Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She portrayed Lady Mary Sharma in the second season of ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

'', Isabella in the film '' Love Sarah'', Dr Elizabeth Shannon in the Spielberg series '' Terra Nova'',

Beelzebub Ba'al Zabub , Ba'al Zvuv or Beelzebub ( ; ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ''), also spelled Beelzebul or Belzebuth, and occasionally known as the Lord of the Flies, is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted ...

in the second season of ''

Good Omens ''Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch'' is a 1990 novel written by the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The novel is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the coming of the End Times. ...

'', and Indira Shetty in the first season of '' The Boys'' spin-off series ''

Gen V ''Gen V'' is an American satirical superhero television series, developed by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke, serving as a spin-off of '' The Boys'' by Kripke, and loosely based on '' The Boys'' comic book story arc '' We Gotta ...

''.

Early life and education

Conn was born in Barnet in north London to

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

parents. She is of mixed heritage, being of Portuguese, Burmese, and Indian descent. She attended Queen Mary's College in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

and

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 ...

. Conn trained at Bretton Hall. She was a student at

Cranbourne School Cranbourne is a co-educational secondary school in Basingstoke, northern Hampshire, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of wh ...

in Basingstoke.

Career

After drama school, Conn had a series of small roles in various British films, before coming to prominence when she starred as Ashika Chandiramani in 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 ...

series '' Party Animals''. In 2001, she picked up the role of PC Miriam Da Silva in BBC1's ''

Mersey Beat ''Mersey Beat'' was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and ...

'' and an irregularly recurring role in ''

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 ...

''. In 2002, Conn made her West End theatre stage debut in three plays in December 2002, after transferring from

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

in the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

's Jacobean Season at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

– ''The Island Princess'', ''Eastward Ho!'' and ''The Roman Actor''. Conn has appeared television, film and theatre, with a series of leading roles in various small budget European as well as British films namely BBC character dramas such as '' The Innocence Project,'' and occasional returns to the RSC. Conn joined Series Five of the popular

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

series '' Down to Earth'' in 2004. In early 2008, Conn starred as Miranda Hill in ''

The Palace ''The Palace'' is a British drama television series that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of t ...

'', as Jessica in '' Mistresses'' and as Neela Sahjani in '' Trial & Retribution''. In 2008 she appeared as Claire in '' Dead Set''. In 2010 she played Danni Prendiville in the TV series '' Strike Back''. She was chosen by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

to be one of the leads in the $150 million TV series ''Terra Nova'', which premiered on 26 September 2011. In 2014, Conn appeared in a US TV series called '' The Lottery''. Conn starred as Mary Sharma in the second series of the Netflix romance period drama ''

'' based on

Julia Quinn Julie Pottinger (née Cotler; born January 12, 1970), better known by her pen name, Julia Quinn, is an American author. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller List, ''The New York Times ...

's second novel in her ''Bridgerton'' series, '' The Viscount Who Loved Me''. The series was released in March 2022. Conn starred as

in the second series of ''

'', and Indira Shetty (a stand-in for Billy Butcher in-adaptation of '' We Gotta Go Now'' and '' The Bloody Doors Off'') in the first season of '' The Boys'' spin-off series ''

'', both for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Personal life

Conn lives in London and is married to fellow actor Jonathan Kerrigan; they have a son together, born in 2012. She ran in the 2006

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Shelley 1976 births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Basingstoke Actresses from London Alumni of Bretton Hall College Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art British people of Anglo-Indian descent English people of Burmese descent English people of Indian descent English people of Portuguese descent English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Living people Actors from the London Borough of Barnet Royal Shakespeare Company members