Romola Garai was first seen in the 2000 British-American television film ‘The Last of the Blonde Bombshells,’ directed by Gillies MacKinnon. That same year, she appeared in the BBC TV series ‘Attachments’ where she played the role of ‘Zoe Atkins.’ She went on to make her silver screen debut in the 2002 British-American period comedy-drama film ‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ directed by Douglas McGrath. The film opened to a positive reception and holds a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
She then went on to appear in films and television series such as ‘I Capture the Castle’ (2003), ‘Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights’ (2004), ‘Vanity Fair’ (2004), ‘Inside I'm Dancing’ (2004), ‘The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant’ (2005), ‘Renaissance’ (2006), and ‘Scoop’ (2006). In 2006, she portrayed ‘Barbara Spooner’ in the British-American biographical drama film ‘Amazing Grace,’ directed by Michael Apted. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and earned a 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She continued to star in television series and films like ‘The Other Man’ (2008), ‘Great Performances’ (2008), ‘Glorious 39’ (2009), ‘Emma’ (2009), ‘The Crimson Petal and the White’ (2011), ‘Junkhearts’ (2011), ‘The Hour’ (2011), ‘Whitelands’ (2012), and ‘Having You’ (2013). She played the role of ‘Rebecca Lane’ in the 2013 science fiction-horror film ‘The Last Days on Mars,’ directed by Ruairí Robinson. The film currently sits on an 18% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That same year, she also starred as ‘Anna March’ in the Pete Travis-directed British thriller television film, ‘Legacy.’ The film was based on Alan Judd's 2001 novel of the same name. She next appeared in television series and films like ‘The Great War: The People's Story’ (2014), ‘Suffragette’ (2015), ‘Dominion’ (2016), ‘Churchill's Secret’ (2016), ‘Born to Kill’ (2017), ‘The Miniaturist’ (2017), ‘The Windermere Children’ (2020), ‘Amulet’ (2020), ‘Miss Marx’ (2020), and ‘Earwig’ (2021). She last appeared in the 2022 television drama series ‘Becoming Elizabeth’ where she portrayed ‘Mary Tudor.’