Eva Birthistle

Eva Birthistle (born 16 April 1974) is an Irish actress and writer. She is best known for her roles in '' Bad Sisters'' and '' Ae Fond Kiss...'', and also starred in The Last Kingdom between 2015 and 2022. She won the London Film Critics Circle British or Irish Actress of the Year Award in 2004, and has twice won the IFTA Best Actress in a Leading Role (Film) award.

Early life and education

Birthistle was born in Bray, County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, but moved with her family to Derry, Northern Ireland when she was 14. She was raised Catholic but attended the non-denominational Foyle College. After her GCSEs, she studied acting at The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin.

Career

In 1995, she got her first TV role as Regina Crosbie in the serial '' Glenroe''. She stayed for three years until 1998. She was offered her first feature film in 1997, '' All Souls' Day'' by Alan Gilsenan. She played a variety of roles in Irish films, including ''Drinking Crude'' (1997), co-starring Colin Farrell, and TV movie '' Miracle at Midnight'' (1998), with Mia Farrow. In 2002, Eva appeared in ''Sunday'', a dramatisation of the events of Bloody Sunday written by Jimmy McGovern.

In 2003, she appeared in the TV series '' Trust'' before starring as Roisin Hanlon in the Ken Loach movie '' Ae Fond Kiss...'' (2003–04), which won her the 2005 London Critics Circle Film Award as "British Actress of the Year". She appeared in '' Breakfast on Pluto'', '' Imagine Me & You'' and ''Save Angel Hope'' (by Lukas Erni) in 2005, and in Brian Kirk's ''Middletown'' in 2006. She starred as human rights lawyer Jane Lavery in the TV conspiracy drama ''The State Within'', and played Rosaleen in the '' Taken at the Flood'' episode of ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'' in 2006. In late 2007, she featured as Rembrandt's wife Saskia van Uylenburg in the historical drama, '' Nightwatching'' by Peter Greenaway.

She featured in the BBC drama '' The Last Enemy'' in early 2008, playing the role of Eleanor Brooke, a junior minister. In 2009, she portrayed Jenette in the last episode of the second season of the BBC hit series '' Ashes to Ashes''. She also appeared in two successful horror films '' The Children'' (2008) and '' Wake Wood'' (2011). In 2010, she won Best Actress at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival for her acclaimed performance as a lovelorn paralegal in Curt Truninger's ''The Rendezvous''.

She played "Annette Nicholls" in the 2010 three-part TV series '' Five Daughters''. She appeared as Detective Superintendent Sarah Cavendish in the ninth, and final, series of '' Waking the Dead''. In 2011, Birthistle appeared in the Sky1 TV series '' Strike Back: Project Dawn'' as Captain Kate Marshall. In 2013, Birthistle co-starred with Anna Friel in the Sky1 TV production ''The Psychopath Next Door''. In ''Brooklyn'' she played Georgina, the cabin-mate of Eilis ( Saoirse Ronan), mentoring her in surviving the voyage to New York and dealing with immigration to the US. In 2014, she portrayed Sarah Bailey in the miniseries ''Amber''. Since 2015, she has starred in '' The Last Kingdom'' as Hild, a nun turned warrior and friend of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
She appeared in the 2017 Irish film '' The Delinquent Season'' opposite Cillian Murphy.

In 2020 she made her directorial debut with the short film ''Kathleen Was Here'', starring Hazel Doupe. In 2024, she expanded it into her feature directorial debut, '' Kathleen Is Here'', also starring Doupe as the title character.

Personal life

Birthistle's husband, Ross, is an acupuncturist. They have a son, Jesse, born in 2013, and a daughter, Joni (named after Joni Mitchell), born in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birthistle, Eva
Living people
1974 births
Actresses from County Wicklow
Irish film actresses
Irish television actresses
People from Bray, County Wicklow
Writers from Derry (city)
Actresses from Derry (city)
Writers from County Wicklow