Stella Gonet

Stella Gonet
Born (1960-12-12) 12 December 1960 (age 64)
Greenock,[1] Renfrewshire, Scotland
Alma materRoyal Conservatoire of Scotland
Years active1985–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
Children2

Stella Gonet (born 12 December 1960)[2][3] is a Scottish theatre, film and television actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC dramas The House of Eliott (1991–94) and Holby City (2007–09). Her stage credits include playing Ophelia in the 1989 National Theatre revival of Hamlet, opposite both Daniel Day-Lewis and Ian Charleson as Hamlet and playing Margaret Thatcher in the original West End production of Handbagged (2014). She played Queen Elizabeth II in the 2021 movie Spencer and Margaret Thatcher in the 2023 movie El Conde.

Early life

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Gonet was born in Greenock, Scotland.[1] Her Polish father met her Scottish mother, a teacher of English, when he was stationed in Greenock during the Second World War.[4] She is the seventh of twelve children and four of her sisters are nurses.[5]

Career

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Gonet starred as Beatrice Eliott, one of the two lead roles, in three series of the television drama The House of Eliott and played Chief Executive Officer Jayne Grayson in the medical drama Holby City. She appeared in Casualty, The Crow Road, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Foyle's War, Outnumbered and Lewis. She played a villain in the mini-series The Secret and played Grace Maplin in the Sins of Commission episode of Midsomer Murders. Her screen credits also include For Queen and Country, Nicholas Nickleby and Red Mercury.

Gonet also has acted extensively in the theatre. In 1989 she appeared as Ophelia in the National Theatre production of Hamlet, with the title role being played by Daniel Day-Lewis, Ian Charleson and finally Jeremy Northam.

She played Margaret Thatcher in the Moira Buffini play Handbagged in 2013 at the Tricycle Theatre, and in 2014 at the Vaudeville Theatre when the play transferred to the West End. She played Elizabeth in the 2018 BBC1 drama series The Cry.

In 2020, she played Caroline Sturgess in the BBC drama The Salisbury Poisonings.[6] From 2020 to 2023 she appeared in the Sky television series Breeders.

Collaborating with Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, Gonet appeared in the films Spencer (2021) and El Conde (2023) as Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher respectively.[7]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Gems Noreen
1986 To Have and to Hold Ellie
1986 Casualty Dr. Clare Wainwright Episodes: "Jump Start" and "Professionals"
1987 ScreenPlay Mairi Episode: "The Shutter Falls"
1988 The Play on One Rachel Episode: "Down Where the Buffalo Go"
1989 The Bill Mrs. Lavery Episode: "The Chain of Command"
1991 The Advocates Alex Abercorn Series 1
1991 Screen Two Beryl James Episode: "Heading Home"
1991 – 1994 The House of Eliott Beatrice Eliott 34 episodes
1992 Screen Two Marigold Episode: "The Common Pursuit"
1992 Stalin Zinaida Pavlutskaya
1993 French and Saunders Beatrice Episode: "The House of Idiot"
1996 Screen One Kate Armstrong Episode: "Trip Trap"
1996 The Crow Road Fiona Urvill
1996 Drop the Dead Donkey Anthea Episode: "Sex 'n Death"
1998 Verdict Alex Horton-Smith Episode: "Split Second"
1998 Supply & Demand DCI Jane Leyland
2002 The Secret Nadia Collins
2004 Midsomer Murders Grace Maplin Episode: "Sins of Commission"
2004 Foyle's War Barbara Hicks Episode: "They Fought in the Fields"
2005 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Lady Sarah Keach Episode: "In the Guise of Death"
2005 Murder in Suburbia Felicity Hendon Episode: "Viva La Salsa"
2005 Where the Heart Is Wendy Episode: "Sisters Under the Skin"
2005 Taggart Val Episode: "A Taste of Money"
2005 Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder Grace Duff Episode: "The Case of the Croydon Poisonings"
2006 Dalziel and Pascoe Christine Webster Episode: "Guardian Angel"
2007 Persuasion Mrs. Musgrove
2007 Roman Mysteries Queen Berenice of Judea Episode: "The Enemies of Jupiter"
2007 Rebus Cynthia Marber Episode: "Resurrection Men"
2007 – 2009 Holby City Jayne Grayson 67 episodes
2008 Casualty Jayne Grayson Episodes: "Thicker Than Water" and "Diamond Dogs"
2010 Lewis Frances Woodville Episode: "The Dead of Winter"
2011 Outnumbered Mrs. Henderson Episode: "The Labrador"
2013 Father Brown Lady Margaret Galloway Episode: "The Face of Death"
2014 Silk Christine Barnaby Episode: "Big Fish, Small Pond"
2014 – 2016 Siblings Marion Episodes: "Laser Eye Date", "Burrito Neighbours", and "Golden Aunt"
2015 Humans Frances Walker 2 episodes
2017 Man Down Mrs. Lipsey Series 4
2017 The Crown Margaret Lambert Episode: "Vergangenheit"
2018 The Cry Elizabeth
2020 The Salisbury Poisonings Caroline Sturgess
2021 Breeders Leah

Personal life

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Gonet married English actor Nicholas Farrell in 2005. The couple co-starred in an episode of Roman Mysteries as Queen Berenice of Judea and Emperor Titus, and as Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove in ITV's 2007 production of Jane Austen's Persuasion, and they both participated in a 2001 Shakespeare's Richard III audiobook. The couple have a daughter, Natasha, born in 2000.[5][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "I felt sick when I saw what I'd do to my wife. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Search for Stella Gonet". ScotlandsPeople Statutory Registers. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Stella Gonet on playing Margaret Thatcher". The Scotsman. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Stella Gonet's star is rising fast at the RSC". The Independent. 31 March 1995. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b "MY SISTERS ARE NURSES..THEY THINK MY TOP JOB AT HOLBY IS HILARIOUS; television Nursing family bring Stella Gonet back to reality. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  6. ^ "Meet the cast of The Salisbury Poisonings". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  7. ^ Gonet, Stella (9 September 2022). "'As soon as I put the wig on, people changed': Stella Gonet on playing the Queen". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Stella Gonet on playing Margaret Thatcher". The Scotsman.
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