Jamie-Lee O'Donnell
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Jamie-Lee O'Donnell (born 4 March 1987) is an actress from
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
, Northern Ireland. She played Michelle Mallon in the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
sitcom '' Derry Girls''.


Early life

O’Donnell was born on 4 March 1987 in Derry, Northern Ireland. She attended St Anne's Primary School, St Cecilia's College, and
North West Regional College North West Regional College is a further education and higher education college in the north-west region of Northern Ireland. The college has five main campuses in counties Londonderry and Tyrone: Strand Road (Derry), Springtown (Derry), Mai ...
. She began acting at a young age in school plays. Upon graduation, she decided to pursue it professionally despite not being able to afford drama school. She instead studied performing arts at the
De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...
campus in
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, but did not complete the course. She began auditioning and dividing her time between England and home, taking part in theatrical productions and working as a dancer for promotions and pantomimes. She moved around in search of employment, also working as a
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and at one point taking on a corner shop, which failed as a business.


Career

Between 2012 and 2015, O'Donnell played her first significant role as Eva Maguire, one of the main characters of the BBC2 NI series '' 6Degrees'', after the end of which she took part in the film ''Urban & the Shed Crew'', by Candida Brady. In 2018, she starred in a theatre production ''I Told My Mum I Was Going on an RE Trip'', by Julia Samuels, playing an underage girl who decides to undergo an
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
. The following year, she joined the cast of ''Girls and Dolls'', a play by the ''Derry Girls'' creator Lisa McGee, and acted in
Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...
's '' The Cripple of Inishmaan'' at the Gaiety Theatre. O'Donnell landed the role of Michelle Mallon in ''Derry Girls'', a
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
by Channel 4, which gained international fame. Of her role as Michelle, she says, "Michelle really thinks she's maybe just a bit too big for the place she was born in and she's ready to take on the world one swearword at a time. She's really feisty, really ballsy, doesn't really care about authority, just sort of up for anything and up for a laugh." O'Donnell and her fellow ''Derry Girls'' co-stars participated in the
RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
fundraising special '' RTÉ Does Comic Relief'', performing a sketch alongside
Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for four Academy Awards and sev ...
. All proceeds from the night went towards those affected by the
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. She is a patron of the
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-based youth theatre company 20 Stories High.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Jamie-Lee 1987 births Living people 21st-century actresses from Northern Ireland Alumni of De Montfort University Actresses from Derry (city) Television actresses from Northern Ireland