Noma Dumezweni

Noma Dumezweni (; born 1969) is a British actress. In 2006, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. In 2017, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Hermione Granger in the original West End run of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; she reprised the role for the show's original Broadway run and, in 2018, was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She is also known for her roles on television, including as Ayda Mensah in Murderbot, since 2025.

Early life and education Noma Dumezweni was born in Swaziland (present-day Eswatini), in 1969 to South African parents. She lived in Botswana, Kenya, and Uganda, before arriving in England as a refugee at the age of seven with her sister and mother.

She first lived in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where she was educated. before moving to London when she was 18 years old.

Career Theatre Early work Dumezweni's work in theatre includes: President of an Empty Room and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other at the National Theatre, London; A Raisin in the Sun for the Young Vic at the Lyric Hammersmith, London (for which she won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role); A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Master and Margarita, Nathan the Wise and The Coffee House at Chichester Festival Theatre, Six Characters in Search of an Author in the Chichester Festival production at the Gielgud Theatre and The Bogus Woman at the Traverse and the Bush.

Royal Shakespeare Company Dumezweni performed in the 2014 Macbeth with Anthony Sher as the First Witch. In 2002, she played Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra and Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). In 2006, she performed in Breakfast with Mugabe.

She returned to the RSC in 2009–11. In spring of 2009, she appeared in the RSC's The Winter's Tale. She also played Olyana in The Grainstone, Calphurnia in Julius Caesar, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Morgan Le Fay in Le Morte d'Arthur, the Doctor in Little Eagles, and Alice in Adelaide Road.

Other theatres In 2012, she played Rita in Belong at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2013, she played Mistress Quickly and Alice in Henry V starring Jude Law at the Noël Coward Theatre. At Royal Court, she played Mrs. Twit in The Twits, a stage adaptation of the story by Roald Dahl of the same name.

In 2013–2014, she appeared in A Human Being Died That Night at the Fugard Theater in Cape Town, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, which later transferred to the Hampstead Theatre in London. In 2015, the show moved to Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and she was lauded for her "impeccable performance". She starred in Linda at London's Royal Court Theatre in November 2015, stepping into the role vacated by Kim Cattrall with a few days' notice before press night. Awarding the production five stars, the Daily Telegraphs chief theatre critic Dominic Cavendish wrote: "If they can bottle and mass-produce whatever it is that Noma Dumezweni has got then, please, I want to order a life-time's supply." In 2014, she played Hippolita in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. In 2015, she played Don José in Carmen Disruption, an adaptation of Georges Bizet's Carmen.

In December 2015, it was announced that Dumezweni had been cast as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. On the announcement, theatre critic Kate Maltby described her as "an actress who consistently engages and enthrals." The casting of the black Dumezweni as Hermione sparked fervent discussion, to which J. K. Rowling responded that Hermione's skin was never specified as white. In 2017, Dumezweni won her second Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. Because of her performance in the role, Dumezweni was listed as one of BBC's 100 women during 2018. She reprised her role on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre in 2018.

In 2022, she played Nora Helmer in Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2.

Television Dumezweni appeared on numerous television shows, and in 2018, she starred in Black Earth Rising, the Hugo Blick drama about the prosecution of war criminals. She played the marine biologist Fiffany in the HBO Max comedy series Made for Love (2021–2022).

In 2008, Dumezweni appeared in the Doctor Who episode Turn Left as UNIT Captain Erisa Magumbo. She would then repise the role a year later in the special episode Planet of the Dead. 2021 marked her return ot the world of Doctor Who vocing the character of Rodekka in The First Son for Big Finish Productions.

In 2020, she appeared in the HBO series The Undoing alongside Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, and Donald Sutherland. The series received several nominations at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Dumezweni plays Haley Fitzgerald, a powerhouse attorney hired by a wealthy New York psychotherapist (Kidman) to represent her husband (Grant), a pediatric cancer doctor who has been charged with the brutal killing of his mistress.

In 2022, Dumezweni appeared in the Netflix series The Watcher as Theodora Birch, the private investigator hired by the Brannock family. In 2025 she played the role of Mensah in the television adaptation of Martha Wells' science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries on Apple TV+. It was announced in July that the series would be renewed for a second season.

Film Dumezweni has had several roles in feature films, including Miss Penny Farthing in Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns in 2018. In 2019, she played Edith Sikelo in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, directed by and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. She played Dionne Davis in Peter Hedges' large ensemble drama The Same Storm and critic Stephen Farber wrote, her "powerhouse performance strikes the right mournful but modestly hopeful note as we exit the theater." She was in Disney's live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid as Queen Selina, the adoptive mother of Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and a new character created for the film, and joined Liam Neeson in the cast of the film Retribution.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 2002 Dirty Pretty Things Celia 2018 Mary Poppins Returns Miss Penny Farthing 2019 The Kid Who Would Be King Mrs. Lee The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Edith Sikelo 2021 The Same Storm Dionne Davis 2023 The Little Mermaid Queen Selina Retribution Angela Brickman 2024 The Friend Barbara 2026 Prima Facie June Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 2003 Holby City Hannah Keelan 1 episode 2005 Silent Witness DS Erin Jacobs 1 episode The Bill Building Society Manager 1 episode 2006 Mysterious Creatures Chanelle Pinkerton Television film Holby City Hesta Mukaka 1 episode After Thomas Paula Murray Television film 2007 Shameless Mrs. Newman 1 episode Fallen Angel Carla 1 episode New Tricks Sophie Oyekambi 1 episode EastEnders D.C. Wright 1 episode 2008 The Last Enemy Valerie 1 episode Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic Marchessa Television film Fallout Joyce Abena Television film 2008–2009 Doctor Who Captain Erisa Magambo 2 episodes 2012 Casualty Marsha Chilcot 2 episodes 2013 Frankie Angie Rascoe 6 episodes 2015 Midsomer Murders Ailsa Probert 1 episode Capital Greaves 2 episodes Casualty Susan Blossom 1 episode 2017 Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Senior Agent Okhile 1 episode 2018 Black Earth Rising Alice Munezero Main role, 7 episodes 2020 Normal People Gillian 1 episode The Undoing Haley Fitzgerald Miniseries, 4 episodes2021 Nature Narrator 1 episode Pose Tasha Jackson 1 episode 2021–2022 Made for Love Dr. Fiffany Hodeck Main role 2022 The Watcher Theodora Birch Main role2023 Best Interests Dr. Samantha Woodford 3 episodes Only Murders in the Building Maxine 2 episodes 2024 Presumed Innocent Judge Lyttle 6 episodes 2025–present Murderbot Ayda Mensah Main role 2025 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Chief Kathryn Tynan Recurring role

Stage Year Title Role Theatre 2002 Antony and Cleopatra Charmian Theatre Royal Haymarket 2008 The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other Royal National Theatre 2014 Henry V Mistress Quickly/Alice Noël Coward Theatre 2016–2018 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Hermione Granger Palace Theatre Lyric Theatre 2022 A Doll's House, Part 2 Nora Helmer Donmar Warehouse

Radio In radio, she has appeared in Jambula Tree, Seven Wonders of the Divided World, From Fact to Fiction, From Freedom to the Future, Handprint, Jane's Story, Sagila, Shylock, The Farming of Bones, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Seven Ages of Car, The Bogus Woman and Breakfast with Mugabe.

She voiced various roles in the BBC Radio 4 dramatic recordings of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness. From 2004 to 2014, Dumezweni intermittently voiced characters for the long-running BBC Radio 4 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Audiobooks She voiced the young adult adventure series Steeplejack by A. J. Hartley, which is set in an imaginary world loosely resembling Victorian South Africa.

Accolades