Doveup next.
Poor Things Cast & Character Guide
Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things successfully combines drama, comedy, and horror, and counts on the talents of a cast full of well-known names.
Megalopolis
Cast
Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a visionary 2024 film exploring the ambitious dream of reconstructing New York City into a utopia, following a devastating disaster. The narrative delves into the clash between the architect’s utopian vision and the political and personal turmoil that ensues. With a star-studded cast, the film examines themes of ambition, power, and the human spirit’s resilience against the backdrop of a futuristic metropolis.
Francis Ford Coppola waited decades to finally make hisscience fiction epicMegalopolis, and unfortunately, that time gestating did not produce the masterpiece some had hoped for. It is, however, epic in scale and in star power with Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, and more as part of the ensemble cast. The film is set in an imagined modern America where an architect, Cesar Catilina (Driver), clashes with the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Esposito) to fix “New Rome” after a disaster.
Kathryn Hunter plays Teresa Cicero, Mayor Franklin’s wife. Hunter has attached herself to some of the biggest working directors and Coppola may be more important than any of them.Her Shakespearean and theatrical training makes Hunter the perfect fit for a Coppola movieand to be a part ofMegalopolisis to be at the center of the cultural conversation in Hollywood.
The Pod Generation
The Pod Generation is a sci-fi/romantic comedy film that stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Rachel and Alvy, a couple on the road to parenthood in the near future that land a coveted spot at a futuristic maternity center. At this center, children are born outside the womb, something Alvy doesn’t like but Rachel wants. The film is a satire of modern society and the technological elements that permeate every part of it.
The Pod Generationis a science fiction romantic comedy set in the not-too-distant future where AI has become ubiquitous and global birth rates have rapidly dropped due to people being unwilling to sacrifice the time and health to carry a child to term. Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor) Novy are a couple who undergo an experimental pregnancy where the child is grown in an external womb,raising questions about natural design and parenthood.
Kathryn Hunter appears as a post office clerk. Her role is small, but she helps Rachel answer some puzzling questions about reality and the effect of technology on the natural order.The Pod Generationisa thought-provoking but somewhat slow-moving film that’s energized by actors like Hunter, who show up throughout the film for brief but memorable sequences.
8All Or Nothing (2002)
Cécile
All or Nothingis a small British drama from Mike Leigh that casts Kathryn Hunter in the suitably small role of Cécile. The film follows the lives of three families asthey deal with the milieu that comes from working-class life, all taking place over one evening. The cast features impressive performances from Lesley Manville and Sally Hawkins, as well as an excellent leading one from Timothy Spall. James Corden has a surprisingly heartbreaking role as the loner son of one of the families.
This is one of Hunter’s earliest film roles, and she plays an unpleasant passenger in Phil’s (Spall) cab, making for a pre-Harry Potterpairing for the two actors (Spall played Peter Pettigrew). It’s only a small role, butHunter knows just how to play the kind of customer whom a blue-collar cabbie simply does not want to dealwith as they end their night.
Flowers
Flowers is a British dark comedy series created by Will Sharpe, starring Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt. Set around the eccentric and dysfunctional Flowers family, the show explores themes of depression, creative struggles, and complex family dynamics, blending whimsical elements with deeper emotional undercurrents.
Flowersis a British black comedy-drama series that aired in 2016 on Channel 4 and lasted for two seasons. The show follows the titular Flowers family, consisting of depressed father Maurice (Julian Barratt), his music teacher wife Deborah (Olivia Colman), their 25-year-old twins, inventor Donald (Daniel Rigby) and musician Amy (Sophia Di Martino); and Maurice’s mother Hattie (Leila Hoffman). Also featured is Will SharpeofThe White Lotusseason 2 fame, as Shun.
Kathryn Hunter appears as the recurring character Wendy in season 2, specifically in episodes 1, 3, and 4, where she makes friends with Amy. It’s not a large part but tonally,Flowersis what Hunter is best at. It’s tragic, off-kilter, and very funny.Everyone plays their sad and odd roles with dignity, just as Hunter so often does in her performances,including this one as Wendy.
6Les Misérables (2018-2019)
Madame Victurnien (1 Episode, 2019)
There have been many adaptations of Victor Hugo’s epic novelLes Misérables, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The 2018-2019 BBC miniseries adaptation boasts an impressive cast including Dominic West as Jean Valjean, David Oyelowo as Javert, Lily Collins as Fantine Thibault, and Olivia Colman as Madame Rosalie Thénardier. It also features Kathryn Hunter as Madame Victurnien in episode 2.
Madame Victurnien is the widow of a former Bernadine Cistercian monk. to survive, she bequeathed her property to the church and ingratiated herself with the bishops. In this version, Victurnien is present when Fantine is fired, as she directly reports to Mayor Madeleine about Fantine’s secret child.Hunter is excellent as a judgemental gossip type, and she plays the character with very little sympathy, making her easy to despise in this engrossing and acclaimed series.
Rome
Rome is a historical drama television series that aired from 2005 to 2007. The show is set in the 1st century BC and follows the lives of two Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, as they navigate the complexities of ancient Roman politics and warfare.
As one ofthe most expensive TV shows ever made, it was always a possibility that HBO’sRomewould be canceled before it finished, no matter how great it was. It’s just too bad because the historical epic that follows two Roman legionnaires, Lucius (Kevin McKidd) and Titus (Ray Stevenson), through Julius Caesar’s civil war is an incredibly acted and well-told story. Kathryn Hunter appears in season 1, episode 8, as Charmian, Cleopatra’s (Lyndsey Marshal) dedicated, albeit enslaved, advisor.
Charmian is a real historical figure, according to Plutarch, though spelled “Charmion”. She appears in William Shakespeare’sAntony and Cleopatra, now spelled, “Charmian” as it is inRome.
Charmian’s first appearance is a memorable one, as she gives Titus step-by-step instructions on how to have sexual relations with Cleopatra.It’s a part that requires a fearless actor with a wizened and intelligent look, and Hunter understood the assignment. She is both sympathetic in her preening obedience to Cleopatra and formidable in her ability to make the young queen and others respect her authority.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix follows Harry’s return to Hogwarts for his fifth year, where he finds himself disbelieved about Lord Voldemort’s return. As a result, Harry takes initiative, forming a group of students to master defense against dark forces, facing opposition from the Ministry of Magic.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixis the longest of theHarry Potterbooksand yet it’s the shortest movie adaptation ifDeathly Hallows Part 1 & 2are taken as one adaptation for the final book. Despite so much being excised from the story, director David Yates was wise enough to keep Arabella Figg (Kathryn Hunter) in his film. Arabella Figg has been featured in previous books as Harry’s dotty but ultimately kind neighbor, and in the fifth movie, it’s revealed she’s a Squib, someone born into a magical family with no powers.
Later, when she appears at the Wizengamot, Hunter’s ability to shrink down in her chair is another feat of physical acting.
Hunter has the perfect look and physical acting to match the character in the book.She pops right off the pages and immediately shows that she belongs inHarry Potter’s world. The audience is quick to trust her as well, with Hunter appropriately conveying a frightened but determined woman who has just seen Dementors attack a Muggle. Later, when she appears at the Wizengamot, Hunter’s ability to shrink down in her chair is another feat of physical acting.
Poor Things
Poor Things is a sci-fi romance film from The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos. The story focuses on the bizarre and fantastical world of Bella Baxter after a scientist named Dr. Godwin Baxter brings her back to life. The film is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos' eighth feature-length movieis the Academy Award-winningPoor Things, starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. In the film, a young woman, Bella Baxter (Stone), is brought back to life by a brain transplant and now must relearn everything that makes someone a human. One of the studies that she takes to very quickly is intercourse, which brings her to a brothel run by Madame Swiney (Kathryn Hunter).
Hunter is sinister, daffy, and still charming as she talks plainly to Bella, revealing her own grim views of the world.
Swiney is a wise and blunt philosophical teacher to Bella, taking her in and explaining how one needs to experience the horrors of the world alongside its pleasures, a difficult lesson for Bella, who began her life only concerned with the latter.Hunter is sinister, daffy, and still charmingas she talks plainly to Bella, revealing her own grim views of the world. She’s also covered in a mural of tattoos that each have meaning. Her makeup designer, Nadia Stacey, won the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar forPoor Things.
Andor
Andor is a Star Wars prequel series set before the events of Rogue One, following Cassian Andor as he navigates a world of danger and deception. The series delves into his transformation into a pivotal figure in the struggle against the Galactic Empire.
Andoris arguablythe best piece ofStar Warsmediato come out sinceThe Return of the Jediin 1983. The 2022 12-episode series follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in the lead-up to the events ofRogue OneandA New Hope. It shows the formation of the Rebel Alliance and is as much a political spy thriller as it is a space opera. Kathryn Hunter plays the recurring character Eedy Karn, Syril Karn’s (Kyle Soller) mother. Eedy is an extremely judgemental, mocking, and even cruel figure who greets her son with a slap when he returns.
Like everyone inAndor, however, she is not so one-dimensional. Despite her treatment of her son, Hunter plays Eedy like a wounded and thwarted older woman. She climbed her way up from poverty in Coruscant as a single mother and protected her son along the way. Through that protection and striving, she developed a toxic relationship with Syril, but she still loves him.She’s one of the most interesting characters inAndorand Hunter plays her with such nuance and venomthat some viewers may find hits too close to home.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a cinematic adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic play, following Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, who is driven by prophecy and ambition. Influenced by his wife, he murders King Duncan to seize the throne of Scotland, setting off a chain of power struggles and guilt.
The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Joel Coen, is an adaptation of Shakespeare’sMacbeth, with Denzel Washington as the titular king, Francis McDormand as Lady Macbeth, Corey Hawkins as Macduff, Harry Melling as Malcolm, and Kathryn Hunter as the Witches in a mesmerizing performance. The three witches who open Shakespeare’s play are some of the most famous characters in English literature, adapted countless times, and Hunter brings something new to her portrayal.
This is the first feature film to only be directed by one of the Coen brothers, with Ethan not involved in production in any way.
Just as the play does,The Tragedy of Macbethopens with the Witches, or in this case Witch, in stark black-and-white, contorting her body as she says the Bard’s famous lines. The wrinkles in Hunter’s face, the control she has over her limbs as she flails them about, andher hypnotizing delivery of the Witches' words combine for a breathtaking opening sequence. It’s a scene that should have convinced many to go seeKathryn Hunterlive on the stage with just how raw and real it feels.
