Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actor who made her movie debut at 19 years previous enjoying pupil Diane Coulston in Danny Boyle’s 1996 comedy-drama Trainspotting. Since then, she has starred in dozens of films and tv reveals. In 2006, Macdonald received a Primetime Emmy Award for Excellent Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Film after delivering an outstanding efficiency within the romantic drama The Lady within the Café. She went on to voice Princess Merida within the 2012 Disney Pixar animated film Courageous.
Macdonald has achieved loads of genre-hopping, and her resume is peppered with some wonderful crime dramas in theaters and on the small display. She’s labored with some iconic administrators too, together with Robert Altman, Joel and Ethan Coen, Joe Wright, and Martin Scorsese. There is a quiet seriousness to her countenance that makes her compelling to look at, notably within the crime drama style.
Listed below are Kelly Macdonald’s finest entries within the crime drama style up to now.
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‘The Merry Gentleman’ (2008)
Actor Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice) makes his directorial debut with The Merry Gentleman, a neo-noir a couple of lady named Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) who leaves an abusive relationship and begins a brand new life in Chicago. One evening, she stops Frank Logan (Keaton) from leaping off a constructing. What she does not know is that Frank is an expert killer. The 2 develop a friendship that has the potential to show into one thing extra.
Reward from Roger Ebert
Opinions for The Merry Gentleman had been blended upon launch, however Macdonald’s efficiency was universally praised. She was even nominated for Finest Actress on the Night Normal British Movie Awards for her efficiency. In his evaluate of the movie, Robert Ebert calls Macdonald “a gifted” actor, and most opinions comment on her expertise at bringing life to a troublesome function.
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‘Giri/Haji’ (2019)

Giri/Haji
- Launch Date
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2019 – 2018
- Community
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BBC Two
- Administrators
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Julian Farino, Ben Chessell
Joe Barton, creator of Black Doves, is behind this British crime collection. The title means Responsibility/Disgrace in English. Takehiro Hira (Shōgun) stars as Tokyo detective Kenzo Mori, who travels to London in search of his lacking brother Yuto (Yōsuke Kubozuka). Alongside the way in which, he comes throughout Detective Constable Sarah Weitzmann (Macdonald) and charismatic intercourse employee Rodney Yamaguchi (Will Sharpe). Macdonald’s character is an outsider in Giri/Haji. Having uncovered inside corruption with the Metropolitan Police, Sarah Weitzmann is instructing a criminology course when she meets Mori.
An Efficient Sluggish Burn
Macdonald, together with the remainder of the forged, has acquired loads of reward from critics, and the writing pays off episode to episode. “Giri/Haji explores the ripple results of our actions,” writes Allison Keene for Paste, “weaving what look like disparate tales right into a single narrative with an astonishing variety of very natural however nonetheless very shocking twists.” Regardless of wonderful opinions, a 100% ranking from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a BAFTA win for Sharpe, Giri/Haji was not renewed for a second season.
5
‘The Sufferer’ (2019)

The Sufferer
- Launch Date
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2019 – 2018
- Community
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BBC One
- Administrators
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Niall MacCormick
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-
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John Scougall
Tom Carpenter
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Joanne Thompson
DS Lisa Harvey
Kelly Macdonald stars as grieving mom Anna Dean, who goes on trial after she publicly releases the brand new identify and tackle of the person she believes murdered her son 14 years in the past. The forged is rounded out by James Harkness (Spencer), who performs Craig Myers, the person Anna accuses, and John Hannah (The Mummy) as DI Stephen Grover. The Sufferer was nominated for Finest Miniseries on the BAFTA Awards, and Macdonald received Finest Actress on the BAFTA Scotland Awards for enjoying Anna Dean.
Riveting and Sophisticated
The writing right here could be very nicely achieved, and Macdonald’s mastery of it makes this present one which viewers will not wish to miss. “Macdonald offers an affectingly intricate efficiency as Anna,” Tim Goodman notes for The Hollywood Reporter, “targeted and collectively on the surface however clearly consumed by grief all these years later.” It is no marvel Macdonald received an award for this function.

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‘Line of Responsibility’ (2021)

Line of Responsibility
- Launch Date
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2012 – 2020
- Administrators
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David Caffrey, Douglas Mackinnon, Daniel Nettheim, Michael Keillor, John Strickland, Jed Mercurio, Sue Tully, Gareth Bryn, Jennie Darnell
- Writers
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Jed Mercurio
Line of Responsibility is a British police procedural that was created by Jed Mercurio (Bodyguard), specializing in the work of an anti-corruption unit inside the police division that’s supposed to carry corrupt cops answerable for their actions. The present ran for six seasons, and Macdonald joined the forged in a number one function for that closing season in 2021.
Underneath Investigation
Macdonald performs DCI Joanne Davidson, who’s being investigated for corruption by Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) and DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston). Macdonald was nominated for Finest Actress and the Viewers Award on the BAFTA Scotland Awards. She additionally earned a Finest Actress nomination on the Satellite tv for pc Awards.
3
‘Dept. Q’ (2025)

Dept. Q
- Launch Date
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Could 29, 2025
- Community
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Netflix
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Chloe Pirrie
Merritt Lingard
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Alexej Manvelov
Akram Salim
As Netflix’s newest bingeworthy thriller, Dept. Q has an outstanding forged. Primarily based on the novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, the collection follows Detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) as he returns to work following a taking pictures that just about killed him. Now, he’s tasked with main a brand new chilly case unit. His first case? Discovering out what occurred to prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), who has been lacking for 4 years.
Towing a Troublesome Line
Retaining Morck grounded is the therapist he’s required to see after the taking pictures, Dr. Rachel Irving (Macdonald). Taking part in the psychological evaluator in against the law drama isn’t any simple process, and Macdonald approaches the function with a down-to-earth candor that pairs nicely with Morck’s overt cynicism. At the moment, Dept. Q has but to be renewed for a second season, although it’s nonetheless an actual chance — particularly on condition that Adler-Olsen has written ten books on this collection.
2
‘No Nation for Outdated Males’ (2007)
Primarily based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Nation For Outdated Males is a neo-Western thriller directed and tailored by critically acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (O Brother, The place Artwork Thou?). Josh Brolin (Dune) stars as Llewelyn Moss, a person of modest means who comes throughout a number of useless our bodies and a briefcase full of cash whereas searching within the desert. When he decides to take the cash, he units off a collection of occasions that brings contract killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) to his door.
A Flawless West-Texas Accent
Macdonald offers a transferring efficiency as Llewelyn’s spouse, Carla Jean Moss. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards and received 4, together with Finest Movement Image of the 12 months. Macdonald scored a BAFTA nomination for Finest Supporting Actress. In keeping with Macdonald, she hadn’t initially been on anybody’s radar for the function, however her agent obtained her a gathering with the casting director, and her audition landed her the half.
1
‘Boardwalk Empire’ (2010 – 2014)

Boardwalk Empire
- Launch Date
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2010 – 2014-00-00
- Administrators
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Timothy Van Patten, Allen Coulter
Boardwalk Empire had loads of status behind it when it premiered on HBO in 2010. Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Road) directed the pilot. Created by Terence Winter (The Sopranos) and primarily based on the non-fiction guide by Nelson Johnson, the collection is ready in prohibition-era Atlantic Metropolis because the tides of corruption are shifting into full-fledged gangster wars. Steve Buscemi (Psycho Remedy) leads the forged as treasurer-turned-gangster Enoch “Nucky” Thompson.
Underrated and Underestimated
Margaret Schroeder (Macdonald) is launched within the pilot as a mom of two, pregnant along with her third youngster, and beholden to an abusive husband. Margaret’s evolution throughout the collection might be one of the crucial attention-grabbing. She begins as somebody who appears to require saving, however proves herself to be pragmatic and able to navigating something, together with an advanced dynamic with Nucky. Boardwalk Empire earned over 50 Primetime Emmy Award nominations throughout its run, and in 2011, Macdonald acquired an Excellent Supporting Actress in a Drama Sequence nomination.