Shirley Henderson
British actress
Shirley Henderson, born on 24 November 1965 in Forres, Moray, is a Scottish actress whose slight frame and unmistakable voice have made her a singular character performer in British film and television. Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she played Gail in Trainspotting, Jude in the Bridget Jones films and Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter series. Her range runs from Mike Leigh to Sofia Coppola, and on stage she won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Shirley Henderson appears in 7 films and 2 TV series in The Rerun, from 1995 to 2025. Most of that work is in drama, comedy and romance. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Kelly Macdonald (3), Renée Zellweger (2), Colin Firth (2), Hugh Grant (2), Jim Broadbent (2).
Known for
- Trainspotting (1996), Gail. A role she returned to in the 2017 sequel.
- Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Jude. The first of her Bridget Jones films, a run lasting to 2025.
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Moaning Myrtle. Played the ghost in two Harry Potter films.
- Dept. Q (2025), Claire Marsh. A recent television role, on the 2025 series.
Career
Henderson was a regular on the BBC’s Hamish Macbeth (1995 to 1997) when Danny Boyle cast her in Trainspotting (1996), a role she reprised in T2 Trainspotting (2017). Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy (1999) and Michael Winterbottom’s Wonderland (1999) established her in British art cinema, while Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) made her familiar to a much wider audience.
Later film work includes Marie Antoinette (2006) and Lucille Hardy opposite John C. Reilly in Stan & Ollie (2018). On television she joined Happy Valley for its second series, played Claire Salter in Channel 4’s Southcliffe (2013), and in 2025 joined Scott Frank’s Netflix detective series Dept. Q. Her Olivier came for Elizabeth in the Old Vic’s Girl from the North Country.
Where to start
- Trainspotting (1996): a small part in the defining British film of its decade.
- Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001): one of Bridget’s urban family, a role she returned to across the series.
- Dept. Q (2025): recent, grown-up crime drama set in Edinburgh.
- Stan & Ollie (2018): a tender portrait of Laurel and Hardy’s later years, with Henderson as Oliver Hardy’s wife.
Shows
Movies
Quick answers
- What movies and TV shows has Shirley Henderson been in?
- Shirley Henderson appears in Dept. Q (2025), Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025), I Swear (2025), The ABC Murders (2018), Anna Karenina (2012), Marie Antoinette (2006), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Trainspotting (1996) and Rob Roy (1995) on The Remote.
- When was Shirley Henderson born?
- Shirley Henderson was born on 24 November 1965.
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