An Irish actress, born 18 February 1948. Her most recent stage role is a capricious and funny
Cleopatra in the
RSC's
Antony and Cleopatra, opposite a less convincing
Stuart Wilson.
She is married to Jeremy Irons, since 1978, and they have two children. Her father Cyril Cusack and her sisters Sorcha, Niamh, and Catherine are also all in the acting line (I believe).
Before Cleopatra her last role with the RSC was Lady Macbeth in 1986. She is mainly a theatrical actor, starting at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and working also with the Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre in London from the 1960s.
Her first film appearance was in Alfred the Great (1969), and she has starred in, among others, Waterland (1992) and Stealing Beauty (1996), in both cases opposite Jeremy Irons. Others include The Cement Garden (1993), and most recently I Capture the Castle, the 2002 adaptation of the Dodie Smith novel.