Tracy Ifeachor is a British television and theatre actress best known for playing the role of Aya Al-Rashid in

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

vampire series '' The Originals'' and Abigail Naismith in both parts of the '' Doctor Who'' Christmas special, " The End of Time".

Early life and education

Ifeachor was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, where she attended

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead C ...

preparatory school followed by the secondary school Eggbuckland College, also in Plymouth. Ifeachor attended The Raleigh School of Speech and Drama under the tutorship of Norma Blake and the Deborah Bond Dance academy, where she enjoyed the ISTD syllabus in tap, ballet, modern and jazz. After completing her A-levels, Ifeachor used her gap year to audition for London drama schools and gained a scholarship to the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: * Webber, Kansas, a US city * Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA * Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA * Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA * Webber (surname), people with the su ...

in London.

Career

After graduating from the now merged

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

, Ifeachor appeared in her first feature film, '' Blooded'', directed by

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

winner Ed Boase and appeared in two commercials. Ifeachor then went on to make her theatre debut as Minerva in the Royal Shakespeare Companys production of ''Noughts & Crosses'', directed and adapted by

Dominic Cooke Dominic Cooke (born 1966) is an English director and writer. Early life Born in Wimbledon, south London, Cooke was brought up seeing a lot of theatre as a teenager from free theatre tickets provided by the Inner London Education Authority. ...

. It was from here she made her television debut as Leila in the "No Going Back" episode of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

’s '' Casualty''. Ifeachor went on to play Rosalind in Tim Supple’s ''As You Like It'' for the opening of the new Curve Theatre in Leicester. Whilst rehearsing, Ifeachor was offered the role of Abigail Naismith in

David Tennant David John Tennant ('' né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the ...

’s final two '' Doctor Who'' episodes ("The End Of Time" Parts One and Two) which were broadcast at Christmas 2009 and on New Year's Day 2010. She played the daughter of the billionaire Joshua Naismith (

David Harewood David Harewood MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / ...

) who wanted his daughter to have immortality and live forever. Ifeachor played the role of Beneatha in

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highlig ...

’s ''

A Raisin In The Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem " Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south C ...

'', directed by Michael Buffong for the

Royal Exchange Theatre The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

which opened to rave reviews. She also played Ismene at The National Theatre in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play ''

Welcome to Thebes ''Welcome to Thebes'' is a 2010 play by Moira Buffini. It premiered on 15 June 2010 in a production at the Olivier Theatre of the Royal National Theatre in London directed by Richard Eyre. Plot Set in 'a city named Thebes, somewhere in the 20 ...

'', directed by Richard Eyre from 15 June to September 2010. Ifeachor's radio work includes the role of Queenie in the 2011

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

Classic Serial production of Edna Ferber's ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the pe ...

.'' In 2016, Ifeachor was cast in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

thriller series '' Quantico'' in the recurring role of Lydia Hall.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Ifeachor Tracy: Artist Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ifeachor, Tracy Living people 1985 births Actresses from Plymouth, Devon Black British actresses English film actresses English television actresses People educated at Plymouth College Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art English people of Igbo descent Igbo actresses