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Who is Lara Pulver?
British actress Lara Pulver was born under the zodiac sign of Virgo in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England on 1 September 1980. She has 28 acting credits, and is probably best known for starring as Ms Catherine MacDiarmid in all six episodes of the 2023 drama series “Maternal”, which also starred Lisa McGrillis and Parminder Nagra, and was created by Jacqui Honess-Martin; it follows three doctors who’ve returned to work after maternity leave.
Education and early life
Lara was raised in Essex alongside her older sister Erika – who’s today an elementary school teacher – by their Jewish parents about whom not many details have been shared, because Lara respects their privacy; it’s known that her mother converted to Judaism when she married her father.
Lara became passionate about both music and acting while attending a local elementary school, and thus upon completing her primary education in 1994, she enrolled at National Youth Music Theatre; she also attended The Liz Burville Dance Center, and matriculated in 1997.
Lara continued her education at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2000.
Theatre
Lara’s appeared in numerous West End musicals since 2000, but we know the names of only a couple.
She gained recognition when she portrayed Lucille Frank in a 2008 production of “Parade” at the Donmar Warehouse, and was nominated for a 2008 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical; Lara went on to play the same character in a Los Angeles, California production of the play, performed at the Mark Taper Forum.
She appeared in a 2014 production of “Gypsy” at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2014, and then performed in its West End production in April 2015; for her subsequent performance in the 2016 Savoy Theatre production of “Gypsy”, Lara won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
Roles in TV series
Lara’s debut TV series role was playing Isabella in eight episodes (2009) of the action adventure comedy “Robin Hood”, which starred Jonas Armstrong and Gordon Kennedy, and was created by Foz Allan and Dominic Minghella. It follows Robin who spent five years fighting in the crusades, and has now returned to England to lead a band of outlaws; the series aired from 2006 through 2009 and was nominated for three awards.
Some of Lara’s following roles were in the crime action “MI-5”, the drama “Coming Up”, and the fantasy mystery “True Blood”.
From 2012 through 2014, she played Irene Adler in two episodes of the critically acclaimed crime mystery “Sherlock”, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and was created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. It follows Sherlock Holmes as he’s solving crimes in modern-day London, England, the series aired from 2010 through 2017 and won 93 of its 276 award nominations; the website IMDb has ranked it #21 best TV series of all time. Lara next starred as Ann O’Neill in all four episodes of the 2014 biographical romantic mini-series “Fleming”, and from 2013 through 2015, she played Clarice Orsini in 19 episodes of the biographical adventure “Da Vinci’s Demons”.
In 2018, she played the lead character Katrynia in all four episodes of the crime fantasy mini-series “The City and the City”, which also starred Mandeep Dhillon and David Morrissey, and follows Inspector Tyador Borlu as he’s investigating the murder of a student; the mini-series won one of its two award nominations.
Some of Lara’s most recent TV series roles have been in five episodes of the 2020 crime mystery “The Alienist”, six episodes of the 2022 drama “The Split”, and all 24 episodes of the 2022 animated action adventure “Dota: Dragon’s Blood” (lead voice role).
Roles in movies
Lara’s debut film role was playing Diane Shaw in the 2010 thriller “Legacy”, and the same year saw her play Intern in the biographical historical drama “The Special Relationship”.
In the year 2011 she played Violet in the romantic comedy “Language of a Broken Heart”, which starred Juddy Talt and Kate French, and was directed by Rocky Powell. It follows a best-selling author who’s caught his fiancé cheating on him, and has now fallen in love with an antiquarian bookseller.
A couple of Lara’s following roles were in the 2013 short drama “Fleming Promotion”, the 2014 action science fiction adventure “Edge of Tomorrow” and the 2015 action thriller “MI-5”. In 2016, she played Semira in the popular action adventure fantasy “Underworld: Blood Wars”, which starred Kate Beckinsale and Theo James, and was directed by Anna Forester. It follows vampire death dealer Selene as she’s trying to end the war between the Vampire faction and the Lycan clan.
Lara’s since had only a single film role, voicing Tetra in the 2021 animated action adventure “The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf”.
Other credits
Lara sang the songs “Little Lamb” and “Together, Wherever We Go” in the 2015 movie “Gypsy: Live from the Savoy Theatre”.
She voiced a supporting character in the 2014 video game “Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series”, and Anna in the 2015 video game “Esper 2”.
Some of Lara’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Daybreak”, “Sunday Brunch” and “The One Show”.
Awards and nominations
Lara’s been nominated for four awards, with her first having been a 2012 Gold Derby TV Award nomination for TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actress, for “A Scandal in Belgravia”.
She’s since been nominated for a 2012 Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries, and a 2012 Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries, both for her performance in “Sherlock”, and a 2016 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, for “A Patch of Fog”.
Love life and husband
Lara rarely shares the details of her love life with her fans, but we know that she’s married twice.
Her first husband was American actor Joshua Paul ‘Josh’ Dallas, whom she met while he was studying at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London; Josh has 18 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for playing Fandral in the 2011 action fantasy movie “Thor”. Lara and Josh married in December 2007, and divorced in September 2012.
She and British actor and singer Raza Jaffrey met while shooting together for the crime mystery series “Spooks”; he’s appeared in 43 movies and TV series, and is perhaps known best for portraying Aasar Khan in seven episodes of the crime mystery series “Homeland”. Lara and Raza married on 27 December 2014, and she gave birth to their son Ozias Jaffrey on 17 February 2017; their daughter Thea followed in 2020.
There are no other men whom Lara’s perhaps been with, that we know about; she’s married to her second husband Raza Jaffrey as of August 2023, and they have two children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Lara dislikes social media networks and thus doesn’t have an Instagram account; her fan page is followed by over 3,000 people, but only 12 pictures have been posted onto it, with most featuring her acting.
Lara loves to travel, and has been to a number of European countries and US states – her favorite city to travel to is Sydney, Australia.
She’s a huge lover of animals, and her favorites are donkeys.
Lara’s a philanthropist, and together with her husband has, donated money to a number of charity organizations, mostly into helping underprivileged youth.
She’s interested in fashion and enjoys reading a variety of fashion magazines on a daily basis.
One of Lara’s favorite actresses is Carey Mulligan, and some of her favorite movies include “An Education”, “Promising Young Woman” and “Far from the Madding Crowd”.
Appearance and net worth
Lara’s age is 42. She has blue eyes and brown hair, weighs around 115lbs (52kgs) and is 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall.
Lara’s net worth’s been estimated at over $3 million, as of August 2023.
