Genevieve Barr (born 12 December 1985)Dehn, Georgia

', 24 June 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2010. is an English actor and writer of stage and screen. She played the lead role in the BBC award-winning series '' The Silence''. Having grown up speaking orally, Barr learned sign language for this role. Further credits include roles playing psychopathic Lisa in '' Shameless'', BAFTA award-winning ''

The Fades The Fades are an English indie rock band from London, England, comprising Dave Lightfoot on guitar and vocals, James Lightfoot on bass, Jonathan "Jonny" Barnard on guitar and Alastair "Flash" Thorpe on drums. History The Fades were formed 2 ...

'', ITV's '' True Love'' alongside

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

, ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Ha ...

'', ITV's '' Liar'', BBC's ''

Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

'' and the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

film ''Been So Long''.

Personal life

Barr was born deaf into a hearing family with no hereditary record of deafness,Press Packs: The Silence: Genevieve Barr (Amelia)
7 July 2010, www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2010. and has three younger siblings. She was fitted with hearing aids at age four and attended mainstream education at Harrogate Ladies' College, studying English and History at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, before graduating in 2008. A talented sportswoman, she played

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running arou ...

for England at 15, was a high-board diver competing in national competitions, and captained the Edinburgh University

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

team, before going on to play for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Upon completion of her degree, Barr enrolled in the

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

graduate scheme and was teaching in a secondary school in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

before commencing her acting career. Barr was married in 2016 and had her first child in 2018.

Career

In 2011, after '' The Silence'' came out, Barr went on to roles in '' Shameless'' and BBC3's award-winning drama ''

''. That was the first time Barr and Jack Thorne worked together before they were reunited with Thorne's hit play ''The Solid Life of Sugar Water''. In 2013, Barr starred alongside Jane Horrocks in an episode of ITV's ''True Love'', directed by

Dominic Savage Dominic Savage (born 23 November 1962) is a British BAFTA award-winning director, writer, and actor. Originally a child actor — making several television appearances and featuring in Stanley Kubrick's '' Barry Lyndon'' (1975) — ...

, and played a Victorian prostitute in the BBC production ''Murder on the Victorian Railway''. In 2014, Barr played June Dillon in the season 4 finale of BBC's ''

'' - a deaf woman who relied solely on sign language coming to terms with childbirth and the prospects of raising a deaf child. In 2016 after a long stint of theatre work, Genevieve returned to television with ITV's hit show ''Liar'' which has now been commissioned for a second season. In this, Genevieve was reunited with Harry and Jack Williams of Two Brothers Pictures. In 2017, Genevieve played the role of Features Editor Charlotte in BBC's ''Press''. 2018 saw the release of ''Been So Long'' in cinemas and on Netflix. Barr played Artemis in the film which starred

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1 October 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British screenwriter and actress. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), for which she won ...

and Arinze Kene and was directed by BAFTA winning director, Tinge Khrishnan. Barr was involved in the

Maltesers Maltesers are a British confectionery product manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. First sold in the UK in 1937, they were originally aimed at women. They have since been sold in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States and Middle Ea ...

advert, part of a huge international campaign celebrating diversity. This was the first advert to ever be aired solely in British Sign Language with captions. Her theatre work started in 2013. Genevieve played the role of Sarah on an international tour of

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...

's ''

Translations Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

'', led by actor

Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film '' Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BA ...

. In 2015, she was reunited with Jack Thorne on the theatre production, ''The Solid Life of Sugar Water''. Co-produced by Graeae, the disability-led theatre company and

Plymouth Theatre Royal Theatre Royal, Plymouth, is a theatre venue in Plymouth, Devon. It consists of a 1,300-seat main auditorium, The Lyric, which regularly hosts large-scale musicals, opera and ballet; a 200-seat studio, The Drum; and a 50-seat studio, The Lab. O ...

, it won five-star reviews and awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015, and went onto the National Theatre in London at the culmination of a successful tour. Shortly after, she worked with

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

's production of ''Unreachable'', written and directed by Anthony Neilson. Barr was most recently seen alongside Sarah Lancashire in

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...

's four parter '' The Accident'' for

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

. This is the last in a trilogy that includes ''

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the funda ...

'' and '' Kiri''. As a writer, Barr's debut was with BBC's award-winning shorts ''

CripTales ''Criptales'' is a 2020 British comedy-drama series, consisting of monologues, based on factual research and the experiences of British disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do c ...

'' in 2020 with

Ruth Madeley Ruth Madeley (born 1987) is a British actress known for her roles in '' Years and Years'' and '' The Rook''. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. She was nominated for a television BAFT ...

playing the lead in her short film, Thunderbox. She won the prolific Red Planet Prize for ITV with her script ''Curio'', and has co-written a single drama for BBC and Netflix with

, '' Then Barbara Met Alan'' released in 2022. Barr is also part of the writing team for ''Ralph and Katie'',

Peter Bowker Peter Bowker (born 5 January 1959) is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the television serials '' Blackpool'' (2004), a musical drama about a shady casino owner; ''Occupation'' (2009), which follows three military servi ...

's upcoming ''

The A Word ''The A Word'' is a BBC television drama series, based on the Israeli series ''Yellow Peppers''. The series follows a young boy and how his family cope with the revelation that he has autism spectrum disorder. Following filming in the Lake Dist ...

'' spinoff. In 2022, it was announced Channel 4 would produce her thriller series, ''I.D.''. Barr, along with Katie Player and Thorne, formed a pressure group called Underlying Health Condition which aims to elevate disabled voices in the TV industry. On Friday, December 3, 2021, Underlying Health Condition was launched at an event at the Tate Modern, collaborating with other disability organizations such as Disabled Artists Networking Community, the Creative Diversity Network and 1in4 Coalition, to propose a series of measures to accommodate and support disabled artists in television.

Filmography

Television

Film

Theatre

Commercials

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Genevieve 1985 births Deaf actresses 21st-century British women writers English television writers English television actresses Living people People educated at Harrogate Ladies' College People from Harrogate Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English deaf people BSL users British women television writers