Stage

Dockery was a member of the National Youth Theatre. She made her professional debut in His Dark Materials at the Royal National Theatre in 2004.^[9] In 2006, she was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Dina Dorf in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre.^[10] She appeared in Burnt by the Sun at the National Theatre, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[11]

She won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in Peter Hall's production of Pygmalion at the Theatre Royal, Bath, which toured the UK and transferred to The Old Vic in 2008,^[12] and for the same production was nominated Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards 2008.^[13]

In 2010, she played Ophelia in Hamlet at the Crucible Theatre alongside John Simm.^[14]

Film and television

In 2006, Dockery starred as Susan Sto Helit in a two-part adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel Hogfather.^[15] In 2008, she played Kathryn in Channel 4's The Red Riding Trilogy and played the guest role of tormented rape victim Gemma Morrison in BBC's Waking the Dead. In 2009, she appeared on the BBC as Erminia, a ward of Jonathan Pryce's character, in the two-part Cranford Christmas special (also known as Return to Cranford), and as the young governess in an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, opposite her future Downton Abbey co-star Dan Stevens in the role of her psychiatrist.^[16]

Dockery came to public prominence in 2010 when she played Lady Mary Crawley in Julian Fellowes' series Downton Abbey. The series ran from 2010 through 2015; each year it was filmed from February through August and broadcast on ITV from September through November, with a special Christmas night episode each year beginning in 2011. It later aired in the U.S. on PBS.

For her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the Downton Abbey series, Dockery received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress In a Drama Series in 2012,^[17] 2013,^[18] and 2014.^[19] She also earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2013.^[2]

Dockery's first big screen role was as False Marissa in Hanna (2011). In 2012, she appeared as Princess Myagkaya in the film adaptation of Anna Karenina and starred with Charlotte Rampling in a two-part dramatisation of William Boyd's spy thriller Restless on BBC One.^[20] In January 2014, she appeared in the action thriller feature film Non-Stop alongside co-stars Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Lupita Nyong'o.^[21][22]

In 2014, Dockery was made Fellow of the Guildhall School in recognition of her achievements in television.^[23] In 2014, Dockery was listed in The Sunday Times Britain's 500 Most Influential People, which is a compilation of the most significant individuals in the UK who have demonstrated outstanding qualities of influence, achievement and inspiration.^[24][25]

In a departure from her portrayal of Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, Dockery advanced her Hollywood career with a 2015 performance in the sci-fi thriller feature film Self/less, with Ryan Reynolds.^[21]

Beginning in November 2016, Dockery starred in the lead role of Letty Raines in Good Behavior, an American drama series based on the novella series by Blake Crouch. Letty is a drug-addicted thief and con-artist who, released early from prison on good behaviour, is attempting to get her life under control. Her efforts are complicated by a chance meeting and subsequent entanglement with a charismatic hitman, played by Juan Diego Botto. The 10-episode first season, airing on a U.S. basic-cable network TNT, was filmed in and around Wilmington, North Carolina. In January 2017, the show was picked up for a second season.^[26] In November 2018, the series was cancelled after two seasons.^[27]

In 2017, Dockery appeared alongside Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, and Emily Mortimer in the British film The Sense of an Ending from CBS Films, based on the Booker-winning novel of the same name by Julian Barnes. She plays Susie Webster, the daughter of Tony Webster (Jim Broadbent), a man who lives in quiet unquestioning solitude until he confronts secrets of his past. "The film is a beautiful adaptation of the book which I love. And I jumped at the chance to work with director Ritesh Batra, who also filmed The Lunchbox (2013)", explained Dockery.^[28][29]

Later that year, Dockery had a lead role in the Netflix western miniseries Godless.^[30] In 2019, Dockery reprised her lead role as Lady Mary Crawley in the Downton Abbey film, alongside Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a financial success, grossing $192 million. Later in 2019, Dockery appeared in The Gentlemen, directed by Guy Ritchie, as the wife of a drug baron played by Matthew McConaughey. The film opened in wide release in 2020 and has grossed over $100 million worldwide. It was met with mixed to positive reviews.

Music

Dockery is a trained singer. She sang at the 50th Anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London and has occasionally sung with Sadie and the Hotheads, a band formed by Elizabeth McGovern, who played her mother in Downton Abbey.^[31] In February 2022, it was announced that Dockery and her Downton Abbey co-star Michael C. Fox had signed a record deal with Decca Records as the duo Michelle and Michael.^[32]

Film

Television