Claire Louise Rushbrook (born 25 August 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne in ''
Secrets & Lies.''
Early life
Claire Louise Rushbrook was born on 25 August 1971 in
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842.
History
Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding 30 ...
. She attended
Fearnhill School
Fearnhill School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England.
Admissions
Fearnhill School (formerly Letchworth Grammar School) is a foundation comprehensive school located in Letchworth Garden Ci ...
in
Letchworth, Hertfordshire
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
Letchworth ...
, before joining
Rose Bruford College
Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...
.
[
]
Career
Rushbrook worked mainly in theatre for around five years before moving into film and television.[ She ]guest star
In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or othe ...
red in the episodes "The Impossible Planet
"The Impossible Planet" is the eighth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television networ ...
" and "The Satan Pit
"The Satan Pit" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 10 June 2006. It is the second part of a two-part story. The first part, "The Impossible Planet ...
" in '' Doctor Who'' and had supporting roles in films '' Secrets & Lies'' and '' Spice World''. Her ''Doctor Who'' guest star status earned her a position in a ''Doctor Who'' celebrity edition of ''The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...
'' but ended up being the fourth one voted off. She also appeared in the 2008 BBC comedy drama '' Mutual Friends'' and the 2009 ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 pu ...
dramas ''Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed a c ...
'' and ''Collision
In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great fo ...
'', both alongside Phil Davis.
Rushbrook's theatre credits include West End
West End most commonly refers to:
* West End of London, an area of central London, England
* West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England
West End may also refer to:
Pl ...
productions of '' Three Sisters'' as Olga and '' Festen'' as Helene. Other stage roles include Mary Warren in ''The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an ...
'' ( Sheffield Crucible theatre), Sonia in ''Uncle Vanya
''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dire ...
'' (Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a di ...
), Mum in ''Market Boy'' ( National Theatre) and Maggie in ''Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
'' (National Theatre).
Her films include Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...
's '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996) and Carine Adler
Carine Adler, Baroness Reid of Cardowan (born 1948) is a Brazilian screenwriter and film director.
Career
Adler's break came when the British Film Institute asked her to develop her short film ''Touch and Go'' into a full-length feature. Th ...
's '' Under the Skin'' (1997) with Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two ...
. On television, she has starred in '' The Sins'' (2000), ''Linda Green
''Linda Green'' is a British comedy-drama television series that aired on BBC One from 30 October 2001 to 17 December 2002. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company. The series was created by Paul Abbott, and othe ...
'' (2001–02), the sitcom ''Carrie And Barry
''Carrie & Barry'' is a British television sitcom first broadcast on 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 netwo ...
'' (2004–05), ''Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed a c ...
'' (2009–13) and ''My Mad Fat Diary
''My Mad Fat Diary'' is a British teen comedy-drama television series that debuted on E4 on 14 January 2013. It is based on the novel ''My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary'' by Rae Earl.
The second series started on 19 February 2014 and ended on 31 Mar ...
'' (2013–15), for which she received a 2014 BAFTA TV Award
The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.
Background
The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and '' Home Fires'' (2015–16). In 2020 she appeared in '' Enola Holmes'' (as Mrs Lane) and ''Ammonite
Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttle ...
''. In 2021 she starred opposite Adeel Akhtar
Adeel Akhtar (born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. In 2017, he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in '' Murdered by My Father''. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role ...
in the British film Ali & Ava
''Ali & Ava'' is a 2021 British drama film written and directed by Clio Barnard. The film stars Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook in the lead roles.
''Ali & Ava'' had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors Fortnight s ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Radio
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rushbrook, Claire
1971 births
People from Letchworth
People educated at Fearnhill School
Alumni of Rose Bruford College
Living people
English television actresses
English film actresses
Actresses from Hertfordshire
20th-century English actresses
21st-century English actresses