Rebecca Gethings is an English actress best known for her roles in film and television comedies such as ''

The Thick of It ''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series created, written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially ...

'', '' Extras'', '' The Mimic'', '' David Brent: Life on the Road'' and ''

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, ...

''.

Early life

Rebecca Gethings was born in 1977 in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada, and moved to

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England, with her family whilst still a child. She trained as an actress at the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...

Career

Film and television

Gethings has collaborated several times with

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer and performer. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. St ...

, improvising with the US cast of ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci. The series follows Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the fictional Vice Pres ...

'', in which she also appears. Iannucci later cast her as Helen Hatley, the ambitious special adviser to Nicola Murray in the fourth and final series of ''

''. Gethings played Lizzie in episode 4 of 'Extras', directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. In 2016, she worked again with Gervais, playing Miriam, the head of Human Resources in ''David Brent: Life on the Road''. In 2017, Gethings appeared as Jane in '' Mad to Be Normal''. In March 2020, she appeared in an episode of the

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 ...

soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' as Fran Claverley. From January 2023, Gethings portrayed Sister Veronica in the twelfth series of BBC period drama ''

''. She later told ''Radio Times'': "I was just blown away by how welcome I was made by the cast. How kind and generous they all were to me, and patient. I love Sister Veronica because she’s naughty, and so I hope she gets to do a little bit more naughtiness." Gethings has voiced a number of animated characters for children's television, advertising campaigns and documentaries. and was the voice of Maiya the Meerkat in the Compare The Market TV advertising campaign.

Theatre

Gethings' stage work includes ''The Vegemite Tales'' at The Venue (2006), Blessie Blatt in ''

Chicken Soup with Barley ''Chicken Soup with Barley'' is a 1956 play by British playwright Arnold Wesker. It is the first of the 'Wesker trilogy' – being followed by ''Roots'' and '' I'm Talking about Jerusalem'' – and was first performed on stage in 1958 at the B ...

'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

(which was later produced as a radio play for BBC Radio 3, featuring Gethings in the same role) and the

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

production of

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

's ''Vassa''.

Personal life

Gethings' long time partner is the Emmy award-winning

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

director Tom Brass. They have two children. In May 2020, during the

COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom was a series of stay-at-home orders introduced by the British government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, British and devolved governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom ...

, Gethings and her then three-year-old daughter produced a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

titled ''Dear Crocodile''.

Filmography

Television series

Animated shows

Film

Podcast series

Video games

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gethings, Rebecca 1977 births English television actresses English stage actresses English film actresses Living people People educated at St. George's School, Ascot 21st-century English actresses English voice actresses British video game actresses English video game actresses English podcasters