# Lucy Punch

Lucy Alice T. Punch (born 30 December 1977) is an English actress. She has appeared in the films Ella Enchanted (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Dinner for Schmucks, (both 2010) and Into the Woods (2014). She is also known for her role as Amy in Bad Teacher (2011), Amanda in the BBC sitcoms Motherland and Amandaland. She also played Esmé Squalor in the Netflix black comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.

## Early life and education

Punch was born on 30 December 1977 in Hammersmith, London, the daughter of Johanna (née Lowe) and Michael Punch, who ran a market research company. She was educated privately at Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith, London. She performed with the National Youth Theatre from 1993 to 1997, and began a course at University College London before dropping out to become an actress.

## Career

Punch made her acting debut in a 1998 episode of The New Adventures of Robin Hood. Her other TV credits include the naive daughter of Alison Steadman's character in the short-lived series Let Them Eat Cake which starred French and Saunders. She starred as a football player in the children's TV show Renford Rejects, and played the role of the victim Melissa Townsend in the 19th episode of Midsomer Murders.
In 2000, Punch appeared in the film Greenfingers. She made her stage debut as Elaine in Terry Johnson's West End adaptation of The Graduate (1967). She has worked at the Royal Court and Bush theatres, both in London.
In 2004, Punch played the receptionist Elaine Denham in Doc Martin. She left the television show The Class after appearing in 11 of the first 12 episodes.
In 2006, she won the Best Actress award at the Monaco International Film Festival for her performance in Are You Ready for Love? She played the murder victim and actress Eve Draper in Edgar Wright's film Hot Fuzz (2007).
Punch starred in Woody Allen's film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010). In August 2010, she appeared in BBC Two's three part police comedy-drama Vexed. In 2011, Punch appeared in Bad Teacher, portraying the sanctimonious school teacher Amy Squirrel.
Punch was cast as Deena Pilgrim, the female lead in the TV pilot Powers, but the role was recast.
From 2016, Punch played Amanda, leader of the "Alpha mums", in the BBC comedy series Motherland. In May 2024, it was announced that Punch will reprise her role as Amanda in the spin-off Amandaland, with Philippa Dunne and Joanna Lumley reprising their roles of Anne and Amanda's mother Felicity respectively.
In 2017, Punch was cast in the role of Esmé Squalor in the second season of the Netflix comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events, a role that continued through the show's third and final season.
In 2020, Punch starred in the short film "Leap," which was part of the anthology film, With/In. Sanaa Lathan directed and co-starred in "Leap", which was written by Margaret Nagle. It debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and was nominated for the Humanitas Prize as Best Short Film in 2022. It was the best reviewed film in the anthology, with Punch being singled out for her work.
In December 2022, Punch reprised her role of Amanda in the Motherland Christmas special.

## Personal life

Punch dated James D’Arcy for about three years after they met during filming of the TV movie Come Together in 2002. She gave birth to her first child, a son named Rex, in July 2015.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Greenfingers | Holly | |
| 2001 | It's Not Me, It's You | Rose | |
| 2004 | Ella Enchanted | Hattie | |
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Lead stewardess | |
| 2004 | Being Julia | Avice Crichton | |
| 2005 | Festival | Nicky Romanowski | |
| 2006 | Are You Ready for Love? | Melanie | Monaco International Film Festival – Angel Award for Best Actress |
| 2006 | Stingray | Lucy | |
| 2007 | Hot Fuzz | Eve Draper | |
| 2007 | Grindhouse | Blonde in Don't trailer | Uncredited |
| 2007 | St Trinian's | Verity Thwaites | |
| 2009 | Big Breaks | Alexis | |
| 2009 | (Untitled) | The Clarinet | |
| 2010 | Elektra Luxx | Dolores | |
| 2010 | You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger | Charmaine | |
| 2010 | Dinner for Schmucks | Darla | |
| 2011 | A Little Bit of Heaven | Sarah Walker | |
| 2011 | Take Me Home Tonight | Shelly | |
| 2011 | Bad Teacher | Amy Squirrel | |
| 2011 | A Good Old Fashioned Orgy | Kate | |
| 2012 | The Giant Mechanical Man | Pauline | |
| 2012 | The Wedding Video | Saskia | |
| 2012 | Yellow | Amanda | |
| 2012 | Stars in Shorts | Julie | |
| 2012 | Stand Up Guys | Wendy | |
| 2013 | Cottage Country | Masha | |
| 2014 | Someone Marry Barry | Melanie Miller | |
| 2014 | Into the Woods | Lucinda | |
| 2014 | She's Funny That Way | Prostitute | |
| 2014 | Cake | Nurse Gayle | |
| 2016 | The Meddler | Emily | |
| 2017 | The Female Brain | Lexi | |
| 2018 | You, Me and Him | Olivia | |
| 2019 | How to Build a Girl | Sylvia Plath | |
| 2021 | With/In: Volume 1 | Lucy | Segment: "Leap" |
| 2021 | Silent Night | Bella | |
| 2022 | Book of Love | Jen Spencer | |
| 2022 | Confess, Fletch | Tatiana Tasserly | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | The New Adventures of Robin Hood | Queen Stephanie | Episode: "Orphans" |
| 1999 | Renford Rejects | Sue White | Main role (series 2) |
| 1999 | Days Like These | Helen Foreman | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Let Them Eat Cake | Eveline | 4 episodes |
| 1999–2001 | Big Bad World | Melissa | 4 episodes |
| 2000 | Cinderella | Regan | Television film |
| 2000 | The 10th Kingdom | Sally Peep | 3 episodes |
| 2001 | People Like Us | Kate | Episode: "The Actor" |
| 2001 | Midsomer Murders | Melissa Townsend | Episode: "Tainted Fruit" |
| 2001 | Goodbye, Mr Steadman | Linda Mortimer | Television film |
| 2002 | Come Together | Amy | Television film |
| 2002 | I Saw You | Esther | Episode: "Episode 1.1" |
| 2003 | Second Nature | Car Rental Girl | Television film |
| 2003 | Dinotopia | Shayna | Episode: "Night of the Wartosa" |
| 2004 | My Family | Sarah | Episode: "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" |
| 2004 | Doc Martin | Elaine Denham | Main role (series 1) |
| 2005 | Survivors | Juliet Savage | Episode: "In Deep Water" |
| 2006 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Susannah Henderson | Episode: "After the Funeral" |
| 2007 | The Class | Holly Ellenbogen | Main role |
| 2007 | Comedy Showcase: Ladies and Gentlemen | Alice | Pilot |
| 2007 | The Sarah Silverman Program | Sally | Episode: "Ah, Men" |
| 2007 | The Omid Djalili Show | Miss Fanny Dashett | Episode 1.2 |
| 2007 | Two Families | Irene | Television film |
| 2008 | Fairy Tales | Fenola Gay | Episode: "Cinderella" |
| 2008 | Wainy Days | Angel | Episode: "Angel" |
| 2008 | 1% | Candace | Television film |
| 2010 | Vexed | DI Kate Bishop | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | Ben and Kate | Beatrice Joan "BJ" Harrison | Main role |
| 2013 | Hello Ladies | Mother | Episode: "The Wedding" |
| 2014 | Kroll Show | Violet | Episode: "Cake Train" |
| 2014 | Robot Chicken | Daenerys Targaryen/Arya Stark/Janice Rand (voice) | Episode: "Rebel Appliance" |
| 2016 | New Girl | Genevieve | 2 episodes |
| 2016–2022 | Motherland | Amanda | 20 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | Esmé Squalor | Main role |
| 2019 | The Conners | Kyle's mom | Episode: "Preemies, Weed and Infidelity" |
| 2020 | What We Do in the Shadows | Lilith | Episode: "Witches" |
| 2021 | The Prince | Kate Middleton (voice) | Main role |
| 2021 | Gossip Girl | Saskia Bates | Episode: "Once Upon a Time in the Upper West" |
| 2021–2022 | Bloods | Jo | Main role |
| 2022 | Avenue 5 | Dawn Djopi | 2 Episodes |
| 2024 | No Good Deed | Trish | 1 episode "Letters of Intent" |
| 2025 | Animal Control | Fiona Holcomb | 4 Episodes |
| 2025 | Amandaland | Amanda | 6 episodes |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | The Graduate | Elaine | Gielgud Theatre |
| 2001 | Boy Gets Girl | Harriet | Royal Court Theatre |
| 2002 | A Carpet, A Pony and A Monkey | Kate | Bush Theatre |
| 2014 | Great Britain | Paige Britain | Theatre Royal Haymarket |

## Awards

* 2006 Best Actress award - Angel Film Awards - Monaco International Film Festival - performance in Are You Ready for Love?