A prolific English actress with a marked flair for period drama, Helen McCrory accepted one of her first roles as a New Orleans prostitute in Neil Jordan's gothic horror opus Interview with the Vampire (1994); though this merely constituted a bit part, McCrory gradually ascended to higher billing in outings such as Witness Against Hitler (1995), The James Gang (1997), and Split Second (1999), before tackling the lead role of Anna Karenina in director David Blair's 2001 miniseries adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's seminal novel, and signed for another lead in the humorous made-for-television crime thriller Dead Gorgeous (2002), adapted from the novel On the Edge by Peter Lovesey. McCrory maintained a higher profile and netted more widespread global recognition as the title character's mother in Lasse Hallström's Casanova (2005) and as Cherie Blair, the wife of British prime minister Tony Blair, in the 2006 docudrama The Queen. McCrory then signed for a plum role as Narcissa Malfoy in the fantasy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2008).
Helen McCrory
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- Lived in Norway, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zanzibar and France while growing up.
- One of her first roles was as a New Orleans prostitute in Neil Jordan's Interview With the Vampire (1994).
- Founded the production company The Public with Michael Sheen.
- Best-known for playing Cherie Blair in the 2006 drama The Queen and for her award-winning role as Rose Fitzgerald in the British TV series North Square.
- Due to pregnancy, she was unable to take the role of Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and was replaced by Helena Bonham Carter; she was later cast as Bellatrix's sister Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).
- Awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's New Year Honours List in 2017.