Anna Skellern
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Anna Skellern (born 27 April 1985) is a United Kingdom-based Australian
actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...
, best known as the first female member of
The Chaser The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. Th ...
's television programme ''
CNNNN ''CNNNN'' (''Chaser NoN-stop News Network'') is a Logie Award winning Australian television program, satirising American news channels CNN and Fox News. It was produced and hosted by comedy team The Chaser. ''CNNNNs slogan was "We Report, You ...
''.


Biography

Skellern attended the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
, where she was a prominent student activist. In the first season of The Chaser's ''CNNNN'', an Australian television show satirising American news channels
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, she played her namesake Anna Skellern, a no-nonsense war correspondent noted for the frequent loss of her cameramen and dubbed 'the perfumed abattoir'. In 2004, CNNNN shared the
Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
for 'Most Outstanding Comedy' with ''
Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughter. ...
''. After relocating to London, in July 2007 Skellern graduated from the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...
. That same month she made her professional stage debut in the successful West End production ''
The Vegemite Tales ''The Vegemite Tales'' is a comedy theatrical production written by Australian playwright Melanie Tait. The play revolves around the lives of a group of young antipodeans sharing a flat in Hammersmith, west London. It has been described as an ...
'', playing the role of Maddie. Skellern was cast as the new Sapphire in the
Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
radio show ''
Sapphire and Steel ''Sapphire & Steel'' is a British television supernatural sci-fi/fantasy series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. ...
'' – beginning with "
Second Sight Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...
". Skellern was cast in the sequel to
Neil Marshall Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films ''Dog Soldiers'' (2002) and ''The Descent'' (2005), the science fiction action film ''Doomsday'' (200 ...
's critically acclaimed horror film ''
The Descent ''The Descent'' is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who enter a cave system and struggle to survive against the humanoid creatures inside. Filming took place in the United Kingdom. Ex ...
'', ''The Descent Part 2'', which was released in late 2009. The script sees a survivor from ''The Descent'' forced back into the system of caves she battled her way out of in the first film, in a bid to locate the rest of her group. Skellern played one of the members of the new search team that accompanies the survivor back into the caves. In 2009, Skellern filmed
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's ''
Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
'': "
The Clocks ''The Clocks'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 7 November 1963 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. It features the Belgian detect ...
". She also filmed the new role of restaurant worker, babysitter, and Jake's crush, Kelly, for BBC1's award-winning, partly improvised comedy '' Outnumbered''. In 2010, Skellern spent time in Africa filming the lead role in the thriller ''Siren''. She also played Jo in the British miniseries, ''
A Passionate Woman ''A Passionate Woman'' is a British two-part drama mini-series that aired on BBC One from 11 to 18 April 2010. Plot In 1950s Yorkshire, Betty Stevenson, a married mother of one, falls in love with her Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski aka "Cra ...
''. She played the role of Lexy Price in series 2 of ''
Lip Service Lip service may refer to: Idiom * Lip service, an idiom for insincere talk Film * ''Lip Service'' (1988 film), an American comedy TV film Television * ''Lip Service'' (TV series), a 2010 dramatic series broadcast on BBC Three * ''Lip Serv ...
'' broadcast on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
in April 2012. In October 2012 Skellern played Elaine White in series 2 episode 2 of the
Sky 1 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, ...
comedy drama series ''
Spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
''.


Filmography


Personal life

In 2007, Skellern was at the centre of a public spat between two of her former boyfriends, singer-songwriter
Tim Freedman Timothy James Freedman (25 November 1964) is an Australian musician, best known as the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993. Note: n-lineversion was expanded from the 2002 edition. The song ...
and comedian Chris Taylor. On 7 October 2007, Freedman posted a message on the official website of his band
The Whitlams The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the l ...
, citing a parody of him that was written by Taylor, and was broadcast on the 3 October 2007 episode of '' The Chaser's War on Everything''. The song was performed by fellow Chaser
Andrew Hansen Andrew John Hansen (born 18 September 1974) is an Australian comedian, musician and author, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, Hansen's television work includes co-writing and starring in A ...
, and the lyrics implied that Freedman was obsessed with the Sydney suburb of Newtown, and that he continually referred to the area of Newtown in his own songs. In his message, Freedman alluded that the lyrics were indeed written by Taylor, and that the parody had been motivated by jealousy over Skellern. Taylor denied this, and said that the song had nothing to do with Skellern. "He
reedman The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional continuities of the Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The ...
was speculating that the song was written out of some sort of jealous rage or payback which isn't the case at all," he said. "My relationship with Anna didn't end badly... we're still good friends and see each other quite a bit.""Whitlams' Chaser love twist"
News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...
, 9 October 2007, retrieved 1 December 2007.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skellern, Anna 1981 births Living people Actresses from Sydney University of Sydney alumni Australian expatriates in England Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Australian voice actresses 21st-century Australian actresses