Lawrence studied theatre at Bretton Hall College and worked early in her career in the Edinburgh Fringe.
[2] She then moved to London and appeared in theatrical productions such as Brief Encounter, Playing the Victim, and The Firework-Maker's Daughter.
[3][4][5] In the 2010s she appeared in several television shows, including Above Suspicion, Dead Boss, Midsomer Murders “A Rare Bird” 2012 as Olivia Carter and Mr Selfridge.
She appeared in a National Theatre production of Angels in America in 2017,[6] and later that year took the role of Resistance commander Larma D'Acy in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and reprised the role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
[1] In 2020, she played Barbara Farrell in “The Fall of the House of St Gardner”, S8:E9 of Father Brown and in September 2020, she played DC Sarah Raymond in ITV's two-part television drama, Honour.