Rochelle Neil is an English television and stage actress. She began her career in theatre. On television, she is known for her roles in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

drama ''

Das Boot (; ) is a 1981 West Germany, West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. An Film adaptation, adaptation of Lothar-Günthe ...

'' (2020), the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' The Nevers'' (2021–2023), and the ITV miniseries '' Three Little Birds'' (2023).

Early life

Neil was born in the East

London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an Outer London, outer London boroughs, London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Municipal Borough of Leyton, Leyton, Municipal Borough of Walthamstow, Walthamstow an ...

. She is of Jamaican and Grenadian descent. Neil began attending the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, also known simply as Italia Conti, is a drama school based in Woking, Woking, England. It was founded by the English actress Italia Conti in 1911. Italia Conti offers courses in acting, musical theatre, ...

when she was 13.

Career

Neil made her professional stage debut in '' Fantastic Mr Fox'' at

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, ope ...

in 2007. She played Mayme in

Lynn Nottage Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for he ...

's ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Award-nominated ''Intimate Apparel'' at the Park Theatre. To prepare for the latter role, Neil learned

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

piano. She appeared in two Triforce Film Festival short films: ''Gracie'' with Kate Dickie and ''Could You Be My Match''. Neil played Adina in the television film adaptation of

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

's '' NW'' and had a recurring role as Jessica in the fifth series of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and Showtime sitcom ''

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode, a part of a dramatic work * Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011 * Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal ...

''. In 2018, Neil was invited to take part 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 ...

Newcomers Program in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Neil performed the voice and

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...

of Faye in the EA video game '' Anthem.'' In 2020, Neil joined the cast of the German

war series ''

'' for its second season as Cassandra Lloyd, a Harlem jazz singer. As announced in 2019, Neil played Annie Carbey, a criminal with the ability to control fire, in the 2021 HBO science fiction drama series '' The Nevers''. After being pulled from

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

, the latter half of ''The Nevers'' episodes were released on ''

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

'' in 2023. Also in 2021, Neil played Yvonne in the second series of the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

thriller ''

Guilt Guilt most commonly refers to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music * ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims * "Guilt" ( ...

''. Neil starred as the lead character Leah Whittaker in

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

's 2023 miniseries '' Three Little Birds'' for

ITVX ITVX is a British Over-the-top media services, over-the-top and ad-supported Streaming television, streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, Free ...

, inspired by his mother's story of arriving in Britain from Jamaica in the 1950s. To prepare for the role, Neil read her own Jamaican grandmother's memoir. She described the role as "a gift for an actor" due to the characters development, but told ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' that the role took an emotional toll, saying "When we finished filming, I stayed in Coventry for an extra week because I just couldn’t stop crying" but that she saw it as a quintessentially "British story, because everyone’s lives changed. Everyone was exposed to new music, new culture… The UK as we know it now would not be the same country if it wasn’t for the immigration that has happened. It’s everyone’s story."

Personal life

Neil is based between Stockholm and London and is married with a daughter.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

* ''

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

'' (2019) as Faye

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neil, Rochelle Living people 1989 births Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts Black British actresses English expatriates in Sweden English film actresses English people of Grenadian descent English people of Jamaican descent English television actresses English voice actresses Actors from the London Borough of Waltham Forest Actresses from London