Tuppence Middleton

Tuppence Middleton
Born (1987-02-21) 21 February 1987
Bristol, England
Occupation Actress
Known for Tormented, Sense8

Tuppence Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is an English actress born in Bristol in Southern England. She has described herself as a introvert and quite shy. She was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer.

She has appeared in feature films such as Tormented (2009), Chatroom (2010), Cleanskin (2012), Trance (2013), The Lady Vanishes (2013), The Imitation Game (2014) and Jupiter Ascending (2015), as well as in television series such as Bones (2008), New Tricks (2010), Friday Night Dinner (2011), Sinbad (2012), Spies of Warsaw (2013), Black Mirror (2013), Sense8 (2015).

She starred in two British period dramas screened around the same time, Dickensian (2015–16) playing Miss Haversham and War & Peace (2016), in which she played Russian princess and villain Hélène Kuragina.

Early life

Tuppence Middleton was born on 21 February 1987 in Bristol, England, to Nigel and Tina Middleton.[1] She was named "Tuppence" after the childhood nickname her grandmother gave to her mother.[2] She was raised in Clevedon, Somerset,[3] with younger brother Josh and older sister Angel.[1]

From an early age Tuppence was involved in school plays in Clevedon, including Guys and Dolls, in which she played the lead role.[1] She attended the performing arts school Stagecoach in Portishead, Bristol. She appeared in local drama productions, including a pantomime at Clevedon's Princes Hall with her sister.[1]

Tuppence attended Bristol Grammar School. She subsequently studied acting at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, earning an honours degree in acting.[1]

Career

Middleton gained a following for her appearance in the 2009 British horror/comedy Tormented.[4] Her character, head girl Justine Fielding, dates one of the most popular boys in school, only to find that he and his friends were responsible for a classmate's death. She has also appeared in adverts for the chewing gum Extra and Sky TV.

In 2010 she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer and she starred in Samuel Abrahams's BAFTA-nominated short film "Connect".[5] In 2011, she played the character Tanya Greene in the British sitcom Friday Night Dinner,[6] and Sarah in Sirens. In 2012 she appeared in Cleanskin, a terrorist thriller.[7] In March 2013 she made her professional theatre debut in The Living Room.[8] She also played a minor role in the Danny Boyle film Trance. In 2015, she starred in the Netflix Original Series Sense8 as Riley Blue.

She starred in the 2016 BBC drama War & Peace, playing Russian aristocrat Princess Hélène Kuragin.[9]

The series received critical acclaim and featured fellow young actress Lily James also known for her period dramas. The Daily Express said: "Rising star Tuppence Middleton takes on the role of the delightfully evil Helene Kuragina, who is one half of the incestuous duo. Audiences witnessed her brother getting a little too intimate with his sibling in the first episode before she turned her attentions to Pierre and dug her claws into him. She is a vile character who will use and abuse Pierre without giving him a second thought, to stop the beautiful Helena (Lily James) Pierre real love marrying him."

Andrew Davies, who adapted War and Peace, has said Middleton’s Hélène is “the naughtiest woman on TV at the moment”, yet in Dickensian she is also arguably the most vulnerable woman on TV. The high-profile roles have propelled Middleton, 29 next month, into the first rank of new British acting talent, particularly since viewing figures for War and Peace have grown in America.[10]

Personal life

She has in interviews described as shy "I liked to be in my own company, so when I came home from school, I'd just go up to my room and hang out by myself. I wouldn't really have friends over or go to see friends much. I was very, very shy in public and school, and quite loud and brash at home. As I got older, I auditioned for drama school and shocked myself by getting in."[11] She has also said she has been asked if she is related to Kate Middleton "Since Kate Middleton came around, some people think I'm related to her, but unfortunately, there's no connection."[12]

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Dance Lessons Alice Short film
2009 Tormented Justine Fielding
2010 Skeletons Rebecca[13]
2010 Chatroom Candy
2010 In the Meadow Grace Short film
2010 Ever Here I Be Valerie Short film
2010 First Light Grace TV film
2010 Connect Woman Short film
2011 Subculture Lily Short film
2012 Cleanskin Kate
2013 The Lady Vanishes Iris Carr TV film
2013 Trance Young Woman in Red Car
2013 Trap for Cinderella Micky
2013 The Love Punch Sophie
2013 A Long Way Down Kathy
2014 The Imitation Game Helen
2015 Jupiter Ascending Kalique Abrasax
2015 Spooks: The Greater Good June Keaton
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Bones Vera Waterhouse Episode: "Yanks in the U.K. (Part 1)"
Episode: "Yanks in the U.K. (Part 2)"
2010 New Tricks Melanie Higgs Episode: "Fashion Victim"
2011 Friday Night Dinner Tanya Green Episode: "The Date"
Episode: "The Dress"
2011 Sirens Sarah Fraisor Episode: "Up, Horny, Down"
Episode: "I.C.E."
2012 Sinbad Tiger Recurring character
2013 Lewis Vicki Walmsley Episode: "Down Among the Fearful – Part 1"
Episode: "Down Among the Fearful – Part 2"
2013 Spies of Warsaw Gabrielle TV miniseries
2013 Black Mirror Jem Episode: "White Bear"
2015–present Sense8 Riley Blue A main character, Netflix series
2015 Dickensian Amelia Havisham
2016 War & Peace Helene Kuragina

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Pickstock, Heather (15 March 2013). "Bristol actress Tuppence Middleton stars in Hitchcock TV thriller ...". Bristol Post. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Williams, Andrew (9 January 2013). "Tuppence Middleton: I’m not stuck in a period piece ghetto". Metro. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Woodhall, Victoria (26 January 2013). "One to watch: Tuppence on the money". Daily Mail. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Tormented". United Kingdom: The Film Catalogue. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "Film Award Winners". BAFTA.org.
  6. ↑ Friday Night Dinner – Episode 1.6. The Date, British Comedy Guide, Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Cleanskin (2012). Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ Billington, Michael. "The Living Room – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "War and Peace's Tuppence Middleton could be TV's naughtiest star". Mail Online. 9 January 2016.
  10. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/31/tuppence-middleton-war-and-peace-dickensian
  11. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3095562/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "IndieLondon: Tormented". United Kingdom: IndieLondon. Retrieved 6 February 2010.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.