Louisa Sarah Anne Connolly-Burnham (born 23 June 1992) is an English actress, filmmaker, and musician. She gained prominence through her roles in the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

series ''

Wolfblood ''Wolfblood'' is a British fantasy teen drama television series. Created by Debbie Moon, it is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE. The television series revolves around the life of the species known as wolfbloods. They are creatures tha ...

'' (2012–2014) and the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

series ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series '' Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickelodeon on 1 Jan ...

'' (2013). She made her directorial debut with the short film ''The Call Centre'' (2020). Connolly-Burnham and her partner James New form a music duo called Virens.

Early life

Connolly-Burnham was born in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, West Midlands and grew up in Buckinghamshire with her two brothers. She attended

Wycombe High School Wycombe High School is a girls' grammar school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire taking girls from the age of 11 to 18. The school became an academy in 2011, and in 2020 had 1,308 pupils. History The school was the first state grammar school for ...

. Her father enrolled her in Saturday classes at Jackie Palmer Stage School. She went on to train at Arts Educational School, Tring Park.

Career

Connolly-Burnham made her debut with small roles in the 2007 TV movie ''Coming Down the Mountain'' and the crime drama series ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

''. In 2012, Connolly-Burnham got her breakthrough in the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nominated

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

hit drama ''

'' as Shannon Kelly in which she starred alongside

Bobby Lockwood Bobby Lockwood (born 24 May 1993) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Mick Campbell in ''House of Anubis'' (2011–2012) and as Rhydian Morris in ''Wolfblood'' (2012–2014). In 2021, he appeared on the BBC medical drama series ...

, Aimeé Kelly and

Kedar Williams-Sterling Kedar and Qedar is a surname or given name, as well as a name of places. People Surname * Benjamin Kedar-Kopfstein, Israeli professor emeritus * Benjamin Z. Kedar, Israeli history professor emeritus * Dvora Kedar, Israeli actress * Ido Kedar, au ...

. She left the show at the end of season three in 2014. In 2013, Connolly-Burnham played Willow Jenks in the third and final season of the

series ''

.'' In 2014, she starred in the short film ''Beneath Water'' in which she was subsequently nominated for Best Actress at the Queens World Film Festival in 2015. Since then, she has appeared as Avril Fox in the 2014 Christmas special of the

period drama ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

''. She has also had roles in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' (2015), ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

'' (2016), '' Drifters'' (2016) and ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' (2016). Connolly-Burnham made her stage debut playing a leading role in the 2017 theatre production ''Tribes'' at the ''

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

''. She has also starred in the stage production ''Beirut'' in 2018 at

The Park Theatre The Park Theatre opened in Finsbury Park, north LondonCecilia Sundstrom"Psychopaths, nudity and Maureen Lipman launch new Finsbury Park theatre" ''Hackney Gazette'', 27 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-01. in 2013. It describes itself as "a neighb ...

. In 2019, Connolly-Burnham founded her own production company Thimble Films, and made her directorial debut with the short film ''The Call Centre'' (2020), which amassed over 1.5 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and earned Connolly-Burnham a nomination for Best Producer at the

Underwire Film Festival The Underwire Film Festival was an annual event observing short films made with a major female contribution. Held in London, this film festival was dedicated to promoting and celebrating female talent across the UK television and film industry. ...

UK. In 2022, Connolly-Burnham returned to television with a recurring role as Silver in the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

adaptation of ''

Vampire Academy ''Vampire Academy'' is a series of six young adult fiction, young adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway, a dhampir girl, who is training to be a guardian of her moroi be ...

''. During lockdown, Connolly-Burnham met James New online, and they began making

alternative folk Indie folk (also called alternative folk) is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Characteristics The staff of ''Paste Magazine'' said in 2020: "No music genre ...

music together under the name Virens. Their debut EP ''Couples Therapy'' will be released in 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly-Burnham, Louisa Living people 1992 births 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English women musicians Actresses from Buckinghamshire Actresses from the West Midlands (county) English filmmakers English people of Irish descent English people of Italian descent British indie folk musicians Musicians from Buckinghamshire Musicians from the West Midlands (county) Actors educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Actors from Solihull