Nia Roberts (born 5 July 1972) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. She is married to director

Marc Evans Marc Evans (born 1963) is a Welsh director of film and television, whose credits include the films '' House of America'', '' Resurrection Man'' and '' My Little Eye''. Biography Evans was born in 1963 in Cardiff, Wales. He studied for a histor ...

Biography

The youngest of three girls, Roberts was born and brought up in

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

. Her first language is

, and she attended Brecon's Welsh-medium primary school Ysgol-y-Bannau from 1975 to 1983. Her family were active members of the Brecon Little Theatre amateur dramatics group, and aged seven she first trod the boards. Five years later, she landed her first television role as the lead girl in "The Farm", a 30-minute '' Jackanory'' play for

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. After gaining ten GCSEs and three A Levels, she also joined the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She then studied acting at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where she passed with distinction.

Career

Roberts' big break came in 1998, when she appeared in '' Solomon a Gaenor'' opposite

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the ''Hornblower (TV series), Hornblower'' seri ...

. With dialogue in Welsh and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

, the movie won Best Film at the 2000

Verona Film Festival Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in north ...

and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the

72nd Academy Awards The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1999 and took place on March 26, 2000, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST ...

. Her subsequent Welsh-language credits include ''Fondue'', ''Rhyw a Deinosors!'', ''Newes of the Weeke'', ''Y Palmant Aur'', ''Glan Hafren'', the long-running soap opera ''

Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...

'', and S4C's gangster drama ''

Y Pris ''Y Pris'' (English: ''The Price'') is a Welsh television crime drama, produced by Fiction Factory for Welsh public service television station S4C. The series, described in its tagline as "''The Sopranos'' by the seaside", is set in Carmarthensh ...

''. Roberts' English-language television credits include the comedy series

Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible ''Dr Terrible's House of Horrible'' is a satirical British comedy-horror anthology series created by Graham Duff, who co-wrote the series with Steve Coogan. BBC Two broadcast the series in 2001. ''Dr Terrible's House of Horrible'' spoofs the ...

, the drama ''Border Café'', and several single-episode appearances in prime-time British shows such as ''The Bill'' and ''Casualty''. Roberts has starred in two films directed by her husband,

: ''

Snow Cake ''Snow Cake'' is a 2006 British/Canadian indie romantic comedy drama film directed by Marc Evans and starring Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire and Callum Keith Rennie. It was released on 8 September 2006 in the U ...

'' (2006), a drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident; and ''

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

'' (2009), a drama set in ''

Y Wladfa Y Wladfa (, "The Colony"), also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig (, "The Welsh Settlement"), refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh immigrants in Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. I ...

'', Argentina. In 2009, Roberts also starred as registrar Mary Finch in '' Crash!'', a hospital drama commissioned by BBC Wales and produced by

Tony Jordan Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. He was listed as the number one television screenwriter in the United Kingdom by ''Broadcast'' magazine in 2008 and among British broadcasting's top twenty in ''The Stage'' in 20 ...

. In 2010, Roberts guest-starred in the two-part '' Doctor Who'' Series 5 episode "

The Hungry Earth "The Hungry Earth" is the eighth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 22 May 2010 on BBC One. It was written by Chris Chibnall, who had previously written fo ...

/ Cold Blood". More big-screen productions followed: She appeared in Hattie Dalton's ''

Third Star ''Third Star'' is a 2010 British drama film directed by Hattie Dalton and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Feild, Tom Burke, Adam Robertson, and Hugh Bonneville.Reynolds, Simon (2011)Trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Third Star', Digital Spy, ...

'' (2010) and in

Vertigo Films Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of '' Bronson'', ''StreetDance 3D'', and '' Monsters''. It now focuses solely o ...

' '' The Facility'' (2012), an atmospheric, micro-budget horror film about

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

fighting for their lives after a drug trial goes wrong. In 2014, Roberts appeared in the fourth episode of ''

Y Gwyll ''Hinterland'' () in the original Welsh language version is a Welsh noir police procedural series broadcast on S4C in Welsh. The main character, DCI Tom Mathias, is played by Richard Harrington. On 27 November 2013, a second series was ...

'' (''Hinterland''), a highly acclaimed noir detective series shot in both Welsh and English.

Personal life

Roberts, her husband, and their daughter, Edith, live in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. She is a supporter of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Personal website
*
Bio at BBC Mid-Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Nia 1972 births Living people People from Brecon Alumni of the University of Birmingham Welsh stage actresses Welsh television actresses Welsh-speaking actors