Jayne Wisener (born 19 May 1987) is an actress and singer from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. She played

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

in the British-American film '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. She also appeared in an episode of ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

'' as Lauren Harris.

Personal life

On 6 July 2012, Jayne married Wayne Austin in her hometown of

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, Northern Ireland. In January 2019, Jayne gave birth to their first child, Michael.

Background

Wisener was born in

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...

and grew up in

, where she attended the

Coleraine High School Coleraine High School was an all-girls' grammar school located in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The High School, or Gordonville Ladies' Academy as it was originally known, was founded in 1875 in Alexander Terrace, Colerai ...

for girls. In 2005, she represented Antrim in the

Rose of Tralee (The) Rose of Tralee may refer to: * Rose of Tralee (festival) The Rose of Tralee International Festival is an international event which is celebrated among Irish diaspora, Irish communities all over the world. The festival, held annually in ...

competition and finished 32nd out of 32 entries. Wisener also was part of ''Musical Theatre 4 Youth'', and appeared in a workshop production of ''

Falling Falling or fallin' may refer to: *Falling (physics), movement due to gravity *Falling (accident) *Falling (execution) *Falling (sensation) People * Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children Books * ''Fall ...

''. While performing in a youth production of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'' at the

Millennium Forum The Millennium Forum is a theatre and conference centre in Newmarket Street, Derry, Northern Ireland. It was the first purpose-built theatre in Derry and opened in 2001. It has a seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who c ...

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 ...

, Wisener was spotted by a talent scout, who asked her to audition for a role in ''Sweeney Todd''. Wisener was, at age 19, deemed to look too old to play the 15-year-old Johanna Barker. When told this, Wisener ''"e-mailed them some pictures f herselfwithout make-up. Usually looking young does

n actress N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

no favours at all but

he was He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

quite pleased this time"''. She trained at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

for one year but left after landing the role of Johanna in ''Sweeney Todd''. Wisener made her stage debut in the UK premiere of the musical ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

theatre in 2007. She appeared in ''

Boogeyman 3 ''Boogeyman 3'' is a 2008 American supernatural horror film directed by Gary Jones and starring Erin Cahill, Chuck Hittinger, and Mimi Michaels. It is the final installment of the ''Boogeyman'' film series, following ''Boogeyman'' and ''Boogeyman ...

'' playing the role of Amy and in November 2008 created the role of Sophie in a West End showcase of the new musical ''The Lost Christmas'' by

Laurence Mark Wythe Laurence Mark Wythe is an English composer, lyricist and writer for West End, international and Off-Broadway musicals. He is principally known for the off-Broadway musical '' Tomorrow Morning'' (2011), '' Through the Door'' and ''Midnight''. ' ...

at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million Pound sterling, pound restoration project aiming to reinstate ...

, London. In 2009 she appeared in an episode of ''

'' - "The Field Trip" Series 2 Episode 1. In late 2009, until early 2010 she appeared on stage playing the role of Mary Lennox in ''The Secret Garden'' at the

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...

. In March 2011 she played Sally, a young woman in a centre for female juvenile delinquents, in ''The Runaway'', based on

Martina Cole Eilidh Martina Cole is a British crime writer. she has released twenty-six novels about crime, most of which examine London's gangster underworld. Four of her novels, ''Dangerous Lady'', '' The Jump'', '' The Take'' and '' The Runaway'' have bee ...

's novel. From 2012 to 2015 she played the role of student Sandie Morrow, in the BBC Northern Ireland drama ''Six Degrees'' Jayne also played the lead character 'Jay' in 2012 UK feature film, ''

Life Just Is ''Life Just Is'' is a 2012 British independent drama film written and directed by Alex Barrett and starring Will De Meo, Jack Gordon, Nathaniel Martello-White, Fiona Ryan, Jayne Wisener and Paul Nicholls. Plot ''Life Just Is'' tells the story ...

''. She starred alongside Paul Nicholls and the two play a couple trying to work out their complex relationship. The film was not a success. From December 2012 to January 2013, Jayne starred as Cinderella in The Grand Opera House, Belfast pantomime.

Select credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wisener, Jayne Living people Women singers from Northern Ireland Film actresses from Northern Ireland Irish film actresses Musical theatre actresses from Northern Ireland Stage actresses from Northern Ireland Television actresses from Northern Ireland People from Ballymoney People from Coleraine, County Londonderry Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 1987 births 21st-century actresses from Northern Ireland Musicians from County Antrim Musicians from County Londonderry