What happened to 'Game of Thrones' actress Natalie Dormer?

Natalie Dormer became famous for her roles in 'The Tudors', 'Game of Thrones', and 'The Hunger Games'. Yet, these big roles already belong to the past of the British actress' career. What is she doing nowadays?

The role that shot Natalie Dormer to international fame was that of Anne Boleyn in 'The Tudors'. She had one of the leading roles during the first two seasons of the British show (until 2008) as the second wife of Henry VIII. She would return to the series in 2010 for the fourth season, in an episode where the monarch remembers all his wives.

One success led to another, and in 2012, only two years after her last appearance in 'The Tudors', she was back on track with a huge role: Margaery Tyrell in the hit series 'Game of Thrones'. Her character was (initially) the wife of Renly Baratheon, one of the many contenders for the Iron Throne.

When her time in 'Game of Thrones' ended, Natalie Dormer didn't stop working. In television, we could see her in two series: 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' (2018) in the role of Mrs. Appleyard; and more recently, in 2020, as Magda in 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels'. In addition, she was the voice of Onica in the kids' show 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'.

There's also a good number of movies on Dormer's resumé. In 2016, the year the 'Game of Thrones' adventure ended for her, she worked in the films 'The Forest' and 'Patient Zero'. In 2018, we saw her in the movie 'In Darkness,' and in 2019, she was part of the cast of 'The Professor and The Madman.' Finally, in 2020, she was the voice of Belle in 'Pets United'.

Natalie Dormer has also been part of the Theatre Royal Haymarket of London, where the actress played the role of Vanda Jordan in 'Venus in Fur'.

Natalie Dormer also worked as a voice actor for TV shows and movies. In 2017, she was the voice of Doctor Lexi T'Perro in the game 'Mass Effect: Andromeda', the fourth installment of the 'Mass Effect' saga. It was not the first game for Natalie Dormer: the actress had also been Margaery Tyrell's voice in the 'Game of Thrones' videogame.

Most importantly, however, Natalie Dormer welcomed her first baby in 2021. Nobody had noticed her little belly in 2020; it wasn't until April 2021 that she made the baby announcement. "It was a perfect thing to do during a pandemic: get pregnant and have a baby," she explained in an interview on the podcast 'That's After Life'.

She had her daughter with actor David Oakes. They have been together since 2019 when they worked together on the play 'Venus in Fur'.

Still, being a mom has only been a little break along the way. Natalie Dormer has declared her intention to go back to the theater. She said on the Esther Rantzen podcast: "I'm going to find it very difficult, I think, because you don't want to warp a child's childhood experience. People in the industry I'm in do lean on nannies so they can take their children with them."

While she's best known for her work in film and TV, she really loves the stage. "For me, this is the perfect time to get back to the stage because I could just be all day with my daughter."

Her return would have a lot to do with Dog Rose Productions, the production company that the actress created at the end of 2019. She told Deadline that the company will have "new and experienced voices to create a variety of genres that explore stories and themes transcending cultures and unite us as humans." As her first project, we'll see 'Spitfire Sisters', telling the story of a forgotten group of aviator women during WWII.

Natalie Dormer's beginnings as an actress date back to 2005, when she graduated from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She was part of the cast as Lasse Hallström in  'Casanova,' the film with Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller. Thanks to that role, she would sign a three-movie contract with Disney Touchstone.

Although her big break was in 'The Tudors' in 2007, Dormer had appeared in other series like 'Rebus' and 'Distant Shores'. In 2011, in the era between 'The Tudors' and 'Game of Thrones', the actress also participated in the series 'The Fades' and 'Silk'. In 2013, she appeared in five episodes of the CBS show 'Elementary'.

Dormer shared the big screen with many successful film actors. She was part of movies like 'Flawless' (2007) as Cassie, along with Michael Caine and Demi Moore; 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011); and 'Rush' (2013). These were the steps that would take her to the role of Cressida in the first two movies of 'The Hunger Games'.

In theater, we have seen Dormer in the role of Adriana in the play 'The Comedy of Errors', and later in 'Sweet Nothings', '45', and 'After Miss Julie' - her last job before the acclaimed 'Venus in Fur' (2017).

As the British actress has expressed to several media, she considers Cate Blanchett her biggest influence when it comes to acting.

Another curious fact about Natalie Dormer is that she doesn't mind filming intimate scenes. In fact, she says she feels quite comfortable doing them. Thankfully so, because the actress has been in that situation many times in projects like 'The Tudors', 'Game of Thrones', 'The Fades', 'Rush', or 'The Scandalous Lady W'.​

It was precisely for showing skin that Natalie Dormer was criticized in 2018. She shared a series of explicit scenes with model Emily Ratajkowski in the movie 'In Darkness.' The film was written by herself and her ex-fiancée, Anthony Byrne.

Natalie Dormer hasn't received any big awards yet. However, she has been nominated several times: In 2008 and 2009 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in the Canadian Gemini Awards; and in 2021, at the Critics' Choice Super Awards for Best Actress in a Horror Series.

In 2016, Natalie Dormer was chosen by the Women in Film (WIF) organization as the 'Face of The Future'. Thanks to that recognition the actress became Max Mara's ambassador. However, she considers herself just an actress, not a model: "Actors are not models, we have to be real people and look quirky and imperfect." Still, many big fashion brands love to dress her for social events, like here, at the Ascot Racecourse.

The actress has called herself a feminist many times. She participated in London's International Women's Day on March 8th, 2020. Dormer says that "everyone is a feminist, even if they don't realize it. Feminism is just a quality. You are a feminist if you believe in salary equality or equal voting rights."