Brooke Williams (born 3 January 1984) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

actress, best known for her role as Jennsen Rahl in ''

Legend of the Seeker ''Legend of the Seeker'' is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based on the fantasy novel series ''The Sword of Truth'' by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series ...

'', Aurelia in '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and Eva in ''

The Almighty Johnsons ''The Almighty Johnsons'' is a New Zealand fantasy comedy/drama television series, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang and was produced by South Pacific Pictures and aired from 7 February 2011 to 23 September 2013. Production ...

''.

Early life and education

Williams was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, where she spent her childhood. At a very young age, she decided to become an actress and started performing in amateur theatre and attending acting courses. She moved to London, where, starting in 2001, she trained at ''Mme Course'', ''Acting for Screen'' and the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

, joining its theatre company. In 2002 she participated in the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

acting in ''Gogo the Boy with Magic Feet'', for which she won a Total Theatre Award. After returning to New Zealand, she worked at the Court Theatre in Christchurch; she moved North in 2004 and graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 2006.

Career

In 2007 she moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, where she joined the

Auckland Theatre Company Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) is a professional theatre company in Auckland. It was founded in 1992 and since 2016 has been based in ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter in central Auckland. History Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) wa ...

, playing the lead role in ''Romeo & Juliet''. Her television career began in 2005, acting in the movie '' Meet Me in Miami''; then appearing in the television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', its prequel '' Spartacus: Gods of the Arena'' and ''

''. In 2008, Williams acted in a spot for Griffin Solay. Two years later, she won two NZ Herald Best of Theatre Awards. In 2011, she appeared in the video of the song ''Myth Reducer'' by Sleeping Dogs and joined ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'', playing Lana. In 2012, Williams portraited Aurelia in '' Spartacus: Vengeance'' again. She resigned from ''Shortland Street'' in early 2013.

Filmography

Theatre

Other roles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * Brooke Williams a
''Aucklandactors.co.nz''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brooke 1984 births 21st-century New Zealand actresses Living people New Zealand film actresses New Zealand soap opera actresses New Zealand television actresses People from Christchurch Toi Whakaari alumni