Lesley Sharp Movies and TV Shows: Full Filmography

Some actors spend decades building toward a signature role. Lesley Sharp built signature roles and kept moving. Best known for holding her own in Mike Leigh’s stark The Full Monty in 1997 and later anchoring the gritty detective series Scott & Bailey, Sharp has spent four decades quietly accumulating credits that casting directors mention in reverent tones. Whether you’ve spotted her in period dramas, horror anthology episodes, or the occasional glossy Hollywood-adjacent film, her presence tends to linger.

Born: 3 April 1960, Manchester, England ·
Spouse: Nicholas Gleaves ·
Breakthrough Film: The Full Monty (1997) ·
Notable TV Series: Scott & Bailey ·
Recent Role: Red Eye (2024)

The table below consolidates the key biographical data that appears across multiple authoritative sources.

What is Lesley Sharp famous for?

Lesley Sharp has built a career on parts that demand emotional precision—roles in which a raised eyebrow or a pregnant pause does more work than a monologue. Her filmography spans four decades and roughly 50 credits, but two projects define how most audiences first encounter her work.

Early career

Sharp’s first major film appearance came in Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987), a working-class British drama that put her on the map alongside future collaborators. By the early 1990s, she was working with Mike Leigh again in Naked (1993), a role that showcased her ability to hold tension under psychological pressure. She followed this with Priest (1994) and the TV adaptation of The Moonstone (1996), where she played Rosanna Spearman.

Iconic breakthrough roles

The role that cemented her place in British cinema was Jean in The Full Monty (1997). The film became a global hit, winning the BAFTA for Best Film and earning Sharp widespread recognition alongside the ensemble cast (Rotten Tomatoes). She reprised the character for the 2023 television continuation, which aired on Disney+ in the UK and streaming platforms in the US.

On the small screen, her longest-running lead came with Scott & Bailey (2011–2016), where she played Detective Constable Janet Scott across 33 episodes. The series ran for five seasons and established her as one of British television’s most reliable dramatic leads (Wikipedia).

The implication: Sharp’s breakout roles share a thread—women navigating systems or relationships that are quietly falling apart. Whether it’s a factory worker, a detective, or a Victorian-era domestic servant, her characters tend to carry secrets, grief, or hard-won wisdom.

What TV series has Lesley Sharp been in?

Sharp’s television work spans the breadth of British drama, from social realist series to period pieces and horror. Her TV credits number well over 30 appearances across four decades.

Clocking Off

One of her most acclaimed early TV roles came in Clocking Off (2000–2001), an anthology series that gave each episode focus to a different character in a Manchester textile factory. Sharp played Trudy Graham in 11 episodes, a performance that earned particular praise for its emotional complexity (Wikipedia).

Playing the Field

Before Clocking Off wrapped, Sharp was already committed to another long-form TV project. Playing the Field (1998–2000) cast her as Theresa Mullen in 20 episodes, a role that showcased her ability to anchor an ensemble cast across multiple seasons (Wikipedia). The series, which followed a women’s football team in a northern English town, built a devoted audience partly on Sharp’s grounding presence.

Scott & Bailey

The role that most defined Sharp’s television career was Scott & Bailey. She starred as DC Janet Scott alongside Suranne Jones’s DC Rachel Bailey from 2011 to 2016, with the partnership becoming one of British crime drama’s most memorable double acts. The show ran for five series and 33 episodes, with Sharp’s character evolving from ambitious detective to senior officer navigating institutional pressures (Wikipedia).

The pattern: Sharp gravitates toward stories about women in professional environments under strain—whether factory floors, police stations, or domestic spaces. Her TV career reads like a sustained study of working-class British womanhood across different eras.

What has Lesley Sharp been in recently?

Sharp has remained notably active in the 2020s, with her recent work spanning streaming platforms, traditional broadcast, and upcoming film projects.

Bergerac

Reports indicate Sharp has been cast in the revival of Bergerac, the classic ITV crime drama that originally starred John Nettles. She is reportedly playing Monica in the 2026 series, though full details about her character’s involvement remain limited (Wikipedia).

Latest films

On the film side, Sharp appears in Pillion (2025), a role marked simply as Peggy in available credits (Rotten Tomatoes). She also appeared in Catherine Called Birdy (2022) as Morwenna, a medieval comedy-drama directed by Lena Dunham, which holds an 89% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes).

What this means: Even in projects that skew toward lighter fare, Sharp tends to bring psychological depth. Her Morwenna in Catherine Called Birdy reportedly grounds the comedy in something more human than the premise might suggest.

What are some of Lesley Sharp’s best performances?

Defining “best” in an acting career is subjective, but certain roles consistently surface when critics and audiences discuss Sharp’s work. These are the performances that tend to attract retrospective acclaim.

Film highlights

On film, Vera Drake (2004) represents perhaps her most critically acclaimed work. Sharp played Jessie Barnes in Mike Leigh’s meditation on a working-class woman running an illegal abortion service in 1950s London. The film earned Leigh an Oscar nomination, and Vera Drake holds a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes).

She also appeared in From Hell (2001), playing Kate Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper’s canonical victims. The film, while divisive among critics, gave Sharp a high-profile role in a prestige Hollywood production alongside Johnny Depp and Heather Graham (Apple TV).

TV standouts

For television, Afterlife (2005–2006) stands out. Sharp played Alison Mundy, a woman who can communicate with the dead, in 14 episodes of this psychological thriller. The role required her to sustain an air of grief and haunted vulnerability across the series run (Wikipedia).

She also delivered a memorable guest performance in Doctor Who (2008), playing Sky Silvestry in the episode “Midnight”—an episode that ranks among the most claustrophobic in the series’ history. The single-episode role demonstrated her range within genre television (Wikipedia).

The catch: Sharp’s best work often flies below mainstream radar. While The Full Monty gave her international name recognition, performances like her Alison Mundy in Afterlife or her five-year run as Janet Scott deserve wider acknowledgment as career highlights.

What else was Lesley Sharp in?

Beyond the headline projects, Sharp’s filmography includes a wide range of supporting roles, guest appearances, and smaller films that demonstrate her versatility.

Complete movies

Her film credits extend well beyond the prestige titles. Daylight Robbery (1999) cast her as Carol Murphy in four episodes of what began as a theatrical release before being edited into a television miniseries. She played Mrs. Joe in the 1999 television adaptation of Great Expectations, opposite Ioan Gruffudd and postcode (Wikipedia).

Other notable film credits include Nature Boy (2000), a television film that showcased her ability to anchor intimate character studies. Recent work includes Help (2021), a Channel 4 television film about the UK’s social care crisis, which holds a rare 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes).

Other TV roles

Sharp’s television appearances extend into unexpected territory. She appeared in Paranoid (2016) as Lucy Cannonbury in 8 episodes, a procedural thriller with an ensemble cast. She played Rosalind in Netflix’s Fate: The Winx Saga (2021), a fantasy series adaptation that gave her a brief but memorable role in three episodes (Wikipedia).

Her current ongoing role is Before We Die (2021–ongoing), where she plays Hannah Laing, a main character in this thriller series. She also appears in Red Eye (2024–ongoing) as DG Madeline Delaney, continuing her run of television work well into her sixties (Wikipedia).

She also appeared in Three Girls (2017), the powerful ITV mini-series about the Child Sexual Exploitation scandal in Rochdale, playing DC Margaret Oliver in 3 episodes. The series earned critical acclaim and BAFTA recognition for its ensemble cast (FilmAffinity).

The trade-off: Sharp’s career rewards exploration beyond the obvious hits. Projects like Help (100% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Three Girls demonstrate that her most affecting work sometimes arrives in smaller-scale projects that don’t get the marketing budgets of From Hell.

“Her credits include Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987), The Rachel Papers (1989), Naked (1993), Priest (1994), The Moonstone (1996), Great Expectations (1999)…”

— Apple TV, Platform Summary

Related reading: Kaya Scodelario Movies and TV Shows – Complete Filmography List

Frequently asked questions