Aisling Bea
Aisling Bea | |
---|---|
![]() Bea on stage during the Wikimania 2014 | |
Born | Aisling Cliodhnadh O'Sullivan 16 March 1984 County Kildare, Ireland |
Nationality | Irish |
Occupation(s) | Actress, writer, comedian |
Years active | 2002–present |
Website | Official website |
Aisling Bea (/ˈæʃlɪŋ/; born Aisling Cliodhnadh O'Sullivan, 16 March 1984) is an Irish actress, comedian and writer.
Early life
Bea was born and raised in rural County Kildare.[1][2] Her father, Brian, was an equine vet who died suddenly when she was three years old.[3] Bea and her younger sister, Sinéad,[4] were raised by their mother, Helen (née Moloney), a secondary school teacher, jockey trainer[5] and former professional jockey.[6][7] Her family were "obsessed" with horses and race meetings and, during her young years, Bea worked as a tour guide at the Irish National Stud.[3] However, she knew from a young age that she was not interested in the racing industry "as a career" and instead enjoyed performing.[3]
Her grandfather was the Irish language novelist and poet Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin; her great-aunt was the playwright Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin.[8] Musician Liam O'Flynn was a family friend.[9]
When Bea was thirteen, her mother revealed that her father had died by suicide.[10] She adopted the stage name ‘Bea’ as a tribute to her father[11][4] and wrote an article for The Guardian in 2017 about her family's experience of suicide.[12]
Bea was educated at a Catholic convent school[13] and then studied French and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin.[2][14][13] She was part of a student sketch comedy group[15] and moved to London after graduation to study acting. In 2008, she completed a two-year course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[16]
Career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/MK17450_Aisling_Bea.jpg/220px-MK17450_Aisling_Bea.jpg)
After drama school, Bea spent two years trying to get work in theatre as a dramatic actress.[17] Instead, she found she was cast mainly in comedic television series including Cardinal Burns and Dead Boss (both 2012).[18][19] While filming Dead Boss in 2011, Bea decided to try stand-up comedy.[13][20] In 2012, she won the Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[21] and, in 2013, was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her show C'est La Bea.[22]
The exposure brought by these awards marked a "turning point" in Bea's career[23] and she began to appear as a regular guest on panel shows including QI, Insert Name Here and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.[24] Bea and Yasmine Akram co-wrote and co-hosted the BBC Radio 4 comedy folklore series Micks and Legends (2012, 2015);[25] it was nominated for a Chortle Award in 2013.[26] Bea won the 2014 British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comic and returned to Edinburgh in 2015 with the live show Plan Bea. In 2016, she became a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats and was a cast member on Taskmaster in 2017.
Bea has continued to act in television sitcoms including Trollied (2014-2015) and The Delivery Man (2015), and the crime dramas The Fall (2016) and Hard Sun (2018). In 2018, she and Sara Pascoe began to co-host the BBC Radio 2 comedy chat show What's Normal?.[27] She has recorded a 15 minute stand-up special to be aired on Netflix in late 2018.
Personal life
Bea is a vocal supporter of the Repeal the 8th campaign to introduce legal abortion in Ireland,[23][28] and contributed an essay to Una Mullally's Repeal the 8th in 2018.[29] She previously campaigned for same-sex marriage legislation in the successful 2015 Irish referendum.[23]
Filmography
Acting
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Fair City | Cliodhna Norris | 3 episodes |
2009 | We Are Klang | Inspector | 1 episode |
2009 | Roy | Ticket girl | 1 episode
Voice only |
2009 | Belonging to Laura | Leanne Thompson | TV3 television movie |
2010 | Inn Mates | Elf | Pilot |
2009-2014 | The Savage Eye | Various | 4 episodes |
2010 | L.O.L | Various | Pilot
(also writer) |
2010 | Freedom | Aisling | Pilot |
2010 | Come Fly with Me | Mary O'Mara | 1 episode |
2011 | Lewis | Hotel receptionist | 1 episode |
2011 | Holby City | Amelia Warner | 1 episode |
2012 | Cardinal Burns | Sally | 5 episodes |
2012 | Dead Boss | Laura Stephens | 6 episodes |
2012 | In with the Flynns | Naimah | 1 episode |
2012 | The Town | Carly | 3 episodes |
2012 | Trivia | Ruth | 6 episodes |
2012 | Assassin's Creed III | Emily Burke | Voice only
Video game |
2013 | Fit | Various | |
2013 | Soul Sacrifice | Similia | Voice only
Video game |
2013 | Quick Cuts | Customer | 1 episode |
2013 | Tattooed | Eve | Short |
2013 | Very Few Fish | Gráinne | Short |
2014 | Playhouse Presents | Toddler Woman | 1 episode |
2014 | The Architects | Hayley | BBC Radio 4 sitcom
4 episodes |
2014 | The Assets | Kara Jensen | 1 episode |
2014 | Vodka Diaries | Nic | Pilot |
2014 | The Sunny | Emma | Pilot |
2014-2015 | Trollied | Charlie | 13 episodes |
2015 | Funny Valentines | Sarah | Short
2 episodes |
2015 | The Delivery Man | Lisa | 13 episodes |
2015 | The Trap | Marie | Feature film |
2015 | Nish Kumar's Christmas | Agent | Short |
2016 | Bullet to the Heart | Jane | Short
(also writer) |
2016 | Damned | Anne-Marie | 1 episode |
2016 | The Fall | Kiera Sheridan | 4 episodes |
2017 | Drunk History | Guinevere | 1 episode |
2017 | Gap Year | Kendra | 2 episodes |
2018 | Hard Sun | Mari Butler | 5 episodes |
2018 | Plebs | Minerva | 1 episode |
2018 | I Feel Bad | Simone | 1 episode |
2018 | Finding Joy | Amelia | 6 episodes |
Stand-up comedy
Year | Title | Channel | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Sabotage | BBC Radio 4 Extra | Live at Hoxton Hall |
2009 | Fresh From The Fringe | BBC Radio 4 | Edinburgh Festival Fringe |
2013 | Seann Walsh's Late Night Comedy Spectacular | BBC Three | Edinburgh Festival Fringe |
2013 | Russell Howard's Good News | BBC Three | |
2013 | Set List | Nerdist Channel | |
2014 | Live At The Apollo | BBC One | Hammersmith Apollo |
2014-2016 | Channel 4's Comedy Gala | Channel 4 | O2 Arena |
2018 | Netflix Comedy Lineup | Netflix |
Panel show appearances
Since 2016, Bea is a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats. She has made guest appearances on many other panel shows:
- 8 Out of 10 Cats (2013, 2014)
- QI (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- Insert Name Here (2016, 2018)
- Taskmaster (2017)
- The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2016, 2017)
- @midnight (2016, 2017)
- The Last Leg (2016, 2017, 2018)
- Word of the Year 2017 (2017)
- 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2014, 2015, 2016)
- A League of Their Own (2015, 2016)
- Room 101 (2016)
- The Unbelievable Truth (2016)
- It's Not What You Know (2016)
- Very British Problems (2015, 2016)
- Duck Quacks Don't Echo (2015)
- Jack Dee's HelpDesk (2015)
- Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (2015)
- Listomania (2015)
- Would I Lie to You? (2015)
- Channel 4's Alternative Election Night (2015)
- Celebrity Squares (2014, 2015)
- This Week (2014)
- Don't Make Me Laugh (2014)
- Virtually Famous (2014)
- Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2014)
- Don't Sit In The Front Row (2013)
- The Guessing Game (2013)
- Bad Language (2013)
- Sweat the Small Stuff (2013)
References
- ^ "Five Essentials: Actor". Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
{{cite web}}
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{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "In another life: Aisling Bea". Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ a b Jones, Alice (12 August 2015). "Aisling Bea interview: The prize-winning comedian with the CV of a veteran on bringing her second stand-up show to the Fringe". The Independent. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ^ http://www.edfestmag.com/20120815aislingbea/
- ^ "Insider Interrogation: writer and actor Aisling Bea - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Richard (18 July 2014). "Funny woman, Aisling Bea, is of good stock". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ^ "From horses to hilarity". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ @WeeMissBea (15 March 2018). "Aisling Bea" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "My father's death has given me a love of men, of their vulnerability and tenderness".
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Richard (18 July 2014). "Funny woman, Aisling Bea, is of good stock". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Aisling Bea: 'My father's death has given me a love of men, of their vulnerability and tenderness'". the Guardian. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ a b c "Prize-winning comedian Aisling Bea on making the leap into stand-up". The Independent. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Jarlath Regan (19 September 2015). "Aisling Bea". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (105 ed.). SoundCloud. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- ^ "Interviews - Development & Alumni". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "The buzz about funny girl Aisling Bea". Mail Online. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ "Interview with Aisling Bea (Humour Me Comedy Podcast)". Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ Gannon, Louise. "The buzz about funny girl Aisling Bea". Mail Online. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ Jones, Alice (12 August 2015). "Prize-winning comedian Aisling Bea on making the leap into stand-up". The Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Biography.... WHO IS THIS BROAD?". www.aislingbea.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Aisling Bea wins So You Think You're Funny". BBC News. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ^ Duffy, Claire. "Aisling Bea is nominated for Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Award". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ a b c Parkinson, Hannah Jane (18 September 2016). "Aisling Bea: 'I am making no money in LA, but creatively it is rewarding'". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Aisling Bea". Beyond The Joke. 19 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ "Comedy Irish Micks and Legends back on BBC Radio 4". RTE.ie. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Irish Micks And Legends". www.radiolistings.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (11 April 2018). "Sara Pascoe and Aisling Bea pilot Radio 2 chat show". Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ "Standup for Choice - Repeal Eight". Repeal Eight. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Autonomy edited by Kathy D'Arcy, Repeal the 8th edited by Una Mullally review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)