You know that feeling when you're watching a massive hit like Peaky Blinders or Bodyguard and there’s that one actor who just grounds everything? They aren't chewing the scenery, but you can’t look away. For a lot of us, that person is Sophie Rundle.
She has this uncanny ability to play "the wife" or "the sister" and somehow make them the most interesting person in the room. Honestly, if you look back at Sophie Rundle movies and tv shows, she’s been everywhere. From the blood-soaked streets of Birmingham to the flooded lanes of Yorkshire, Rundle has quietly become the gold standard for modern British television.
The Ada Shelby Effect: More Than Just a Peaky Blinder
Most people first met her as Ada Thorne (née Shelby) in Peaky Blinders. It’s her most iconic role, but it’s also one where she had to fight for space. In a show dominated by Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones and Tom Hardy’s... well, everything... Ada could have easily been a background character.
Instead, Rundle turned her into the family’s moral compass. She started as a rebellious teenager and ended the series as a formidable political operator. It’s a transformation that feels earned. We’re actually going to see her step back into those shoes very soon. With the film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man slated for a March 2026 release, fans are already speculating how Ada will handle the post-series power vacuum. She’s always been the smartest Shelby; it’s about time the scripts fully acknowledge it.
Why "After the Flood" is Changing the Game for Her
Right now, everyone is talking about After the Flood. Rundle plays Jo Marshall, a pregnant police officer obsessed with a mystery that nobody else seems to care about.
The second season is hitting ITV this week (January 2026), and it’s a bit of a departure from her usual period-piece aesthetic. It’s gritty. It’s wet. It’s stressful. Interestingly, Rundle filmed this while navigating real-life motherhood. She’s been pretty open in recent interviews about the "huge juggle" of working four-day weeks to balance her two young sons while staying submerged in cold water for twelve hours a day.
What makes After the Flood work isn’t just the "whodunnit" element. It’s the way Rundle plays Jo as someone who is constantly underestimated because of her pregnancy. It mirrors her career in a way—she’s often cast in supporting roles that she then proceeds to dominate.
The Gentleman Jack Connection
If you haven't seen Gentleman Jack, you're missing out on Rundle’s most vulnerable work. Playing Ann Walker opposite Suranne Jones’s Anne Lister was a masterclass in subtlety.
Ann Walker is a character defined by her fragility and her wealth, a combination that usually leads to a very boring performance. But Rundle found the steel in her. She made the internal struggle of a 19th-century woman coming to terms with her sexuality feel urgent and modern. It’s probably the best example of her "Midas touch" when it comes to picking scripts. She doesn't just do "costume dramas"; she does human dramas that happen to have great hats.
A Quick Rundown of the "Must-Watches"
If you’re looking to binge-watch your way through her career, don’t just stick to the big names. There are some gems that get overlooked:
- The Bletchley Circle: She plays Lucy, the girl with the photographic memory. It’s basically a superhero team-up but with 1950s code-breakers.
- The Nest: A psychological thriller set in Glasgow. Rundle plays a woman desperate for a baby who enters a very shady surrogacy deal. It’s tense as hell.
- Happy Valley: She isn't in it for long (no spoilers, but ouch), but her role as PC Kirsten McAskill is one of the most memorable—and heartbreaking—moments in the entire series.
- Bodyguard: She played Vicky Budd, the estranged wife of Richard Madden’s character. Again, a role that could have been a "worried wife" trope, but she gave it actual weight.
Is She Moving Toward Movies?
While she’s the queen of the small screen, her filmography is growing. She was in George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky and starred in the indie horror Rose, which she actually co-produced with her partner, Matt Stokoe.
They’ve got their own production company now, Bone Garden Films. It seems like she’s tired of waiting for the industry to give her the "autonomous" roles she wants and is just making them herself. It’s a smart move. In an industry that often discards women as they get older, Rundle is leaning into it. She’s gone on record saying that roles actually get more interesting as you age because the characters have more to lose.
The 2026 Outlook
Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be her biggest year yet. Between the return of After the Flood and the Peaky Blinders movie, she’s essentially booked and busy.
There’s a reason casting directors keep calling her. She brings a specific kind of "lived-in" energy to her characters. Whether she’s a code-breaker, a Shelby, or a detective, you always feel like there’s a whole life happening off-camera that you’re just catching glimpses of.
If you want to keep up with her latest projects, your best bet is to keep an eye on ITV’s Sunday night lineup. After the Flood Season 2 is the immediate priority. Once you've caught up on that, go back and watch The Bletchley Circle. It’s a crime that show didn't get ten seasons, and Rundle is a huge reason why it remains a cult favorite today.
Start with the first season of After the Flood if you haven't seen it yet—the mystery of the unidentified man in the car park is the perfect entry point into her more recent, darker work.---Actionable Insight: To see Rundle at her most versatile, watch The Nest on BBC iPlayer or Amazon; it showcases her ability to carry a high-stakes thriller without the safety net of a massive ensemble cast.