Eva Birthistle (born 1974) is an Irish actress and writer.
She is best known for her role in ''
Ae Fond Kiss...'' and since 2015 has starred in ''
The Last Kingdom
''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assimilated ...
''. She won the
London Film Critics Circle
The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally.
The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the ...
British or Irish Actress of the Year Award in 2004, and has twice won the
IFTA
Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt
Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Film) award.
Early life and education
Birthistle was born in
Bray, County Wicklow
Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...
, Ireland, but moved with her family to
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
, Northern Ireland when she was 14. She was raised
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
but attended the non-denominational
Foyle College
Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged und ...
. After her
GCSEs
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
, she studied acting at
The Gaiety School of Acting
The Gaiety School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school located on Essex Street West in Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by theatre director Joe Dowling in 1986.
Organisation and location
The Gaiety School of Acting was founded in 19 ...
in Dublin.
Career
In 1995, she got her first TV role as Regina Crosbie in the serial ''
Glenroe
''Glenroe'' was a television drama series broadcast on RTÉ One in Ireland between September 1983, when the first episode was aired, and May 2001. A spin-off from ''Bracken'' — a short-lived RTÉ drama itself spun off from ''The Riordans'' †...
''. She stayed for three years until 1998. She was offered her first feature film in 1997, ''
All Souls' Day
All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...
'' by
Alan Gilsenan
Alan Gilsenan is an Irish writer, filmmaker and theatre director.
His most recent work include the cinema documentary ''Meetings with Ivor'', the feature film ''Unless'', based on a novel by Carol Shields and ''The Meeting,'' which he wrote and ...
. She played a variety of roles in Irish films, including ''Drinking Crude'' (1997),
co-starring
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The I ...
, and TV movie ''
Miracle at Midnight'' (1998), with
Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
. In 2002, Eva appeared in ''Sunday'', a dramatisation of the events of
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
written by
Jimmy McGovern
James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...
.
In 2003, she appeared in the TV series ''
Trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
'' before starring as Roisin Hanlon in the
Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
movie ''
Ae Fond Kiss...'' (2003–04), which won her the 2005
London Critics Circle Film Award as "British Actress of the Year". She appeared in ''
Breakfast on Pluto
''Breakfast on Pluto'' is a 1998 novel by Patrick McCabe. The book was shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize, and was adapted for the screen by McCabe and Neil Jordan; Jordan directed the 2005 film. The author derived the novel's title from t ...
'', ''
Imagine Me & You
''Imagine Me & You'' is a 2005 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Ol Parker and starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey with Matthew Goode, Celia Imrie, and Anthony Head. It centers on the relationship between Rachel (Perabo) and ...
'' and ''Save Angel Hope'' (by Lukas Erni) in 2005, and in
Brian Kirk
Brian Kirk is an Irish film and television director who has directed episodes of '' Game of Thrones'', FX's '' The Riches'' and Showtime's '' Brotherhood'' and ''The Tudors''. He also directed the television film '' My Boy Jack'' starring Da ...
's ''Middletown'' in 2006. She starred as human rights lawyer Jane Lavery in the TV conspiracy drama ''
The State Within'', and played Rosaleen in the ''
Taken at the Flood
''Taken at the Flood'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1948 under the title of ''There is a Tide . . .'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in ...
'' episode of ''
Agatha Christie's Poirot
''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...
'' in 2006. In late 2007, she featured as
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
's wife
Saskia van Uylenburg
Saskia van Uylenburgh ( fy, Saakje fan Uylenburgh; 2 August 1612 – 14 June 1642) was the wife of painter Rembrandt van Rijn. In the course of her life, she was his model for some of his paintings, drawings and etchings. She was the daug ...
in the historical drama, ''
Nightwatching
''Nightwatching'' is a 2007 film about the artist Rembrandt and the creation of his 1642 painting ''The Night Watch''. The film is directed by Peter Greenaway and stars Martin Freeman as Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as his wife Saskia van Uyle ...
'' by
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the ...
.
She featured in the BBC drama ''
The Last Enemy'' in early 2008, playing the role of Eleanor Brooke, a junior minister. In 2009, she portrayed Jenette in the last episode of the second season of the BBC hit series ''
Ashes to Ashes''. She also appeared in two successful horror films ''
The Children'' (2008) and ''
Wake Wood
''Wake Wood'' (sometimes marketed as ''The Wake Wood'') is a 2009 Irish supernatural horror film directed by David Keating and starring Timothy Spall, Eva Birthistle, Ella Connolly and Aidan Gillen. An international co-production between Irela ...
'' (2011). In 2010, she won Best Actress at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival for her acclaimed performance as a lovelorn paralegal in Curt Truninger's ''The Rendezvous''.
She played "Annette Nicholls" in the 2010 three-part TV series ''
Five Daughters
''Five Daughters'' is a British television drama miniseries starring Ian Hart, Sarah Lancashire, Jaime Winstone and Juliet Aubrey. Set in 2006, it is about the five victims of the Ipswich serial murders and how the crime affected their families ...
''. She appeared as Detective Superintendent Sarah Cavendish in the ninth, and final, series of ''
Waking the Dead''. In 2011, Birthistle appeared in the Sky1 TV series ''
Strike Back: Project Dawn'' as Captain Kate Marshall.
In 2013, Birthistle co-starred with
Anna Friel
Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...
in the Sky1 TV production ''The Psychopath Next Door''. In ''
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
'' she played Georgina, the cabin-mate of Eilis (
Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...
), mentoring her in surviving the voyage to New York and dealing with immigration to the US. In 2014, she portrayed Sarah Bailey in the miniseries ''
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
''. Since 2015, she has starred in ''
The Last Kingdom
''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assimilated ...
'' as Hild, a nun turned warrior and friend of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
She appeared in the 2017 Irish film ''
The Delinquent Season'' opposite
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...
.
Personal life
Birthistle's husband, Ross, is an acupuncturist. They have a son, Jesse, born in 2013, and a daughter, Joni (named after
Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
) born in 2017.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birthistle, Eva
Living people
1974 births
Actresses from County Wicklow
Irish film actresses
Irish television actresses
People from Bray, County Wicklow
Writers from Derry (city)
Actors from Derry (city)