Sally Hawkins fans are really being fed this month: she appears in Spencer, the buzzy new movie about Princess Diana, and A Boy Called Christmas, a festive fantasy film arriving on Netflix November 26.  So, we’re taking the opportunity to look back at some of her most memorable roles to date.
1. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Hawkins won a Golden Globe award for her endearing performance in this comedy-drama film from Mike Leigh. As Poppy Cross, a London teacher who sees the positive in everyone, she carries the narrative with an easy effervescence that's impossible to resist. It's the role that really put Hawkins on the map.
2. Made in Dagenham (2010)
Hawkins gives a spirited performance in this film about the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968, a bellwether moment that led to equal pay for U.K. women. She plays Rita O'Grady, a working-class Londoner who is so outraged to have her job categorized as "unskilled labor" that she launches a protest which captures the national mood.
 
3. Submarine (2010)
Written and directed by Richard Ayaode, this British coming-of-age film is an offbeat delight. Craig Roberts stars as an awkward teenager consumed by his own virginity; Hawkins delivers a fine supporting performance as his mother, who seems preoccupied with a self-styled new age guru played by Paddy Considine. It's certainly well worth seeking out.
 
4. Blue Jasmine (2013)
This Woody Allen film is best remembered for its Oscar-winning turn from Cate Blanchett, who's superb as a brittle socialite who falls on hard times. But Hawkins, Oscar nominated too, is also excellent as Jasmine's kinder and more grounded sister Ginger. She provides a soothing counterpoint to Blanchett's flinty histrionics. 
5. Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017)
These family comedy movies are packed with charm – who can resist a marmalade-loving bear with the voice of Ben Whishaw? Hawkins brings a gentle warmth to proceedings as Mrs. Brown, the matriarch of the friendly London family who take in lovable but clumsy Paddington Bear.
6. X and Y (2015)
Sex Education's Asa Butterfield leads this British film which was released in the U.S. as A Brilliant Young Mind. He plays a teenage math prodigy dealing with the twin challenges of autism and losing his father at a young age. Hawkins gives a lovely supporting performance as his mother, a woman trying not to let her concern for her son show too much.

7. Maudie (2017)
Hawkins won more acclaim for her performance in this sympathetic biopic of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. Despite suffering from arthritis, losing a child, and battling persistent money worries, Lewis always manages to retain her optimism and lust for life, a quality that Hawkins conveys beautifully.
8. The Shape of Water (2017)
This Oscar-winning film from director Guillermo del Toro is a tough sell on paper – after all, it's a love story between a mute cleaner and a captive humanoid amphibian creature. But in practice, it's a quirky and affecting delight brought to life by Hawkins' empathetic work as a woman whose feelings for the creature are clearly very genuine. 

9. Eternal Beauty (2019)
Another collaboration with writer-director Craig Roberts, with whom she starred in Submarine, this dark comedy film is somewhat underrated. Hawkins gives one of her best performances as Jane, a woman who has been haunted by mental illness for many years after being jilted at the altar. It’s a tough watch, but ultimately a tender and hopeful one, too. 

10. Spencer (2021)
Kristen Stewart is deservedly earning Oscar buzz for her riveting performance as the late Princess Diana in this vivid and somewhat shocking biopic. Hawkins doesn't have masses of screen time as Diana's loyal dresser, Maggie, but she makes it count with a deeply sympathetic and touching performance.
Have we missed one of your favorite Sally Hawkins roles?