When you think of Mr Bean’s girlfriend, there’s only one face that comes to mind: Matilda Ziegler as the perpetually patient Irma Gobb. This talented British actress has built a career that goes far beyond her iconic role in the beloved comedy series. With nearly four decades in the entertainment industry, she’s acted in everything from harrowing drug addiction storylines to Shakespearean theatre, all while maintaining a private personal life.
Matilda Ziegler is a British actress who’s been captivating audiences since 1987. She’s perhaps best known internationally for playing Irma Gobb, Mr Bean’s girlfriend, in the original ITV sitcom and for continuing to voice the character in the animated series for over two decades. Beyond Mr Bean, she’s known for her powerful portrayal of troubled teen Donna Ludlow in the BBC’s EastEnders, her role as Pearl Pratt in Lark Rise to Candleford, and appearances in productions like Living (2022) and The Diplomat (2023).
Biography
Matilda Florence Elizabeth Ziegler was born on July 23, 1964, in Ashford, Kent, England. She’s currently 61 years old and still actively working in the industry. Her family moved to Hamble when she was just four years old, where her mother, Elizabeth Mary Hallinan, ran a restaurant on Hamble Hard. Her father, Carl Gordon Ziegler, and her maternal grandfather, Sir Eric Hallinan (a judge and colonial administrator), established quite a family legacy of professional achievement.
Growing up, Matilda attended St. Anne’s Convent in Southampton. She didn’t always plan to be an actress. She briefly managed a wine bar attached to her family’s restaurant before spending a year studying painting in Paris. It was what she later described as a “serendipitous” pivot that led her to enrol at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. After her early television success, she spent five years doing intensive stage work, which she considered her “proper training” as an actress.
Matilda’s brother, Dominic Ziegler, took an entirely different professional path. He’s a renowned journalist who serves as The Economist’s Senior Asia Correspondent. Dominic founded the publication’s influential “Banyan” column, which focuses on Asian affairs, and authored Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China, published in 2015. He’s also served as the newspaper’s China correspondent and Tokyo Bureau Chief during his impressive 25-year journalism career.
Career
Matilda launched her television career in 1987 at the age of 23 when she landed the role of Donna Ludlow in BBC One’s soap opera EastEnders. It was an emotionally demanding character that required her to handle some weighty material. She played the illegitimate daughter of series regular Kathy Beale, conceived during a rape when Kathy was just 14 years old.
Over 121 episodes from August 1987 to April 1989, Matilda brought Donna’s devastating storyline to life. Her character grappled with prostitution, attempted gang rape, and heroin addiction before ultimately dying of an overdose. Critics hailed her performance as “one of the most powerful anti-drug images ever screened” on British television. She even dyed her naturally fair hair dark to avoid resembling her on-screen mother. When Donna’s storyline concluded with her death in April 1989, Matilda left the show.
Just a year after leaving EastEnders, Matilda joined the cast of ITV’s Mr Bean, creating a character beloved worldwide. Between 1990 and 1992, she appeared as Irma Gobb in three episodes: “The Curse of Mr Bean,” “Mr Bean Goes to Town,” and “Merry Christmas Mr Bean,” where Irma finally leaves Bean after he fails to propose. She also played various other characters in the series, including a waitress, a mother, and a policewoman.
Matilda voiced Irma in Mr Bean: The Animated Series from 2002 to 2004, reprised the role again from 2015 to 2019, and continues voicing the character through 2025. That’s 25 years of bringing Irma to life.
While television brought her fame, Matilda built an equally impressive stage career. She’s performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre, and the Barbican Centre. Her 1994 performance in The Lady from the Sea earned both a TMA Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, which is no small feat. Notable productions include Twelfth Night with the RSC in 2001, and Volpone, Machinal, and Inadmissible Evidence at the National Theatre.
She’s also toured internationally, taking Stephen Daldry’s acclaimed production of An Inspector Calls to Australia, where she played Sheila Birling. More recently, she appeared in Downstate at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre before it transferred to the National Theatre. She’s even worked as a director, serving as Director of Drama at Norwich School and directing their 2015 production of The Cherry Orchard.
Television Work and Recent Projects
After Mr Bean, Matilda became a familiar face on British television. Her most substantial role was playing Pearl Pratt in the BBC’s period drama Lark Rise to Candleford from 2008 to 2011, appearing in 36 episodes. She’s also had memorable turns in ITV’s Harbour Lights (1999), playing Jane Ford in ten episodes, and BBC’s Swiss Toni (2003-2004) as Ruth.
Her career has remained consistently active in recent years. In 2020, she appeared as Monica Patrick (Blake Lively’s mother) in the thriller The Rhythm Section and played Mallory Hunter in The Alienist Season 2. She followed this with roles in The Girlfriend Experience (2021) and the critically acclaimed Living (2022) alongside Bill Nighy. In 2023, she took on parts in Netflix’s political thriller The Diplomat as Olga and ITV’s medical drama Maternal. Her most recent work includes four episodes of Stephen Merchant’s 2024 BBC comedy-drama The Outlaws, in which she played Judge #1/Victoria Paterson.
Beyond these screen roles, Matilda has contributed to BBC Radio productions, including Radio 4’s Rigor Mortis, Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off, and John Finnemore’s Cabin Pressure, where she memorably played Princess Theresa of Liechtenstein.
Personal Life
Matilda met fellow actor Louis Hilyer whilst appearing in Stephen Daldry’s London production of The Great Pretenders. The couple married on July 4, 2004, and have worked together professionally on several occasions, including An Inspector Calls during its 1995 Australian tour and the BBC series Harbour Lights.
Born in 1964 in Coventry, Warwickshire, Louis has a substantial acting career, with credits including Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Downton Abbey (2010), The Mallorca Files (2019), and The Trial of Christine Keeler (2020). He’s also worked extensively in theatre, including playing Caliban in The Tempest at the Old Vic.
The couple has three children together: Evie Joy Hilyer (born March 1997), Faye Berry Hilyer (born November 2000), and Herbert Carl “Herbie” Hilyer (born April 2005). They live in a village in Norfolk, England, where they’ve embraced a quieter family life.
In interviews, Matilda’s been refreshingly candid about her priorities. She’s joked about having “a really bad work ethic” when it comes to being away on long shoots, admitting that as she gets older, she just wants to “bum around with the kids.”
The couple even ran a bed-and-breakfast out of their Georgian mill house for a time. However, Matilda laughs about how their rustic approach didn’t quite match modern travellers’ expectations of “beige and neutral and power showers.” Her husband would sit on guests’ beds offering Ordnance Survey maps whilst their kids occasionally helped with breakfast.
Matilda maintains an authentically minimal social media presence, preferring to keep her personal life private.
Net Worth
After nearly 40 years in television, film, and theatre, Matilda Ziegler has built a comfortable career, though she keeps her finances private. Various sources estimate her net worth at approximately $5 million, but this has not yet been verified.
What’s clear is that Matilda hasn’t pursued fame for its own sake or engaged in lavish public spending. She seems perfectly content with her family-oriented lifestyle in Norfolk, taking roles that interest her rather than chasing every opportunity. For someone who’s been working consistently since 1987, appearing in over a hundred productions across television, film, theatre, and voice acting, whilst maintaining such a low profile—well, that’s rather impressive.