Tomb Raiders: All 10 actors who've played Lara Croft across games, movies and TV

You may have already noticed that Tomb Raider’s 30th anniversary is in full swing. Developer Crystal Dynamics has already announced two games: Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the first title from 1996, and Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the newest entry, coming in 2027. But one big factor that fans love to get into is the actor who’s set to play Lara Croft.

This time, two are taking on the mantle of the archaeologist. Alix Wilton-Regan is voicing her in the two upcoming games, while Sophie Turner, known for Game of Thrones and the X-Men series, plays Croft in the Amazon Studios TV show. With it deep in filming, it’s likely we won’t see its premiere until early 2027.

Nevertheless, you can play many of the previous Tomb Raider games right now on consoles and PCs, thanks to the remastered collections, released in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The very first voice actor was Shelley Blond in the 1996 debut, bringing plenty of sass, humour and independence to the Britpop era, back when the Spice Girls were achieving world domination.

You’ve likely heard different grunts, moans, and ‘No’ sounds from Lara over the years, but you’ll have a favourite. Much like Doctor Who, fans have their preferred Lara throughout the years – whether that’s Judith Gibbins in Tomb Raider II and III, or Camilla Luddington in the Survivor Trilogy from 2013 to 2018.

Nevertheless, if you’re new to Tomb Raider and you want to find out every actor who played Lara Croft in the past 30 years, we’ve got you covered. And, by the way, Lara Croft's birthday is canonically 14 February!

Tomb Raiders: All 10 actors who've played Lara Croft

Games

Shelley Blond

Back in 1996, Core Design was looking for someone who could give Lara the impudence and fun, which resulted in Shelley Blond landing the gig.

Voicing Croft just for the first Tomb Raider game, the entire recording session took only five hours in one day around May 1995, as she revealed in my book, The Making of Tomb Raider: “I remember being in a studio with Nathan for about five hours, and just repeatedly reading out the lines. Around 10 to 30 times each, I would just keep saying: ‘Welcome to My Home’, ‘Here lies the Tomb of Qualopec...’, and ‘Thank you! I will.’”

Blond laid the groundwork for what Lara could be and how she would be voiced in subsequent games and other media. The team at Core Design in Derby wanted you to feel as if you were in a movie inspired by Indiana Jones, with Lara and the environments telling you where to go. Much of this was down to Blond, with her fantastic one-liners across the many cut-scenes in the game.

Unfortunately, due to some disputes with Core Design, a new actor would take up the mantle of Lara Croft going forward, but fans always remember how Blond set the scene for how Lara Croft would sound and behave – something that carries on to this day, 30 years later.

Judith Gibbins

The team was already thinking about Tomb Raider II by the time the first game was about to be sent to stores worldwide in October 1996. Not only were players going to meet Winston the Butler for the first time, along with new moves for Lara like climbing and a mid-roll in the air, but there’d also be a new voice actor to follow on from Shelley Blond, by the name of Judith Gibbins.

Her brother, Martin, a programmer at Core Design in the late 1990s, told her that auditions were being held to voice Lara. In mid-1997, Gibbins got the role and told me in the book what happened during the recording. “The recording for TR2 took a day at a studio in Chelsea. There wasn't a great deal of dialogue for Lara. It took a few days, but they were spread out over a few months, while Vicky worked on the script and added any changes that were needed.”

Gibbins gave a slightly different take to Lara - one that sounded more mature and confident, as if a few years had passed between Tomb Raider and its sequel. This was a Lara who had seen a lot by this point and had no problem laying down some quips with random henchmen. Lines like, ‘Pardon me, if that was your way of trying the doors for me’ and ‘Don’t you think you’ve seen enough’ are lines that Gibbins still repeats to this day at events, to the joy of many fans.

1998’s Tomb Raider III, now led by a mostly new team, would still feature Gibbins voicing Lara, with plenty of new locations for players to visit in order to collect various Meteorite artefacts. Again, Gibbins would voice her with confidence and wit, along with one-liners that would have easily fit into a Pierce Brosnan James Bond movie. But with Egypt calling, some changes would be happening to Lara for her next outing.

Jonell Elliott

For 1999’s Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, the engine saw a bit of a glow-up, resulting in some smoother graphics, better animations, and more. With the game strictly set in Egypt this time, and a plan for the story to eventually take Lara to the PlayStation 2, Core Design wanted a new voice for her. After lots of searching, they found Jonell Elliott, who turned out to be a friend of Shelley Blond.

Allegedly, the original plan was for Gibbins to voice Adult Lara and Elliott to voice Young Lara, but it wasn’t to be. Here, Elliott gave Lara even more confidence, drawing inspiration from Alien’s Ripley and others, as she told me for the follow-up to The Making of Tomb Raider, out later this year: “It took one week to record the lines in total for TR4 in a little studio in Soho, and it went smoothly! I remember I had a lot of fun playing with those lines – so sassy! I hadn't voiced any roles like Lara Croft before, but when thinking of roles to draw inspiration from, apart from Shelley and Judith as Lara, I would say Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien. Loved that film.”

Elliott’s contribution would follow into 2000’s Tomb Raider Chronicles, a divisive title for fans and the team themselves, who initially believed they’d be working on Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 2 after The Last Revelation. Nevertheless, plenty of moments in Chronicles gave Elliott reason to shine again, especially in the Ireland levels, where Young Lara made a return.

But it would be 2003’s Angel of Darkness, the swansong for Core Design on the series, and for Elliott’s take on Lara, that would spell the end of this era. Due to a demand by higher-ups to release the game in June 2003 to appease shareholders, players got a mess of a game, with plenty of bugs, unfinished areas and more. The game’s ruined potential made sure that Tomb Raider would be passed on to Crystal Dynamics, and huge changes were about to occur.

Keeley Hawes

With Crystal Dynamics now responsible for the Tomb Raider series, they needed an actor who could once again give Lara the audacity and confidence that would fit with the mid-2000s. Enter Keeley Hawes, known at the time for her roles in Spooks and Ashes to Ashes.

Debuting in 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend, the game was a return to form for the series, with a new engine that finally freed Lara from the tank controls, as well as a great story that allowed Hawes to give Lara some determination and emotion that was absent in previous games.

But the next game, 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake of the 1996 original, gave Hawes a new challenge by giving this younger Lara more naivety, whilst keeping her trademark quips and confidence as she fought against Natla, as well as Larson and Pierre.

To wrap up the trilogy, called LAU by fans, 2008’s Tomb Raider: Underworld would lay out Natla’s return, whilst Lara would try to find Thor’s Hammer. With an ally’s death and an imposter Lara here, this story allowed Hawes to express far more rage toward Lara here, making the narrative one to remember.

After this, many thought that was the end of Hawes’ contribution, with Crystal Dynamics confirming that they were going to reboot the series. But to many fans’ surprise, she would revisit the role with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, followed by Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, both featuring a fixed-isometric perspective. These still carried on Hawes confident, commanding take on Lara, but in the years since, more focus has been on her grunts and sounds, such as when she appeared on the Graham Norton Show in 2016.

These were great games, which you can play on smartphones and consoles right now. But it seemed to be the epilogue of Hawes contribution to the games. However, rumours are circulating that Hawes may be in the upcoming TV show, so it’s likely that we haven’t seen the last of her as part of the franchise just yet.

Camilla Luddington

In June 2012, Crystal Dynamics announced Camilla Luddington as the new voice of Lara, who would appear in the Survivor Trilogy. This began with 2013’s Tomb Raider, then 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, then 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. These games were set at the very beginning of Lara’s story, with her being stranded on an island, requiring her to use her wits to hunt down animals and enemies to survive.

Luddington gave a different take on Lara here, and rightly so. Instead of the confident, sassy archaeologist we were all familiar with, we were instead given a new attribute - vulnerability. Trauma was abundant for Lara, falling into traps and performing surgery on herself just to survive the nightmares of the Yamatai island.

The two subsequent games would build on this early Lara, with Luddington slowly creeping in confidence and curiosity as players would explore the vast landscapes that Rise and Shadow offered. However, the narrative that the Survivor Trilogy brought felt bland, which limited Luddington’s range in terms of what Lara could do and how she could express herself.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider began to feel more of the same, along with frustrating swimming mechanics and an over-serious effort on the narrative for Lara to be ‘The Tomb Raider’, which felt more cheesy than exciting. After 2018, Crystal Dynamics went silent, only confirming a new game in 2021 to mark the series’ 25th anniversary. It would be four years until we heard of Crystal’s surprising plans.

Alix Wilton Regan

At The Game Awards in December 2025, fans were surprised to hear that two new Tomb Raider games are in development. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the first title from 1996, comes out later this year, followed by Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the newest entry, coming in 2027. The trailers unveiled Alix Wilton Regan as the latest actor to voice Lara Croft, but not before she hinted at the role when she was interviewed on Radio Times Gaming’s TikTok channel.

We’d be repeating what we spoke about in January regarding Wilton Regan’s potential of playing Lara Croft, but we have high hopes. Her humour and enthusiasm from her other roles give us hope that these attributes will seep into playing Lara. It’s long overdue for her to start giving some quips that harken back to the classic games.

With Crystal Dynamics declaring every mainline entry is now part of one unified timeline, meaning Catalyst is a follow-up from 2008’s Underworld, it’s a perfect opportunity to do away with ‘Becoming The Tomb Raider’ nonsense, and instead make Lara a confident, quick-witted archaeologist that fans grew up with.

Movies / TV Shows

Angelina Jolie

As far back as 1997’s Tomb Raider II, a movie had been rumoured. This was an era where game-to-movie adaptations were the rage, beginning with Mortal Kombat in 1994. In 1998, Eidos confirmed that a Tomb Raider movie was in the works, but we wouldn’t see the result of it until 2001, when the project had been in development hell.

Angelina Jolie was cast as Lara Croft, and from her looks alone, she seemed perfect for the archeologist. Granted, the movie wasn’t the best, even with an impressive cast list of Daniel Craig, Chris Barrie and more. But what shone was Jolie’s understanding of Lara – the confidence and the feistiness shone through, complete with aerobatics that even gave Classic Lara from the cut-scenes a run for her money.

In an old interview with MSNBC in 2001, Jolie would mention how Lara was a woman, through and through, but also a warrior – something sadly novel for the early 2000s. “I loved that she's very much a girl. She wasn't trying to be a man. And she didn't have a thing against me. She was even very flirty and very curvaceous, as well as being a warrior deep down."

The second movie, 2003’s Cradle of Life, was better action-wise, with scenes that were more manageable to watch thanks to fewer cuts between the shootouts. But the movie was deemed a failure due to its dull plot and unfortunate timing with the much-maligned Angel of Darkness, which would be one of Tomb Raider’s unfortunate low points. However, Jolie still impressed, with a slightly more mature take on Lara, saving Cradle of Life from being a total disaster.

Alicia Vikander

2018’s Tomb Raider is a strange one. With Alicia Vikander loosely portraying a Lara that mirrored the 2013 game, the plot involved her finding her father, all the while avoiding a mercenary task group with the dull name of Trinity. Featuring a strong cast like Sir Derek Jacobi and Dominic West, the movie should have been a hit, but because it relied too much on the 2013 reboot, it felt like you were watching a game performed by actors.

Yet that’s not to dispute Vikander’s performance. Here, she showcases Lara with determination and vulnerability, just like the game, but with some added humour to boot, especially at the very end of the movie. She exudes a sense of confidence and leadership that would have been great to build upon if a sequel had been made. But due to the movie rights reverting to Eidos in 2022, other plans were drawn up.

Hayley Atwell

Hayley Atwell’s casting in the 2024 anime series on Netflix was a Tomb Raider fan’s ultimate wish being granted. For many years, fan art and fan fiction would feature Atwell as Lara, due to her seemingly perfect accent that would fit the archeologist, as well as a commanding presence shown in the MCU as Agent Peggy Carter.

Here, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft takes place after 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, carrying on the Survivor Trilogy story where Lara is tasked to find various artefacts with the help of Zip and Jonah. Atwell easily embodies a mature, more confident Lara that we saw at the end of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. There’s plenty of humour here, too, which bodes well for Legacy of Atlantis, set to arrive later this year.

Indeed, Atwell also revealed, in an interview with Radio Times in 2024, how playing Lara in the series gave her new challenges as an actor. “She gets anxiety. I think that's charming and endearing, and it gives me an opportunity as an actor to bring that particular quality to her, which may be different from what we've seen before, but certainly in keeping with what we know her to be."

The series itself is great, with less of a reliance on Lara ‘becoming the Tomb Raider’ and instead seeing her leap, shoot and give off plenty of confidence and playfulness that had been lacking in the Survivor Trilogy. It’s a shame Atwell’s time has already ended, with the series having concluded, but there’s always a chance we’ll see her reappear in another adaptation, similar to the rumour of Keeley Hawes appearing in the Amazon TV show.

Sophie Turner

When Sophie Turner’s casting as Lara Croft in the upcoming Prime Video TV show was confirmed in 2025, many fans were unsure. It was more reminiscent of when Daniel Craig was announced as James Bond in 2005 – barely anyone could see how he could succeed Pierce Brosnan. But 2006’s Casino Royale silenced plenty of those wasted criticisms.

Turner’s take is likely to do the same. The reveal of her in Lara’s classic outfit in January 2026 has already allayed many concerns fans may have had about her before, and rightly so. Similar to others like The Last of Us and Fallout, with their own game to TV adaptations, fans have accepted how characters can remain the same in the transition.

Turner looks set to do that. There’s already a sense that, with the classic costume appearing in the show, and with the involvement of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, known for Fleabag and for injecting some fun into Craig’s final outing as Bond in 2021’s No Time to Die, by enhancing Paloma’s role with some great one-liners, there’s plenty to look forward to here.

It seems as if Turner will embody plenty of what the original actors used to play Lara. From Shelley Blond’s British wit to Jonell Elliott’s confidence about coconuts, it’s time for someone else to take up this mantle and inject all of this into a new yet familiar take on Lara Croft. So far, it seems like that’s going to happen, and it’s a perfect way to celebrate Tomb Raider’s 30th anniversary as a whole.

Daryl Baxter's book, The Making of Tomb Raider, is available now from Pen & Sword, Amazon and Waterstones.

Read more:

• After The Last of Us, Fallout and Tomb Raider, what's next for video games on TV?
• Keeley Hawes tipped for Tomb Raider return in new Lara Croft TV series

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