Lucy Punch

Early life and education

Punch was born in Hammersmith, West 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. 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

In 2002 to 2005 Punch was in a relationship with James D’Arcy after they met during filming of the TV film Come Together. She began a relationship with artist Dinos Chapman, in 2014 in Los Angeles. With Chapman she gave birth to her first child, a son. They had another son years later.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards

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

References

References

1. "Lucy Punch - Birth Name: Lucy Alice T. Punch". [[TV Guide]], a [[Fandom (website).
2. "Lucy Punch, celebrity".
3. Goodman, Jillian. (22 June 2011). "Bad Teacher's Lucy Punch on her 'Über-Goddess' Co-star Cameron Diaz, Playing the Slut, and Women in Comedy". Vulture.com.
4. (29 April 2022). "Lucy Punch: 'I moved to the States because I kept getting cast as posh idiots'". [[The Independent]].
5. Smiley, Tavis. (16 June 2011). "Actress Lucy Punch". [[PBS]].
6. "Lucy Punch". [[Hollywood.com.
7. Eyre, Hermione. (3 December 2010). "Lucy Punch is making a mark on Hollywood". This is London.
8. Clapp, Susannah. (11 November 2001). "Eric and Ernie for ever". The Observer.
9. Adalian, Joseph. (11 January 2007). "'Class' to air on Net first".
10. "ANGEL FILM AWARDS". [[Monaco International Film Festival]].
11. Jay A. Fernandez. (29 May 2009). "Woody Allen welcomes Brit Lucy Punch". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
12. (8 February 2010). "Lucy Punch cast in Bad Teacher". Reuters.
13. [http://splashpage.mtv.com/2011/06/21/powers-tv-series-casts-deena-pilgrim/ "'Powers' TV Series Casts Deena Pilgrim"] {{webarchive. link. (24 June 2011 , 21 June 2011, MTV)
14. "BBC Comedy Motherland spin-off Amandaland announced for BBC One and iPlayer".
15. Petski, Denise. (9 June 2017). "'Series of Unfortunate Events': Nathan Fillion, Tony Hale, Sara Rue, Lucy Punch & Roger Bart Join Season 2 Cast". Deadline.
16. Appler, Michael. (2022-03-05). "'With/In' Anthology Filmed During Early Days of Pandemic: 'Creativity Can Overcome Hurdles'".
17. Coates, Tyler. (2022-06-27). "'Abbott Elementary,' 'Pachinko,' 'Women of the Movement' and 'Maid' Among 2022 Humanitas Prizes Nominees".
18. Seale, Jack. (23 December 2022). "Motherland Christmas special review – you'll laugh, gasp in shock ... then punch the air".
19. Sigee, Rachael. (23 December 2022). "Motherland, BBC One, review: As chaotic and emotional as a family Christmas".
20. (16 March 2022). "Lucy Punch: From Motherland's Amanda to Bloods' Jo". Digitalbox Publishing Ltd.
21. (11 February 2025). "Amandaland’s Lucy Punch: Everything We Know About Her Partner Dinos Chapman". [[Grazia]] / [[Bauer Media Group]].
22. "Lucy Punch on How She Named Her Baby Boy". TeamCoco.
23. [https://reviewsgate.com/boy-gets-girl-by-rebecca-gilman-royal-court-to-15-december/ Boy Gets Girl review by Timothy Ramsden, 24 November] {{Webarchive. link. (10 February 2022 , at reviewsgate.com)
24. [https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/a-carpet-a-pony-and-a-monkey A Carpet, A Pony and A Monkey, "Lucy Punch in a bravura performance of comic verve"] by Amanda Hodges at londontheatre.co.uk
25. (11 August 2014). "Lucy Punch stars in West End Great Britain". Whats on Stage.