Sian Clifford

Sian Clifford (born 7 April 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Claire, the older sister of the titular character in the BBC comedy-drama series Fleabag (2016–2019), Martha Crawley in the ITV/Amazon Studios series Vanity Fair, and Diana Ingram in the ITV series Quiz (2020).

For the second season of Fleabag, Clifford won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, and received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series as well as a Critics' Choice nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Her theatre credits include Consent at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Pains of Youth at the National Theatre, and The Road to Mecca at the Arcola Theatre.

Early life Clifford was born in London on 7 April 1982, the daughter of an executive assistant mother and a father who worked for the local council. She has two brothers, Alex and Elliot, and a sister, Natalie, who is an art dealer in New York City. having been turned down twice previously. The two "“made a silent pact” that if one of them became successful first, they’d “help the other one out”." She graduated from RADA in 2006.

Career

2006–2015: Early career and theatre In the first ten years of her professional acting career, Clifford became a prolific Off West End actress. In her first few years out of drama school, she was involved with Theatre503 in which she was involved the productions Without Laughing, Contraction, and Listening Out. In March 2007, she acted in the play Not the End of the World at the Bristol Old Vic theatre. Her first notable performance was playing Ismene in the Nottingham Playhouse production of Burial at Thebes at the Barbican, which premiered in September 2007.

In summer 2008, she acted in a play called The Pendulum, written by her co-star Alexander Fiske-Harrison, at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End, which ran for the month of June, and in the following month she took part in the annual Latitude Festival in the play Public Displays of Affection. Clifford was in three theatre productions the next summer: in June, she had a small role in a chamber opera titled Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio, she co-starred in the Arcola Theatre play The Road to Mecca, and she toured with the production Is Everyone Okay?, which co-starred future Fleabag castmate Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Throughout September 2010, Clifford starred in the well-reviewed experimental theatre piece Pieces of Vincent at the Arcola Theatre. For the rest of autumn 2010, she had a supporting role in the play Pains of Youth at the Royal National Theatre. Finishing out the year, Clifford held the titular role in an original production of Beauty and the Beast, also at the Royal National Theatre. The production ran throughout the Christmas season and was critically successful.

In 2014, she was one of the stars of the Nottingham Playhouse's production of Time and the Conways. Also that year, she took part in Good. Clean. Fun., a collection of short plays by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, which includes an early version of Clifford's Fleabag character Claire, as well as the Victorian-era play Fever at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Clifford had previously played the role of Claire in a sketch of Waller-Bridge's called "Use Your Vote", which consisted of two sisters attending a feminist lecture, and Clifford reprised this role several times.

In 2015, Clifford started Still Space, a blog and platform where she shared information and thoughts about mindfulness and meditation. Her last post (as of August 2026) was on 7 April 2024.

During her career, Clifford has also participated in many workshops and readings for Off West End productions. She has often collaborated with DryWrite and Nabokov theatre companies, theatre directors Vicky Jones (DryWrite), Lyndsey Turner (Royal National Theatre, Theatre503) and Andrew Steggall, and writer–actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge wrote the character of Claire with Clifford in mind, and Clifford said she fought the BBC to include her in the series, having wanted someone famous to fill the role. Clifford's performance in the show was widely praised and she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series She was also nominated for the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actress (which Waller-Bridge won).

In 2017, Clifford was part of the cast of the play Gloria at Hampstead Theatre, which was the play's Off West End premiere.

In 2018, Clifford had a recurring role in the ITV miniseries Vanity Fair and was in a production of Circle Mirror Transformation in Manchester.

Later in 2018, Clifford was part of the cast in the West End production of Consent at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

In 2019, Clifford had a small role in the independent dark comedy film A Serial Killer's Guide to Life. In 2020, Clifford had guest roles on the television shows Hitmen on Sky One and Liar. She starred as Diana Ingram opposite Matthew Macfadyen (who played Charles Ingram) in the April 2020 miniseries Quiz, based on the 2001Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? scandal.

In 2021, Clifford starred in the romantic comedy Good Grief, a hybrid of theatre and film produced in the context of the covid pandemic. It was written by Lorien Hayes, directed by Natalie Abrahami and featured music composed by Isobel Waller-Bridge.

In May 2021, Clifford starred as Iris in the Inside No. 9 episode "Lip Service". In July 2021, Clifford voiced GS-8 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

In 2022, Clifford starred in the BBC adaptation of Kate Atkinson's novel Life After Life. In March 2025, Clifford was nominated in the BBC Audio Drama Awards under Best Comedy Performance for her role in the show. The series returned for a second series in December 2025 to January 2026.

In 2024, Clifford starred in series two of the Channel 4 comedy Everyone Else Burns as Maude. In the series, Maude, a new member of the Order, tries to tempt father and husband David away from his wife Fiona. The Guardian said that this storyline was "a reminder of why this style of sitcom fell out of fashion" and that "As a character and plot device, Maude – who has no intelligible backstory – feels hollow".

In 2025, Clifford led the cast of mockumentary Lady, which was eventually released in August 2026.

In September 2025, it was announced Clifford had joined the cast of BBC detective series Ludwig, playing local MP Joanne Kemper in the second series.

Personal life Clifford is a vegan and practises daily meditation. In 2016, she launched a digital wellness and meditation platform called Still Space.

Filmography

Television Year TitleChannel Role NotesRef. 2012 Dark Matters: Twisted But True Ida Thomas Documentary series (Episode: "Agent Orange, Ben Franklin") 2013 Midsomer Murders PC Milton Episode: "Schooled in Murder" 2018 Vanity Fair Martha Crawley 5 episodes 2020 Hitmen The Accountant Episode: "Money" Liar Ruby Allen Episode: "2.5" QuizITV Diana Ingram Miniseries, all episodes 2024 Doctor WhoKind WomanEpisode: "Empire of Death" Everyone Else BurnsChannel 4MaudeSeries 2 2026 BaitAmazon PrimeVivianEpisode: "To Troll, to Provoke"2026 LudwigBBCJoanne Kemper MPSeries 2 2026 The Miniature Wife Terry Filming

Film