Jusqu'en 1996 et Secrets et mensonges, Brenda était une actrice plutôt inconnue du grand public. Elle avait enchaîné plusieurs téléfilms avant d'apparaître dans Et au milieu coule une rivière de Robert Redford. En 1996, le réalisateur Mike Leigh fait appel à elle pour interpréter le rôle de Cynthia, une ouvrière blanche vivant dans un quartier populaire et mère célibataire, qui reçoit un jour l'appel de sa fille qu'elle abandonna une vingtaine d'années plus tôt. Le film est présenté au 49e Festival de Cannes. Très bien accueilli, en plus de remporter le prix suprême qu'est la Palme d'or, Brenda se voit attribuer le Prix d'interprétation féminine. Par la suite, elle remportera le Golden Globe de la meilleure actrice dans un film dramatique ainsi que le British Academy Film Award de la meilleure actrice et sera nommée à l'Oscar de la meilleure actrice. Elle sera de nouveau nommée deux ans plus tard dans la catégorie second rôle pour Little Voice de Mark Herman. Son autre succès est la comédie Saving Grace dans laquelle elle est Grace, une récente veuve qui pour faire face aux dettes de son mari va cultiver du cannabis.

En 2008, elle est membre du jury des longs-métrages du 43e Festival international du film de Karlovy Vary, sous la présidence d'Ivan Passer.

Depuis 2011, elle incarne à la télévision l'inspectrice en chef Vera Stanhope dans la série britannique Les Enquêtes de Vera, diffusée en France par la chaine de télévision France 3.

Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work.

Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming.

In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews.

Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.

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Brenda Blethyn, pseudônimo de Brenda Anne Bottle (Ramsgate, Kent, 20 de fevereiro de 1946) é uma atriz e escritora inglesa. Blethyn iniciou sua carreira nos teatros como parte da Royal National Theatre e estreou na televisão em 1980. Depois de alguns papéis secundários como em "The Witches" (1990) e "A River Runs Through It" (1992), ela protagonizou a dramédia de 1996 "Segredos e Mentiras", que lhe valeu uma indicação ao Oscar e Globo de Ouro na categoria de Melhor Atriz. Trabalhou no musical "Little Voice" (1998), pelo qual recebeu sua segunda indicação ao Oscar, na categoria de melhor atriz coadjuvante.