Francesca Annis played Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica, in 1984’s “Dune,” but it was not her first sci-fi B-movie role: She also played the Widow of the Web in “Krull.” Despite these roles, Annis has a long history of performing Shakespeare on stage and in film. Although Annis was willing to film a nude scene in Roman Polanski’s “Lady Macbeth,” she drew the line at posing for magazine covers. After Hugh Hefner saw her performance and suggested that she model for “Playboy,” Annis declared, “I’m an actress, not a pinup,” according to Turner Classic Movies.
Her most iconic role is the titular character in “Lillie,” a historical drama based on the life of British socialite Lillie Langtry, for which she won a BAFTA. Annis has largely gravitated toward period dramas in a similar vein to “Lillie,” including “Libertine,” “Jane Eyre,” and “Cranford.” She also played an older woman in a relationship with a younger man in “Reckless,” which some have argued mirrored her relationship with Ralph Fiennes in real life. Since 2008, Annis has worked almost exclusively on television, with the exception of the 2018 movie “King of Thieves.”