Polly Walker makes scheming women interesting company without asking us to approve of them. Her Atia in Rome is the clearest reason to seek her out: she makes the household disputes worth following for their own sake.
Fi1m perspective
In Rome (2005), Polly Walker can hold our attention through a conversation between people who need something from one another. Her Atia of the Julii makes household resentments matter before we have untangled everybody's position. We enjoyed those disputes more than we expected, because Walker and Lindsay Duncan's Servilia make us care who resents whom. The prospect of another grand battle is not needed to keep us interested.
Patriot Games (1992), in which she played Annette, brought her wider attention; Jane Fairfax in Emma (1996) followed. Television is where we have the strongest reasons to recommend her, with Anne Collins in Paul Abbott's six-part State of Play (2003) preceding Atia. We rate State of Play highly for the conviction of its newsroom and the pleasure of its ensemble, rather than for any one performer. The reservation is that its dense plotting can leave us keeping track of connections when we would rather stay with a character.
Atia also makes good use of Walker's familiar casting as ambitious, morally complicated women in historical settings. There is pleasure in watching someone intelligent and unscrupulous work out how to get what she wants, and Walker does not need to make her agreeable. Ciarán Hinds gives Caesar authority, while James Purefoy's Mark Antony enjoys being powerful; Walker and Duncan keep that struggle interesting at household level. The uneven opening and plentiful cruelty are reservations about Rome that her performance cannot remove, but she helps make staying with it worthwhile.
Lady Portia Featherington in Bridgerton (2020) continues the association with determined, intelligent women. It is understandable casting, though we would be wary of treating scheming as the only thing Walker has to offer. We would like to see that determination tested against equally forceful scene partners, with room for an encounter to develop. Start with Rome, and give the households time to establish themselves.
Biography
Polly Alexandra Walker is an English actress. Born on 19 May 1966 in Warrington, Cheshire, she trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in Twickenham before an injury ended her dancing career. She then studied at Drama Centre London and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Walker first gained attention with the title role in the television series Lorna Doone (1990). Her film roles include Annette in Patriot Games (1992) and Vida Warren in Sliver (1993). In 2003 she played Anne Collins in the BBC series State of Play. She is known for portraying Atia of the Julii in Rome (2005–2007), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and Lady Portia Featherington in Bridgerton (2020–).
Other television work includes appearances in The Mentalist, Caprica, Line of Duty and Prisoners’ Wives. She married actor Laurence Penry-Jones in 2008.
