Kelly Thornton (born 13 April 1997) is an Irish actress who began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her roles as Corrina Mallon in the 2015
RTÉ drama ''
Clean Break'' and Emma in the film ''
Life's a Breeze'' (2013), which earned her an
IFTA
Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt
Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...
nomination for best actress.
Early life and education
Thornton is from
Terenure
Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area.
Location and transport
Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...
, a suburb in South Dublin and attended
St Louis High School, Rathmines. She has a younger sister Robyn. She was discovered when she was 14 whilst shopping on
Grafton Street
Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowes ...
with her friends by a casting director who invited her to audition.
Career
Thornton made her screen debut in the 2013 Irish comedy film ''
Life's a Breeze''. She played the role of Emma, the main protagonist, alongside fellow Irish actors
Pat Shortt
Patrick Shortt (born 12 December 1967) is an Irish actor, comedian, writer and entertainer. His role in the 2007 film '' Garage'' led to him receiving the IFTA for Best Actor.
Career
Shortt toured alongside Jon Kenny as comedy duo D'Unbelieva ...
and
Fionnula Flanagan
Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known f ...
. The film was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Thornton earned an
IFTA
Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt
Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the f ...
nomination for her role, as well as receiving the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at the 2013
Galway Film Fleadh
The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Irela ...
.
In late 2013, Thornton made her Irish television debut, featuring in the fourth series of the popular
RTÉ Television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...
drama ''
Love/Hate'', playing the part of Kellie in a single episode appearance. Her sister Robyn had a guest role in the drama. In 2015, Thornton got her biggest role to date, starring as Corrina Mallon in the four part
RTÉ drama ''
Clean Break''. The series, directed by
Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948, Glasgow) is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this tim ...
and Damien O’Donnell, told the story of Frank Mallon, Corrina's father and a car dealer. Struggling to make ends meet, Frank kidnaps the family of his local bank manager and consequently finds himself involved with some notorious local criminals. A second series of the show has yet to be announced by
RTÉ.
The same year, Thornton played the lead role of Molly in the Irish short film ''Battle''. The film was written and directed by Megan K. Fox and told the story of a "teenager finding strength and happiness in music in the face of her battle with depression". This film would later be the focus of an episode of Beyond the Lens in 2016.
Thornton gained further recognition for her part in the 2016 film ''
Sing Street
''Sing Street'' is a 2016 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by John Carney from a story by Carney and Simon Carmody. Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor and Kelly Thor ...
'', playing the role of Ann Lawlor, older sister of the main protagonist Conor. Set in mid-1980s inner-city Dublin, Sing Street follows the story of Conor "Cosmo" Lawlor, a teenager who is forced to move schools, from a private fee-paying school to the non-fee-paying
Synge Street CBS
Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Can ...
.
In October 2016, Thornton featured in the music video for ''Don't Mind Me'' by Irish alternative rock band
Walking on Cars
Walking on Cars was a four-piece Irish rock band, whose 2020 line-up consisted of Pa Sheehy (singer/lyricist), Sorcha Durham (pianist), Paul Flannery (bass guitarist) and Evan Hadnett (drummer). Their debut single "Catch Me If You Can", release ...
.
Thornton has since starred in three short films: ''Inside I'm Racing'' in 2017,
Jack Reynor
Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', ''Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', '' Sing Street'', and ''Midsommar'', as well as the seri ...
's ''
Bainne'' opposite
Will Poulter
William Jack Poulter (born 28 January 1993) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his role as Eustace Scrubb in the fantasy adventure film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' (2010). He received critical ...
and Ciarán Dooley's ''Twin'', both in 2019.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Kelly
Living people
1997 births
21st-century Irish actresses
Actresses from County Dublin
Irish film actresses
Irish television actresses
People from South Dublin (county)
People educated at St Louis High School, Rathmines