Jessica Hynes
| Jessica Hynes | |
|---|---|
 Hynes at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con |
|
| Born | Tallulah Jessica Elina Stevenson 30 October 1972 [citation needed] London, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Actress, writer |
| Years active | 1993—present |
| Spouse(s) | Adam Hynes (2002—present) |
| Children | 3: son (1998), daughter (2003), daughter (2006) |
Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (née Stevenson; born 30 October 1972[citation needed]) is an English actress and writer. She was known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007.[1] She was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom Spaced. Hynes has worked as a writer and actress for over twenty years and is a celebrity ambassador for the charity Action for Children and organised a fundraising concert for Haiti Kids Kino project with her friend and sometime collaborator Julia Davis which raised £4000 for the charity. She has been nominated for a Tony, a Bafta, a Lawrence Olivier Award and won two British comedy awards.
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Life and career[edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2012) |
Hynes was born in Lewisham, London, on 15 November 1972, but grew up in Brighton, where she attended Dorothy Stringer High School. As a teenager Hynes was part of the National Youth Theatre company, and she made her stage début with the company in Lionel Bart's Blitz in 1990.[2] In 1992–3 she played a season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds. In the same year she appeared in Peter Greenaway's 1993 film The Baby of Mâcon, playing the first midwife. For the first fourteen years of her career, she used her maiden name as a stage name. Early in her career she teamed up with future Spaced co-star Katy Carmichael in a comedy double-act called the Liz Hurleys, appeared in two productions at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, and played parts on television in the nursing drama Staying Alive (1995–97) and short-lived sketch shows Six Pairs of Pants, (Un)natural Acts and Asylum—where the Spaced team (Stevenson, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright) first assembled. She also guest starred in the first episode of Midsomer Murders in 1997.
From 1998-2000 she played the supporting role of Cheryl in the hit sitcom The Royle Family and reprised the role for special episodes in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Also in 1999, she co-wrote and starred in Spaced. Her London theatre début was in April 2002, playing the tough ex-prisoner "Bolla" in Jez Butterworth's The Night Heron at the Royal Court.[3] In 2004 she played a minor part as Yvonne in horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, again working with Pegg and Wright. In the same year she was also cast as Magda, friend of the titular character, in the Hollywood sequel Bridget Jones' Diary 2 also called Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason. In 2005 Hynes took the lead role in the BBC One sitcom According to Bex (which she thought was so bad that she sacked her agent for putting her up for it),[1] and had a starring role in British comedy Confetti alongside Jimmy Carr, Martin Freeman and Mark Heap.
In early 2007 she took a lead role in the film Magicians, starring alongside comic duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Later that year she starred in Learners, a comedy drama television movie which she also wrote, on BBC One in November 2007.[4] She also provided the voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
She played Joan Redfern in the 2007 Doctor Who episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood". She then appeared in part two of the story "The End of Time", playing a character named Verity Newman, who is descended from Joan.[5] Hynes has appeared in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor audio adventure "Invaders from Mars", with her Spaced colleague Simon Pegg.
In 2007 she starred in Son of Rambow (credited as Jessica Stevenson), playing Mary Proudfoot opposite the star of the film, Bill Milner.
Hynes co-wrote the pilot Phoo Action, based on the cartoons of Jamie Hewlett, which was transmitted on BBC Three in early 2008.[6]
In the same year Hynes appeared in the film Faintheart and in a revival of Alan Ayckbourne's The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic. In 2009 she made her Broadway début in the play's transfer[7] and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance.
In 2009 she returned to the Royal Court in The Priory, a new play by Michael Wynne.[8]
She plans to pursue a solo career as a standup comedian[9] as well as publishing a children's book Ants in the Marmalade.[10]
Jessica Hynes appeared as a "right-on" PR person Siobhan Sharpe in the London Olympic centred satire Twenty Twelve, of which the first series screened on BBC4 in 2011, moving to BBC2 in spring 2012. A further series was screened in July 2012. In December 2012 she appeared with co-star Hugh Bonneville in World's Most Dangerous Roads, travelling through Georgia.
Jessica was in the film Nativity 2: The Second Coming, in which she plays competition host Angel Matthews. The film was released in November 2012.
In October 2012 she released a duet with singer Anthony Strong of Slim Gaillard's "Laughing in Rhythm".[11]
Awards[edit]
Hynes has won two British Comedy Awards, both for her performances in Spaced: Best Female Comedy Newcomer in 1999 and Best TV Comedy Actress in 2001.[12] In 2013 she won the Royal Television Society award for Best Comedy Performance for her role in Twenty Twelve.[13] She was nominated for a TV BAFTA for her performance in the largely improvised TV feature Tomorrow La Scala (2000), and for an Olivier Award for her role in the play The Night Heron in 2003.[12] In 2009 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play,[14] but lost out to Angela Lansbury.
Credits[edit]
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The House of Eliott | Charlotte Parker | TV series | Episode: Series 3, Episode 1 |
| 1995 | Six Pairs of Pants | Various characters | TV series | |
| Tears Before Bedtime | Maggie | TV series | ||
| Crown Prosecutor | Jackie South | TV series | ||
| 1996 | Mash and Peas | Various Roles | TV series | |
| Asylum | Martha & Nurse McFadden | TV series | ||
| Staying Alive | Alice Timpson | TV series | ||
| 1997 | Midsomer Murders | Judith Lessiter | TV series | Episode: "The Killings at Badger's Drift" |
| Armstrong and Miller | Various Roles | TV series | Series 1-2 | |
| Harry Enfield and Chums | TV series | Episode: "Harry Enfield and His Yule Log Chums" | ||
| 1998 | Unnatural Acts | Various Roles | TV series | Episodes: Episode 1, 2, 4 and 5 |
| Merry-Go-Round | Alice, the Ayatollah's Assistant | TV series | Episode: Episode 1 | |
| The Royle Family | Cheryl Carroll | TV series | Episodes: "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Sunday Afternoon", "Dad's Birthday", "Wedding Day", "Pregnancy", "Antony's Birthday", "Decorating", "Funeral", "The Christening", "The Queen of Sheba", "The Golden Egg Cup" and "Joe's Crackers" | |
| 1999 | People Like Us | Sarah | TV series | Episode: "The Estate Agent" |
| Spaced | Daisy Steiner | TV series | Co-wrote with Simon Pegg | |
| 2001 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Felia Siderova | TV series | Episodes: "Mental Apparition Disorder" and "Drop Dead" |
| Bob & Rose | Holly Vance | TV series | ||
| Comedy Lab | Wife | TV series | Episode: "Knife & Wife" | |
| 2002 | Dick Whittington | The Good Fairy | TV film | |
| Black Books | Eva | TV series | Episode: "Hello Sun" | |
| 2005 | According to Bex | Rebecca 'Bex' Atwell | TV series | |
| 2006 | Pinochet in Suburbia | Police Guard | TV film | |
| The Secret Policeman's Ball | Mrs. Peacock | Staged show | ||
| QI | Herself | TV series | Episode: "Domesticity" | |
| Marple | Amy Griffith | TV series | Episode: "The Moving Finger" | |
| 2007 | Doctor Who | Joan Redfern | TV series | Episodes: "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" |
| Learners | Bev | TV film | ||
| Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Herself | TV series | Episode: Series 21, Episode 1 | |
| 2009 | Doctor Who | Verity Newman | TV series | Episode: "The End of Time, Part Two" |
| 2010 | Lizzie and Sarah | Various Roles | TV pilot | |
| 2011-12 | Twenty Twelve | Siobhan Sharpe | TV series | Won—RTS award for Best Comedy Performance |
| 2011 | Skins | Crystal | TV Series | Episode: "Everyone" |
| The Hour | Jane Kish | TV Series | Episode 4 | |
| 2012 | One Night | Carol | TV series | |
| World's Most Dangerous Roads | Herself | TV Series | Episode 2 | |
| 2013 | Blandings | Daphne Littlewood | TV series | |
| Up the Women | Margaret | TV series | Writer |
Film[edit]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Swing Kids | Helga |
| The Baby of Mâcon | The First Midwife | |
| 2000 | Born Romantic | Libby |
| 2002 | Tomorrow La Scala! | Victoria |
| Pure | Paramedic | |
| 2004 | Shaun of the Dead | Yvonne |
| Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Magda | |
| 2006 | Confetti | Sam |
| 2007 | Four Last Songs | Miranda |
| Son of Rambow | Mary | |
| Magicians | Linda | |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Mafalda Hopkirk (voice) | |
| 2008 | Faintheart | Cathy |
| 2010 | Burke and Hare | Lucky |
| 2012 | Nativity 2: The Second Coming | Angelica Matthews |
| 2013 | Horrid Henry 2: The Movie | Miss Cox |
References[edit]
- ^ a b McLean, Gareth (25 May 2007). "Gareth McLean talks to screen star Jessica Stevenson about feminist history". The Guardian website (London). Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- ^ Kilcoyne, Emma (13 February 2008). "Charismatic artistic director of the National Youth Theatre". The Independent. p. 34.
- ^ "The Night Heron at The Royal Court Theatre". Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ^ "Press Releases: David Tennant and Jessica Hynes in the driving seat for new BBC One comedy drama Learners.". BBC website. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (23 March 2009). "Discover Both Ends Of The "Spectrum Of Spock." Plus The Doctor's Worst Nightmare.". io9. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ "Press Releases: Jessica Hynes in Phoo Action". BBC website. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "The Priory". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ Hall, Julian (20 June 2008). "Stand Up Get Down Featuring Jessica Hynes & Friends, Madame Jojo's, London". The Independent (London). Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ McLean, Gareth (25 May 2007). "I went mainstream. It really wasn't me". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ "Connecting to the iTunes Store". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ^ a b "Comedy profiles — Jessica Stevenson". BBC. 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ^ "Gold for Hynes! : News 2013 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
- ^ "Tony Award Winner". Old Vic Theatre. May 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
External links[edit]
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- 1972 births
- Actresses from London
- English women comedians
- English television writers
- English television actresses
- English film actresses
- English stage actresses
- National Youth Theatre members
- Living people
- English voice actresses
- 20th-century English actresses
- 21st-century English actresses
- People from Lewisham
