Tony, Olivier, and Drama Desk Award winning actress Janet McTeer began her career with the Royal Exchange Theatre after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She made her professional stage debut in 1984, and two years later was nominated for the Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre.

In 1996, McTeer appeared in a West End production of A Doll's House, and transferred with the show to Broadway the following year. For her performance, she received an Olivier Award, a Tony Award, and a Drama Desk Award. On screen success followed in 1999 after McTeer starred in the Sundance hit Tumbleweeds. She was nominated for an Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, and won a Golden Globe Award, a National Board of Review Award, and a Satellite Award for the role.

After Tumbleweeds, McTeer appeared in a diverse array of film and television roles, including Songcatcher, As You Like It, a miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and  In 2009, McTeer was nominated for her first Emmy for her performance as Clementine Churchill in the TV movie Into the Storm. In 2012 came Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Albert Nobbs, and in 2014 she was nominated for another Golden Globe for the miniseries The White Queen. That same year she starred in the critically acclaimed miniseries The Honourable Woman. Most recently, she could be seen starring in the series Battle Creek.

McTeer has also maintained an active stage career. She played Mary, Queen of Scots in the 2005 production of Mary Stuart, and also reprised the role when it transferred to Broadway in 2009. For her role in Mary Stuart, McTeer won a Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony. In 2008 and 2010, she starred in the West End and Broadway productions of God of Carnage, respectively.

In 2008, McTeer was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire