Polly Walker


I haven't seen her in many things before playing Atia in the Rome series . Glad to see her in this. I thought she played the part of Lady Celia well.

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Yes, she didn't have much to do other than be beautiful (which she can easily achieve!) here but I thought she did a fine job of showing a somewhat softening attitude towards Merivel that made me wonder if Merivel had waited longer and come on a bit slower he might have succeeded.

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This was the first movie I saw her in. She's awesome.


"David Warner, you are under arrest by order of David Warner!"

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See her in "Talk of Angels". Strong performance as leading lady.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbhrz1-4hN4

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She's one of my favorite actresses, too.

I also recommend her performances in "State of Play" (BBC version); The Mayor of Casterbridge (with Ciaran Hinds/James Purefoy); and "Emma" (with Gwyneth Paltrow/Jeremy Northam).

FilmFan50

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She's got a golden combination of beauty, brains, and classical talent, but she sadly seems to have missed her mark. When I see her in movies like "Restoration" I think of her sort of as an Olivia De Havilland of our day, a gorgeous and talented woman whose beauty, if anything, is an obstacle to her getting roles worthy of her ability. Olivia De Havilland became very popular in the 1930s as Errol Flynn's love interest, but was referred to (quite literally) as a piece of scenery. Yet eventually, she broke out of her decorative parts and walked away with two Oscars. Similarly, Polly Walker showed great promise in movies like this, but I fear people were so blinded by her beauty they couldn't see her talent.

Another comparable career would be Keira Knightly. I've always thought of her as sort of an Olivia De Havilland of my generation...a very pretty girl who gained iconic fame in swashbucklers before proving she could hold her own in dramatic stuff as well. I don't know where exactly the discrepancy lies. Perhaps it's just bad timing. Keira emerged right on the wave of period dramas becoming big box office. While there were many commendable period pieces made in Polly Walker's hayday (the early to mid ninetees) I fell like they weren't really big box office in the same way as they have proven to be in recent years with the Jane Austen revival, among other pop culture phenomenons, making the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries blockbuster material.

She was in her prime around Restoration, but sort of faded into obscurity in the interim, and now seems to have been relegated to hot older woman types, like in "Rome" and "Clash of the Titans."

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Des-dah-moh-naahh!

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British and European actresses are smart. They leave their egos at the door and move into the next age group of roles and keep working. Miss Walker is no different in this.

Even mentioning Keira Knightley in the same class with Olivia De Havilland is blasphemy.



When I was in grade school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down HAPPY.They told me that I did not understand the assignment.
I told them that they did not understand life.

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I know Polly Walker from Peril at End House, with David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.

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She was in that Clash of the Titans remake. Oh and she was in John Carter, the evil Martian that gets torn apart by the white apes. Apparently she's in that Netflix show Cursed too.

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