Cara Horgan (born 5 October 1984) is a British actress who has appeared on stage, on television, and in films.
Career Horgan has appeared in several television productions including Peep Show, Traitors, The Rotters' Club, Genius: Picasso and Jane Eyre.
She has appeared in films including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Wedding Video, Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin, and Disobedience alongside Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz.
She appeared in music videos for Years & Years' single "Desire" and the Chemical Brothers' song "I'll See You There".
In 2008, Horgan appeared in Hedda, a modern updated version of Hedda Gabler, directed by Carrie Cracknell in which she played the lead character to favourable reviews; reviewer Charles Spencer in The Daily Telegraph wrote that she was "especially fine as a glamorous, bob-haired Hedda, ... using sex... like a shrimping net".Charles Spencer, "Updated Hedda is off-target", telegraph.co.uk, 3 September 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2015."... Cara Horgan is especially fine as a glamorous, bob-haired Hedda ... using sex... like a shrimping net."
In 2009, she appeared in a revival of Ferdinand Bruckner's Krankheit der Jugend ("Pains of Youth"), directed by Katie Mitchell, at the National Theatre.Caroline Bishop (19 August 2009). "Gambon Leads Bennett's Habit of Art", officiallondontheatre.co.uk. Retrieved July 2015.MATT WOLF, On the London Stage, a 'Little Voice' Grown Powerful, nytimes.com, 18 November 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2015."... Cara Horgan and Leo Bill in Pains of Youth..."Leo Benedictus, "What to say about ... Katie Mitchell's Pains of Youth: This dark play about medical students in 1920s Vienna has drawn forensic analysis from the critics. But do they give it a clean bill of health?", theguardian.com, 2 November 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2015."...Laura Elphinstone and Cara Horgan in Pains of Youth. ..." In 2010, she appeared in Caryl Churchill's Far Away at Bristol Old Vic, directed by Simon Godwin.Dominic Cavendish, "'Far Away' at the Bristol Old Vic" review; Caryl Churchill's 'Far Away' takes us into a deranged dystopia that may enrage but cannot be ignored", telegraph.co.uk, 31 May 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2015."... Cara Horgan plays the girl in later years, blithely working in a sinister hat factory on ornate creations for a "parade" of condemned prisoners (a chilling scene perfectly executed....)"Dominic Maxwell, "Far Away at Bristol Old Vic", thetimes.co.uk, 31 May 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2015."...Far Away ... Cara Horgan (in photo)..."
In 2011, she performed in The School for Scandal directed by Deborah Warner and written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.David Benedict, The School for Scandal review (2011), Variety. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
From 2013 to 2015, she joined Sean Holmes' ten-member Secret Theatre company at the Lyric Hammersmith,"Casting announced for THE MOTHER by Florian Zeller", LondonTheatre1News.com, 20 April 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015;"Cara Horgan's theatre credits ... Secret Theatre ... School For Scandal...Pains of Youth ...The House of Special Purpose... and Hedda Gabler ... film credits include The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ... and The Libertine..."Michael Coveney. Whatsonstage.com, June 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2016. which experimented with improvisational techniques towards drama. For some performances, a cast member's name was chosen from a hat by an audience member to be the show's protagonist; then, he or she would be "given a series of increasingly impossible acts to accomplish" which could involve such activities as complex dance routines, wrestling, singing and improvisation, according to one account.Lucy Brooks, "Culture Whisper Review: A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts, Tricycle Theatre: Mind-boggling feats both silly and profound make for an engrossing and refreshingly honest show", CultureWhisper.com. Retrieved 18 July 2015."... Cara Horgan, likewise, appeared in The Libertine and My Week with Marilyn. They have all been part of the Secret Theatre Company for at least two years now, under the direction of Sean Holmes, artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith. ..."A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts, Tricycle Theatre, CultureWhisper.com, 12 January 2015 – 28 January 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015."... Cara Horgan, likewise, appeared in The Libertine and My Week with Marilyn...." She performed with the ensemble for two years to positive reviews.Paul Taylor, Theatre review: Secret Theatre – Show 3, independent.co.uk, 28 October 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015."...monstrously ambitious prison governor (superb Cara Horgan)..." In an extended interview in Exeunt Magazine, she described her work at Secret Theatre as giving her "freedom to play".Dan Hutton, Freedom to Play: Q&A and Interviews, exeuntmagazine.com, 1 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2015."...according to Cara Horgan, asks "the audience to put their own interpretation or their own understanding of things on the work they're seeing...."
In 2015, she appeared in The Mother at the Ustinov Studio in Bath.Lyn Gardner, "The Mother review – Gina McKee is ghost-like in haunting empty nest drama", theguardian.com, 29 May 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015."...the beautiful Elodie (Cara Horgan)...." In 2017, she appeared in Cellmates at the Hampstead Theatre directed by Edward Hall. Paul Taylor in The Independent wrote: "Cara Horgan is delectable in a double as the Russian maid who duets with Bourke in his hammy renditions of 'Danny Boy' for his captors and as the wife in a CND couple who have an inconvenient marital meltdown while helping Blake on his first night outside."
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes2004The LibertineActing Troop2008The Boy in the Striped PyjamasMaria2009CanacuchoMrs. RichardsonBe GoodJoannaShort film2010Cowards & MonstersFun_Girl732011Where There's SmokeKate2012The Wedding VideoRoxy2013Fish LoveAliShort film2014Steak KnifeSara2017The Death of StalinLidiya TimashukDisobedienceMiss ScheinburgV.O.AmandaShort film2018The Mechanicals of HempPetra2019BoatClaraLessons of the HourOttilie Assing
Television YearTitleRoleProductionNotes2005The Rotters' ClubClaire NewmanCompany PicturesMini-series; 3 episodesAfterlifeVeronica VassClerkenwell Films / ITVEpisode: "More Than Meets the Eye"2006The RomanticsMary ShelleyBBCMini-series; episode: "Nature"Jane EyreEliza ReedBBCMini-series; episode 32007Fallen AngelJoannaIWC Media / Ingenious BroadcastingMini-series; episode: "The Judgement of Strangers"Peep ShowAuroraObjective ProductionsEpisode: "Holiday"Silent WitnessAnna HollandBBCEpisode: "Double Dare"2008Ladies and GentlemenEmilyTalkback ThamesTelevision film2009LewisAlice WishartITV StudiosEpisode: "Allegory of Love"2011Waking the DeadYoung Lucy ChristieBBCEpisode: "Solidarity"Law & Order: UKElizabeth LernerKudos Film and TelevisionEpisode: "Intent"2012A Young Doctor's NotebookKlaraBig Talk ProductionsEpisode: "Episode Three"2013JoMariaAtlantique ProductionsEpisode: "Notre Dame"Common GroundSuziBaby Cow ProductionsEpisode: "Eleanor"2016Midsomer MurdersRachel MonkfordBentley ProductionsEpisode: "A Dying Art"2018GeniusAlice B. ToklasNational GeographicEpisode: "Picasso: Chapter Seven"West of LibertyJeanie J. JohnsonAnagram6 episodes2019TraitorsRae Savitt42 / Twenty Twentry Television4 episodesFlackCamillaCASM Films / Hat Trick ProductionsEpisode: "Duncan"2021Alex RiderPolly HuntonEleventh Hour FilmsEpisode: "Mirror"Murder in ProvenceElodie LiottaMonumental Television / ITV StudiosEpisode: #1.3The SandmanZeldaDC Comics / DC Entertainment3 episodes2023Black CakeMildredHarpo Films / Hulu OriginalsEpisode: "Eleanor"2024GrantchesterLeah CarpenterLovely Day / KudosEpisode: #9.42023–present The Marlow Murder ClubBecks StarlingMonumental Television / PBS / UKTVSeries 1–3; 16 episodes
Theatre YearTitleRoleDirectorVenue2008HeddaHeddaCarrie CracknellThe Gate Theatre2009The House of Special PurposeOlgaHoward DaviesChichester Festival TheatrePains of YouthIrenaKatie MitchellThe National Theatre2010Far AwayJoanSimon GodwinBristol Old Vic2011The School for ScandalMariaDeborah WarnerThe Barbican2013–2015Secret Theatre – Woyzeck
– A Streetcar Named Desire
– Chamber Piece
– Glitterland
– A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts
– Show 6
– A Stab in the DarkVarious Sean HolmesThe Lyric, Hammersmith2015The MotherElodieLaurence BoswellBath Ustinov2017CellmatesMiranda / ZinaidaEdward HallThe Hampstead Theatre
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