Jenna Coleman
Jenna-Louise Coleman, credited since 2013 as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jasmine Thomas in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Clara Oswald in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, Queen Victoria in the ITV period drama Victoria, and Melia Antiqua in the Monolith Soft video game Xenoblade Chronicles.
Coleman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, and began her acting career at an early age as a member of a theatre company called In Yer Space. While auditioning for drama schools in 2005, she was chosen to play Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale. She received critical acclaim for her performance and was nominated for the Most Popular Newcomer award at the 2006 National Television Awards. Coleman went on to play "hard girl" Lindsay James in the BBC school-based drama series Waterloo Road, Susan Brown in a BBC Four television adaptation of the John Braine novel Room at the Top, Annie Desmond in Julian Fellowes' four part mini-series Titanic and Rosie in Stephen Poliakoff's original drama series Dancing on the Edge. In 2018, she portrayed the role of Joanna Lindsay in the BBC miniseries The Cry, for which she was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress.
Early life
Coleman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, the daughter of Karen and Keith Coleman. She has an older brother named Ben. She attended Arnold School, where she was head girl. She has stated that she regrets not having a conventional university experience. While at school, Coleman was a member of the theatre company In Yer Space, with which she performed in the play Crystal Clear at the Edinburgh Festival. She won an award for her performance, and the play was also received favourably.In an interview with The Radio Times in 2015, she revealed that her grandmother had named her Jenna after the character of Jenna Wade played by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley in the 80s American TV drama series Dallas.
Career
While auditioning for drama schools, Coleman landed the part of Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale in 2005. At the British Soap Awards 2007, she was nominated for the "Best Newcomer" award, and at the National Television Awards 2006, she was nominated for the "Most Popular Newcomer" award. At the 2009 British Soap Awards, she was nominated for the "Best Actress", "Sexiest Female", and "Best Dramatic Performance" awards. She received a nomination for the "Best Actress" award from the TV Choice Awards. In May 2009, it was announced that Coleman would be joining BBC school-based drama series, Waterloo Road, as "hard girl" Lindsay James. As she was 23 at the time of her casting, Coleman found the experience of playing a schoolgirl "surreal".In December 2010, it was announced that Coleman would be playing Susan Brown in a BBC Four television adaptation of the John Braine novel Room at the Top. The adaptation was originally intended to air in April 2011, but this was cancelled due to a rights dispute between the production company and Braine's estate. The dispute was resolved by 2012, and the show aired in two parts on 26 and 27 September 2012. In 2011, she made her feature film debut in . She also landed the part of Annie Desmond in Julian Fellowes' four part mini-series Titanic, describing her character as a "cheeky little Cockney" and "the Eliza Doolittle of the ship".
Coleman provided the voice for the character Melia in the English dub of the 2011 video game Xenoblade Chronicles. In 2012, Coleman was cast as Rosie in Stephen Poliakoff's original drama series Dancing on the Edge, which follows the fortunes of a black jazz band in the 1930s. The show aired on BBC Two in February 2013. She starred as Lydia Wickham in the adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley. The three episodes were shown on BBC One during Christmas 2013.
In December 2017, it was announced that Coleman would be the narrator for a Royal Caribbean UK advertising campaign. On 8 January 2018, Coleman was confirmed to play Joanna in the four-part BBC drama The Cry, an adaptation of the 2013 novel by Helen FitzGerald.
In September 2018, the Old Vic Theatre announced on their website that Coleman would star in a new production of All My Sons in 2019.
''Doctor Who''
On 21 March 2012, Doctor Who producer Steven Moffat confirmed at a press conference that Coleman would play the companion of the Eleventh Doctor. Moffat chose her for the role because she worked the best alongside Smith and could talk faster than he could. She auditioned for the role in secret, under the pretense of auditioning for Men on Wavies'.Although originally announced as beginning her run as companion in the Christmas special in 2012, Coleman made a surprise appearance on 1 September 2012 in the first episode of the seventh series as Oswin Oswald, a guest character who dies at the conclusion of the episode. Coleman subsequently debuted as a series regular in the Christmas special episode "The Snowmen" as Victorian governess and barmaid Clara Oswin Oswald; like Oswin Oswald, she died. At the end of that episode, Coleman is seen playing a third version of the character, a resident of contemporary London named simply Clara Oswald. Beginning in "The Bells of Saint John", this version begins her travels as the Doctor's regular companion, including after his regeneration into the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, in the 2013 Christmas special episode "The Time of the Doctor." In the 2014 Christmas special episode "Last Christmas", it was revealed that Coleman would remain in the role of Clara for Series 9. However, the ninth series was her last, as Coleman had decided to leave the show to take on a role as Queen Victoria in an ITV production. In "The Zygon Invasion" and "The Zygon Inversion", Coleman also played the role of Bonnie, the Zygon leader who took the form of Clara Oswald. She returned to the show for Twelfth Doctor's last episode "Twice Upon a Time" where she made a cameo appearance; that episode, Doctor Who 2017 Christmas special, aired the same evening as the first Christmas special for Victoria.
She was first credited on screen as Jenna Coleman in Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor'', which aired on 4 August 2013.
''Victoria'', ''The Cry'', and return to the theatre
In 2016 Coleman starred in ITV's eight-part drama following the reign of the British monarch and Empress of India, Queen Victoria. The actress confessed that she was not totally informed about Victorian history, but researched the role. When interviewed for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Coleman expressed her admiration for the monarch.She argues that this role meant she was able to break out of her supposed 'box' as a northern working-class character that Emmerdale put her in. Victoria premiered on 28 August 2016 on ITV, and in September 2016, ITV renewed Victoria for a second series. A Christmas special for 2017 was also commissioned and a third series was announced in December 2017. The third series debuted first on PBS Masterpiece in January 2019, followed by a belated broadcast debut on ITV in late March 2019.
Prior to filming the third series of Victoria, Coleman took the lead role in The Cry, a four part Scottish-Australian co-production adapting Helen FitzGerald's crime novel about the search for a missing baby. The production was filmed in Australia and Scotland from February to May 2018. It aired on BBC One from September to October 2018, and on ABC from January to February 2019.
In September 2018, the Old Vic theatre in London's West End announced that Coleman had joined the cast of a production of All My Sons, which ran from 13 April to 8 June 2019 and included a cinema screening via National Theatre Live on 14 May 2019.
In February 2019, it was announced that Coleman would make a guest appearance in an episode of the comedy series Inside No. 9, with an expected broadcast date later in the year. The episode, entitled "Death Be Not Proud," aired on Feb. 10, 2020.
In a 11 May 2019 interview with Graham Norton on his BBC Radio 2 program, Coleman indicated her intent to return to Victoria for a fourth series should it be renewed by ITV, but stated that the show will be taking "a bit of a breather" before production resumes.
On 9 September 2019, it was announced that Coleman had been cast as Marie-Andrée Leclerc in the Netflix and BBC drama The Serpent, a dramatization of the life of convicted serial killer Charles Sobhraj. A few days later, Corporate Monster, a short psychological horror film from director Ruairi Robinson, by Robinson; the film had been shot in 2010-11 during Coleman's sojourn in the U.S., and its release delayed.
Production of The Serpent began in Bangkok in September 2019 and continued into 2020, with an expected BBC broadcast later in the year. As with most other film and television production, work on The Serpent, was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; its actual broadcast date will depend on when filming resumes.
During the pandemic, it was announced that Coleman would participate in The Remote Read, a planned series of online drama performances to raise funds for theatrical workers left unemployed by the pandemic. The first production under this banner, an adaptation of Tom Stoppard's A Separate Peace, was transmitted via the Zoom platform on 2 May 2020.
9 years after its original English release, Coleman reprised her role as Melia in the video game which features a brand new epilogue taking place after the main story.
Personal life
Coleman has been in a relationship with her Victoria co-star Tom Hughes since 2016.She has previously dated actors Richard Madden and Karl Davies.
Coleman has been involved with charity work in South Africa raising awareness of HIV with One To One Children's Fund, for which she is an ambassador. She is also an ambassador for Place2Be, a charity providing emotional and therapeutic services in schools.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005–2009 | Emmerdale | Jasmine Thomas | Series regular |
| 2009 | Waterloo Road | Lindsay James | 9 episodes |
| 2012 | Titanic | Annie Desmond | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Room at the Top | Susan Brown | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2015, 2017 | Doctor Who | Clara Oswald | Main role, 2017 Special; 38 episodes |
| 2013 | Dancing on the Edge | Rosie Williams | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | The Five Doctors Reboot | Herself | Doctor Who comedy spoof |
| 2013 | Death Comes to Pemberley | Lydia Wickham | 3 episodes |
| 2016–present | Victoria | Queen Victoria | Main role; 25 episodes |
| 2016 | Thunderbirds Are Go | Baines | Voice; 1 episode |
| 2018 | The Cry | Joanna Lindsay | 4 episodes |
| 2020 | Inside No. 9 | Beattie | 1 episode |
| The Serpent | Marie-Andrée Leclerc | 8 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2020 | A Separate Peace | Nurse Maggie Coates | Virtual play |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Xenoblade Chronicles | Princess Melia Antiqua | English dub |
| 2015 | Lego Dimensions | Clara Oswald | Main game and Doctor Who expansion |
| 2020 | ' | Princess Melia Antiqua | English dub, includes new "Future Connected" epilogue |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | The Secret Garden | Abridged reading | |
| 2013 | ' | Alice Watson / Eleventh Doctor | Episode: "The Time Machine" |
| 2016 | A Christmas Carol | Belle | Digital only release |
| 2020 | Pressures, Residential | Esquire's Summer Fiction series, in aid of Unicef UK | |
| 2020 | The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies | Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales |