Actor Lucy Briers, who graduated from Lancaster University in 1988, has received an Alumni award in this July’s graduation ceremonies.

Lucy is an accomplished actor, whose most recent role is as Lady Ceira Lannister in the Game of Thrones’ prequel House of the Dragon.

The daughter of well known actors Richard Briers and Ann Davies, she studied Theatre and Sculpture Studies, where she was exposed to experimental theatre for the first time.

She said: “Lancaster’s drama department really did have a pioneering feel.”

After graduating with a degree in Independent Studies in 1988, Lucy won a place on a three-year course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Lucy Briers is a versatile stage and screen actor, who has appeared in some of British TV’s most iconic shows, alongside an enviable list of theatre credits. From an early appearance in Red Dwarf, Lucy’s career has taken in more comedy, including Twenty Twelve and The Thick of It; crime dramas, notably Endeavour, Midsomer Murders and Silent Witness; and drama, including BBC’s Pride & Prejudice.

Her on-stage success includes work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she won Equity’s Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ibsen’s Rosmersholm in 2019. Her recent credits include Ceira Lannister in the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, and on stage as Virginia/Elizabeth 1st in Orlando at the Garrick Theatre.

Lucy feels an enormous debt of gratitude towards Lancaster University, without which she is convinced she would never have gained a place at drama school.

“As an actor, you have to have an inner core of steel because there is so much rejection in that industry. I had a struggle during my time at Lancaster, but going through it taught me to be tough and to look at the flip side of things. There is an obvious way of doing something and then there is a more interesting way. That is an invaluable lesson, not only in how to approach a new role but also in how to approach life itself.”

One way she is helping young talent is by supporting a new playwriting prize for Lancaster Arts - an aspect of theatre which is close to her heart.

“New writing provides essential life blood into the theatre. There’s something magical about being the first person to speak those lines. It’s a massive liberation.”