Joanna Lauren Christie (born 10 April 1982)Fresh Face: Joanna Christie
Mark Shenton, Broadway.com in London, 6 April 200 is an English actress and singer. She is noted for her work in the play '' Equus'' (2007) alongside

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

, but is best known for her role as Girl in the Broadway musical ''

Once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

''. Christie played Connie Murphy, one of the lead female characters, in the hit

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 fil ...

television series ''

Narcos ''Narcos'' is an American-Colombian crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kin ...

''.

Early life

Christie was born and raised, in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in West Yorkshire until the age of 13, when she was awarded a music scholarship to study flute, piano, and voice at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

in Northamptonshire. Five years later, she moved to London to attend drama school at

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

. She joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

at 17, where she made her breakthrough stage role in ''Immaculate Conceit'', a play about a

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

who is pregnant with the next

messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

."How we met: Rafe Spall and Joanna Christie"
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 19 January 2008 She then found small roles in television,Cast: Joanna Christie
''Small Dark Places'',

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

before joining

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...

's ''Old Vic, New Voices''

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

for a year in 2005.2005 Actors
, New Voices Club,

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

She was delighted to be part of the collective of actors taking part in the 24-hour plays at

. The group received its name because Spacey, who selected the actors, believed them to be the best new actors around. After a five-month tour of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

performing

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' in

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

in 2006, she returned to Britain,"What are you wearing today?"
Imogen Fox, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 19 March 2007 but endured a lean year and nearly gave up acting altogether when she landed the role of Jill Mason in her West End debut in '' Equus'' 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 ...

. She beat over 300 other actresses to the role opposite ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' star

Thea Sharrock Thea Sharrock (born 1976) is an English theatre and film director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre. Early life and education Sharroc ...

's high-profile revival of

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...

's award-winning play."Harry Potter strips"
Jano Gibson, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 31 January 2007

Personal life

Christie has lived in New York since April of 2013 and her hobbies include yoga, running, kickboxing, and scuba diving. She used to be part of her brother's band called ''Luke J Christie & The Held Breath'' until she moved to New York City to star as Girl in ''

''.

Road to Broadway

Christie said that being on Broadway is "every dream

he's 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'' ...

ever had come true." However, right before she landed the role in ''Once'', she was about to give up. "I felt like I was at my lowest, and I decided to go back to university to do anthropology," she said in an interview with broadway.com. Her audition process was rather strenuous, having to learn two full songs on the piano and three scenes in a Czech accent in a mere 24 hours.

Music projects

Christie recorded a song called "This Gift" with Glen Hansard, who composed many of the songs in ''Once''. The song was released on his solo album, ''Rhythm and Repose''. She says that it is "one of the biggest honours of my life so far...I still can't quite believe it!" On 20 April 2014, she collaborated with her ''Once'' cast members and contributed her piano and vocal talents for a live-album recording of the Adam Brown and Friends performance at the Bowery Poetry Club.

Family

Christie's mother, Sue, in addition to conducting for the Millhouse Green Male Voice choir in Penistone, sings with The Mastersingers. Her father Paul, who died in 2012, was a property developer. Her brother Luke is also a musician, singer, and songwriter. The pair have a band together called Luke J Christie & The Held Breath. She was inspired by her parents, who taught her that she "could do anything hewanted in life and to always be erelf and follow erown path." She has been highly influenced by her parents her whole life. "I owe all my success to my parents for giving me the opportunities to get to this point in my career and I would like to pay tribute to them...I'm just so grateful to my mum for giving me the gift of music and to both her and my dad for always supporting and encouraging me," she explained in a 2013 interview with the ''Huddersfield Daily Examiner''.

Filmography

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Joanna 1982 births Living people English stage actresses National Youth Theatre members English television actresses Actresses from Huddersfield People educated at Oundle School Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts