Jemima Rooper

Jemima Rooper (born 24 October 1981) is an English actress. Having started as a child actress in television series, she has appeared in numerous film and theatre roles.

Jemima Rooper
Born	(1981-10-24) 24 October 1981 (age 42) Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993–present

Background

Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journalist Alison Rooper. She attended Redcliffe Gardens School in Chelsea and the Godolphin and Latymer School. While working on The Famous Five, she passed eight GCSEs with A* and A grades. From there she went to MPW sixth form college where she got three A-grade A levels. Rooper bought her first home at the age of 19.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Rooper expressed a wish to be an actress at the age of nine and contacted an agent.^[1] Her first professional roles were in the 1993 film The Higher Mortals and the 1994 film Willie's War. In 1996, she appeared in all episodes as George in Enid Blyton's The Famous Five.

She said:

I remember writing "I want to act" on my bed in lipstick. I think I told my mum I wanted to be an actress and she said I needed an agent to do that. I must have said: "Well, I'm going to get one"—and I think that's why. She was devastated. She said: "Please don't be an actress, be a doctor or lawyer." But I was very tunnel-visioned about it all. I'm an only child and I spent a lot of time alone. I played a lot of imaginary games. I just wanted to dress up and be weird, I suppose.

After several small roles in British TV series, Jemima took the role of Nicki Sutton in the popular Channel 4 teenage series As If, which successfully ran for three years. Her next appearance was in the supernatural drama Hex where she played a lovable lesbian ghost named Thelma. Hex aired on Sky One and ran for two series between 2004 and 2005.^[2]

Rooper made her Hollywood debut in The Black Dahlia. In 2008 she starred in the TV series Lost in Austen. In 2013 she played a role as Medusa in Atlantis. Also guest starred in Agatha Christie's Poirot. She also played a lead role in Her Naked Skin, a new play at the National Theatre. In December 2010, Rooper was cast in the musical Me and My Girl at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, alongside Miriam Margolyes.^[3] Having been featured in films including The Railway Children, A Sound of Thunder, Kinky Boots, One Chance and The F Word (as the on-screen sister of Daniel Radcliffe's character) since 2003, she has since appeared in numerous guest roles on British series including Father Brown. As a voice actress, Rooper voiced companion Izzy Sinclair in Doctor Who, in Big Finish Productions audio dramas.

In September 2023, Rooper starred in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance, appearing alongside Samantha Bond, Rob James-Collier, Gaynor Faye and Adil Ray.^[4]

Stage

Rooper was seen on stage in One Man, Two Guvnors, which was favourably reviewed. She has since appeared in Blithe Spirit and Breeders in the West End.^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Higher Mortals	Vicky
1994	Willie's War	Annabel
1998	Owd Bob	Maggie Moore
2002	Snapshots	Narma (20 years old)
2005	A Sound of Thunder	Jenny Krase
	Kinky Boots	Nicola
2006	The Black Dahlia	Lorna Mertz
2011	Hotel Caledonia	Casey Wright
2013	One Chance	Hydrangea
	The F Word	Ellie
2022	Matriarch	Laura
	The People We Hate at the Wedding	Mimzy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996–1997	The Famous Five	George	Series regular
1998	Animal Ark	Rachel Farmer	Episode; "Guinea Pig in the Garage"
1999	Junk	Gemma Brogan	TV film
	The Passion	Alice	TV series
	Shockers: Dance	Anne	TV film
	Wives and Daughters	Lizzie Goodenough	Miniseries
2000	Summer in the Suburbs	Judie Lyle	TV film
	The Railway Children	Bobbie	TV film
	Life Force	Siren	Episode: "Siren Song"
	Urban Gothic	Nik	Episode: "Dead Meat"
2001	Love in a Cold Climate	Jassy	Miniseries
2001–2004	As If	Nicki Sutton	Series regular
2004	Midsomer Murders	Jo Clifford	Episode: "The Straw Woman"
2005	The Brief	Mia Ottway	Episode 2.2
2004–2005	Hex	Thelma Bates	Series regular
2006	Sugar Rush	Montana	Episode 2.5
	Silent Witness	Claire Ashen	2 episodes; "Schism: Part 1", "Schism: Part 2"
	Sinchronicity	Fi	Series regular
	Perfect Day: The Millennium	Amber	TV film
	Random Quest	Gerry	TV film
2007	Life Line	Catt	TV film
	The Time of Your Life	Emma	Series regular
2008	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Norma Restarick	Episode: "Third Girl"
	Lost in Austen	Amanda Price	Miniseries, 4 episodes
2010	Reunited	Sophie	TV movie
	Bouquet of Barbed Wire	Sarah Francis	Miniseries, 3 episodes
2011	Frankenstein's Wedding	Justine Mortiz	Television film
2013–2015	Atlantis	Medusa	Main role
2014	Blandings	Lesley Drabble	Episode: "Hallo to All This"
2017	Fearless	Maggie	3 episodes
2018	Death in Paradise	Karen Marston	Episode: "Murder From Above"
	Trauma	Nora Baker	3 episodes
2019	Father Brown	Lilith Crowe	Episode: "The Whistle in the Dark“
	Silent Witness	Amy Marlow	Episode: "Two Spirits" Part 1 & 2
	Gold Digger	Della Day	Miniseries, 6 episodes
2021	The Girlfriend Experience	Leanne	Season 3; 7 episodes
2022	The Split	India	Series 3
	Flowers in the Attic: The Origin	Olivia Winfield	Miniseries[6]
2023	Sister Boniface Mysteries	Verity Martin	Episode: "The It Girl"
	Grantchester	Josephine Hanlan	Season 8; Episode 3
	The Inheritance		4 episodes
2024	Geek Girl	Annabel Manners

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2023	The Isle Tide Hotel  [d]	Rebecca Price[7]	Interactive film[8]

Theatre

• Where Do We Live – Royal Court Theatre, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, May 2002 (playing Lily)
• Us and Them – Hampstead Theatre, June 2003 (playing Izzie)
• A Respectable Wedding (part of The Big Brecht Fest) – Young Vic, April 2007 (playing Bride)
• Her Naked Skin – National Theatre, July 2008 (playing Eve Douglas)
• The Great Game: Afghanistan – Tricycle Theatre, April – June 2009^[9]
• The Power of Yes – National Theatre October 2009^[10]
• All My Sons – Apollo Theatre, May – October 2010 (playing Ann Deever)^[11]
• Me and My Girl – Jan 2011 (playing Sally)^[3]
• One Man, Two Guvnors- National Theatre June 2011 (playing Rachel Crabbe)^[12]
• Blithe Spirit – Gielgud Theatre, March 2014 (playing Elvira)^[13]
• Breeders by Ben Ockrent – St James Theatre, September 2014
• Blithe Spirit – Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, December 2014 – January 2015 (playing Elvira)
• Hand to God – Vaudeville Theatre, London, February 2016
• Little Shop of Horrors – Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London, August – September 2018 (playing Audrey)

References

1. Williams, Andrew (8 September 2005). "60 Seconds: Jemima Rooper". Metro. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
2. "IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
3. "Jemima Rooper | London Theatre". Westendtheatre.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
4. Robinson, Abby (4 September 2023). "The Inheritance cast: Meet the characters in Channel 5 drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
5. "One Man, Two Guvnors – review" Archived 14 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Guardian, 25 May 2011.
6. Petski, Denise (17 August 2021). "Lifetime Greenlights 'Flowers In The Attic' Prequel Miniseries With Jemima Rooper, Max Irons, Kelsey Grammer, Harry Hamlin, Moren". Deadline.
7. Bamsey, Ryan Thomas (12 September 2023). "The Isle Tide Hotel Review - An Over-The-Top Mystery Romp". thegamer.com. Compelling writing and a juicy mystery make for a fun time in this stylish, if uneven, FMV game.
8. Packwood, Lewis (20 September 2023). "The Isle Tide Hotel: like Wes Anderson directing a playable episode of Doctor Who". The Guardian. Brother and sister duo Grace and Harry Chadwick have followed in the footsteps of Charlie Brooker's Bandersnatch with an interactive film about body swapping
9. "Acting Company Announced for Tricycle Theatre's 'The Great Game: Afghanistan'". Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
10. "The Power of Yes Cast Credits". Royal National Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
11. "All My Sons Extends At The Apollo Theatre Through Oct 2". Broadway World. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
12. "One Man, Two Guvnors Cast Credits". Royal National Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
13. "Blithe Spirit, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres". Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

External links

• Jemima Rooper at IMDb
• Jemima Rooper's Naked Skin, Stephen Armstrong, The Times, 13 July 2008
• "How We Met: Jemima Rooper & Ralf Little". The Independent on Sunday. 24 August 2008.