Made on-screen debut in Mike Leigh’s “All or Nothing”

Lent her voice and writing skills to the BBC Radio 4 series “Concrete Cow”

Played Frankenstein author Mary Shelley in the British drama “Byron”

Appeared in three episodes of the hit BBC comedy series “Little Britain”

Played an unwed mother who seeks an abortion from the title character (Imelda Staunton) in “Vera Drake”

Appeared as a gun-toting henchman to a dimwitted gangster in “Layer Cake”

First major television role, played Susan Trinder in the BBC drama “Fingersmith,” an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name

Cast as Adela in David Hare's production of Federico García Lorca's “The House of Bernarda Alba”

Returned to the theatre, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre in Jez Butterworth's “The Winterling”

Co-starred with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton in “The Painted Veil”

Cast as part of an ensemble British cast for Woody Allen’s thriller “Cassandra’s Dream”

Cast in the lead role of the lovelorn Anne Elliot in an ITV adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel, “Persuasion”

Re-teamed with director Mike Leigh for her breakthrough role in “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Nominated for the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (“Happy-Go-Lucky”)