Thanks in large part to the massive global hit series Game of Thrones, British actress Natalie Dormer has risen in popularity over the past decade. Before landing the iconic role of Margaery Tyrell in the sweeping HBO hit, Dormer cut her teeth on such acclaimed U.K. TV series as The Tudors, Silk, and The Fades. Since then, she’s appeared in Elementary, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Up next for Dormer is the new Showtime series, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which is set to air on April 26, 2020. With just a few days until the show premieres, let’s have a look at some of Dormer’s cinematic work. Here are Natalie Dormer’s 10 Best Movies, according to IMDb.
W.E. (2011) 6.3/10
How’d you like to be directed by the one and only Madonna in your fifth feature film? Such was the fortune of Dormer, who appeared among the star-studded cast of the romantic period-piece W.E.
The film tracks Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), a British socialite who wins an auction selling off the estate of the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Once Wally delves into the romantic past of the Duke and Duchess, she becomes obsessed with the subject matter, which allows her to pursue her own sense of happiness. Dormer plays a young Queen Elizabeth in the film.
The Scandalous Lady W (2015) 6.5/10
In the BBC television production of The Scandalous Lady W, Dormer took center stage in the lead role as Seymour Worsley, a trailblazing woman with the courage and gumption to wilfully leave her dissatisfying marriage.
Even bolder, when Worsley finally decides to leave her husband, she does so to be with his best friend, Captain George Bisset. The movie celebrates female empowerment in a time of repressive patriarchy, and the agency through which Seymour finds the strength to do right by her heart.
Casanova (2005) 6.5/10
If sharing scenes with the late great Heath Ledger in your very first film isn’t a charming beginning to your film career, what is? For Dormer, her first cinematic role came in the 2005 film Casanova!
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, Casanova recounts the charmed life of the rakish ladies man who woos every female under the sun in 18th-century Venice. When Casanova is told to marry or face exile from his homeland, he assumes several fake identities in order to continue his romantic dalliances.
The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 2 (2015) 6.5/10
In the final chapter of the sprawling Hunger Games saga, Dormer reprises her role as Cressida, a rebel filmmaker out to help Katniss capture Panem following an all-out war.
Cressida makes her final appearance in the series during the execution of President Snow (Donald Sutherland), which she films along with cameraman Pollux (Elden Henson). Of course, Katniss calls an audible and assassinates President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) instead, stirring a massive riot that eventually kills Snow.
The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 (2014) 6.6/10
In her downtime away from filming Game of Thrones, Dormer played a pivotal part in The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay, the epic two-part finale of the mega-blockbuster franchise.
As Cressida, Dormer plays a film director and resident of the Capitol. Along with her film crew Castor (Wes Chatham) and Pollux (Elden Henson), Cressida is dispatched to District 13 to tail Katniss during all of her harrowing missions. The objective? To capture as many “propos” (propaganda shots) as possible to help boost morale among the rebel battalion.
Flawless (2007) 6.8/10
In just the second feature film of her career, Dormer shared the screen with the likes of Sir Michael Caine and Demi Moore in the slick jewel-heist flick, Flawless.
Set in 1960 London, the plot concerns an elderly janitor named Mr. Hobbs (Caine) who works at the London Diamond Corporation. When Hobbs notices the disgruntled executive Laura Quinn (Moore), he approaches her with a daring scheme to steal millions of dollars worth of diamonds. Laura agrees, only to rue the decision once the simple plan grows complicated in a hurry. Dormer plays Cassie, a young reporter assigned to cover the crime.
City Of Life (2009) 6.9/10
Surely the most obscure movie of Dormer’s filmography to make her Top 10, according to IMDb, belongs to the multilingual, multi-narrative drama City of Life, directed by Muslim Londoner Ali F. Mostafa.
Set in Dubai, the film chronicles the lives of several different strangers in the city immediately following the financial collapse. Dormer plays Olga in the film, an immigrant struggling to get by. She costars alongside Jason Flemyng, Ahmed Ahmed, Alexandra Maria Lara, and several amateur Emirate actors.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 6.9/10
Dormer landed her first big-budget superhero gig via Captain America: The First Avenger, a role that she, unfortunately, did not reprise in any of the interrelated MCU sequels.
In the film, Dormer plays Private Lorraine, a fellow U.S. Army soldier who serves alongside Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), aka Captain America. Although her screen time is brief, Lorraine attempts to seduce Rogers by giving him a kiss and thanking him on behalf of every woman for being so gallant.
The Professor And The Madman (2019) 7.3/10
In the brutal battle of bushy beards between Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, Dormer gets caught in the middle when The Professor and the Madman square off to form the first comprehensive English dictionary.
The story chronicles the formation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), as two rivaling scholars compete to put their stamp on the book’s creation. American Professor James Murray (Gibson) and former U.S. Army medic Dr. William Chester Minor (Penn) each lend their own lasting contributions to the OED.
Rush (2013) 8.1/10
In what is arguably Ron Howard’s biggest box-office bomb in America, Dormer stars opposite Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl in the high-octane thrill-ride, Rush.
Set in the 1970s, the film traces the highly competitive relationship between Formula One race-car drivers James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Bruhl). Dormer plays Nurse Gemma in the film, an integral person in rehabilitating Lauda during a six-month hospital stay following a devastating car crash. Of course, Gemma turns right around and marries Hunt.