Gemma Elizabeth Whelan (born 23 April 1981) is an English actress and comedian known for portraying Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

''. She also plays Kate in all seasons of the comedy '' Upstart Crow'', Detective Eunice Noon on the first season of '' The End of the F***ing World'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, and Geraldine on the third season of '' Killing Eve''.

Early life

Whelan was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

and grew up in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

. She attended The King's High School for Girls in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and W ...

and the London Studio Centre.

Career

As a stand-up comedian, Whelan won the 2010 Funny Women Variety Award. She performed at the 2013

Edinburgh 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 ...

with her show ''Chastity Butterworth & The Spanish Hamster''. In 2014 she recorded a pilot chat show as her character Chastity Butterworth for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

. On screen, she has played supporting roles in several films and TV shows, including in the 2010 films ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'' and ''

The Wolfman In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely o ...

''. She played Kate (appearing in all 18 main episodes, as well as three Christmas specials) in Ben Elton's

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

comedy '' Upstart Crow'' and was a series regular on '' The End of the F***ing World''. She also played roles in other comedies, including ''

Uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal re ...

'' and '' The Agency''. In August 2011, she was cast as Yara Greyjoy in the HBO fantasy-drama television series ''

'' and appeared as a recurring cast member from the second season onward. In 2017, she portrayed Karen Matthews in the two-part TV drama '' The Moorside'', based on the 2008 disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews. In 2019, she appeared as Marian Lister in the BBC drama '' Gentleman Jack''. In February 2020, a stage adaptation of '' Upstart Crow'' opened at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...

, London, Whelan reprising the role of Kate. Whelan returned to the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

stage as Kate when the play was revived at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in 2022.