Why Rose Aguineau From True Detective: Night Country Looks So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "True Detective: Night Country" Episode 1
After three seasons of male-heavy main casts, "True Detective: Night Country" puts women first — even though some of them would probably rather skip this creepy adventure. When the entire scientist crew of the Tsalal Arctic research station goes missing, local police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) has to tackle what turns out to be an extremely bizarre case with the very limited resources of a small town police force.
In the middle of it all stands a woman who, in all honesty, probably should have very little to do with the investigation. Fiona Shaw's Rose Aguineau not only appears to be communicating with dead people, but turns out to be very good at finding them in the frozen wilderness. It seems that there's more to Rose than meets the eye — and with Shaw's history of playing a wide variety of fascinating characters, she's perfect for the role. Here's where you might know her from.
Fiona Shaw joined forces with Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot
Fiona Shaw is an esteemed stage actor who has also worked in numerous popular, acclaimed shows and movies during her lengthy career. One of the Irish actor's first forays into Hollywood was none other than "My Left Foot," the 1989 movie about artist Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), who can only move his left foot. The movie earned Day-Lewis his first Academy Award, and Brenda Fricker also scored an Oscar for playing Christy's mother. Shaw plays Dr. Eileen Cole, who takes Christy under her wing and becomes an influential figure in his life — and, eventually, the object of his tragically one-sided romantic affection.
Making director Jim Sheridan's acclaimed movie was a fascinating experience for Shaw, considering the project's humble beginnings. "'My Left Foot' was amazing because it started shooting on a credit card," Shaw told The A.V. Club. "We still hadn't got the funding for it. A bit like 'Killing Eve': Isn't it great when something that you think is going to be a small niche thing becomes such a huge success? We hadn't yet got our funding completely, but off we went for the film and it did so brilliantly well."
She terrorized Harry Potter as Petunia Dursley
There are many iconic and despicable antagonists in the "Harry Potter" movies, but few of them hit so close to home as the Dursleys. Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe) adoptive muggle family makes his life a living hell whenever he's with them. The everyday horror they instill into his life can
resonate with viewers in a grounded way that the more fantastical elements of the wizarding world.
Fiona Shaw's character, Petunia Dursley, is Harry's neglectful aunt. She's the sister of Harry's mother Lily (Geraldine Somerville) and the reason Harry becomes stuck with the Dursleys. Her extreme aversion to all things magical is at least partially responsible for her dislike of Harry, though he does also exist as a reminder of her sister's murder. Either way, her unpleasant personality doesn't exactly help her case.
Shaw's character is far from the most dangerous villain in the franchise, but her petty antagonism nevertheless affects viewers. Shaw has sometimes even seen this her everyday life.
"I had one experience recently when an air hostess was very impolite, then came up at the end of the flight and said: 'I'm terribly sorry but I was frightened of you because my children watch Harry Potter all the time,'" she told The Guardian. "It's funny. Children always gaze up at me in horror, while their parent doesn't even notice and just drags them away. I'm sure they'd much prefer to see Dobby [Toby Jones] than me."
She was spy chief Carolyn Martens in Killing Eve
"Killing Eve" is filled to the brim with great characters and talented actors, showcasing a powerhouse dynamic of unstable assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and obsessive intelligence analyst Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) complimented by colorful supporting players. It takes a lot to come across as an imposing presence in a company like this ... but, as it turns out, Fiona Shaw does precisely that. Shaw plays Carolyn Martens, the manipulative, collected, and strategic head of MI6's Russian affairs. An intelligence legend and Eve's personal hero, Carolyn's various missions, machinations, and quests are crucial to the plot, and her seemingly reserved English facade hides a world-saving superspy with depth to spare.
Carolyn is a meaty role, and in an interview with UPI, Shaw made clear that even someone with her stellar CV was highly impressed by the "Killing Eve" experience. "I've so enjoyed playing Carolyn. I wish I could go on playing her every week forever," she said ahead of the series finale. "It's on the television at the moment, so I can't go down the street without people coming up and going, 'Oh, my God!' They haven't had the final episode here yet, so it does feel very, very present. I'm not processing it in the past quite yet. I still feel a part of it."
Shaw was an important part of Andor as Maarva
In 2022, Fiona Shaw took a trip to the galaxy far, far away on "Andor" as Maarva Carassi Andor, the adoptive mother of protagonist Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Maarva seems somewhat timid and wary of the Empire, but things are not what they initially appear to be. She ends up playing a prominent role in the endgame of "Andor" Season 1, and is extremely important in Cassian's progress from an aimless criminal to the high-level Rebel spy of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
"Maarva is beginning to view the world [differently], including the oppression that she's absorbed, because the Empire does keep them all down and they're not proud of that," Shaw described her role on the Star Wars website. "People get ashamed of being kept down and Maarva's husband has been killed by the very same Empire and hanged in the town square. So she's had to swallow a lot of pride over the years. And we meet her at a point where maybe that's becoming really untenable."
This might seem like a quieter journey than, say, the path from a kid on Tatooine to an esteemed Jedi knight, but "Andor" is all about the small cogs in the great "Star Wars" machine. As such, Shaw's character packs quite a punch in the grand scheme of things.
Fiona Shaw has been everywhere
Fiona Shaw has been acting in TV shows and movies since the early 1980s, and her public profile has increased over time with a number of great roles in high-profile projects. As such, even if the above shows and films aren't familiar to a "True Detective: Night Country" viewer, there's a laundry list of other roles that may very well ring a bell. For instance, she's the witch Marnie Stonebrook on the vampire drama "True Blood," and Marla Painter in the creepypasta show "Channel Zero." She's the hilariously savage therapist on "Fleabag," and Miss Harrison in "Enola Holmes."
As one might assume, Shaw's gravitas has also made her a natural fit for a number of dramas, from Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" to the 1996 adaptation of "Jane Eyre. For fans of good, old-fashioned blockbuster bombs, she even has that covered. Shaw played President Koopa's (Dennis Hopper) partner Lena in 1993's "Super Mario Bros" and the villainous Father in "The Avengers" (the 1998 one with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman). She even turns up for an uncredited cameo in "Pixels." She's appeared in horror movies, British detective shows, Hollywood comedies, and little-known TV movies ... in other words, there's no telling where you can bump into Fiona Shaw.