Jessica Raine
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Jessica Raine (born Jessica Helen Lloyd; 20 May 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Jenny Lee in the television series ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Ha ...
'' (2012–2014) and
Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...
in the television film ''
An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...
'' (2013). Raine portrayed Catherine Parr in ''
Becoming Elizabeth ''Becoming Elizabeth'' is a historical drama series, created by Anya Reiss, that follows the younger years of Queen Elizabeth I. It premiered on Starz on June 12, 2022. Plot The series follows the younger years of Queen Elizabeth I, an orphaned ...
'', a historical drama featuring
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
as a teenager.


Early life and education

Raine was born Jessica Helen Lloyd, on 20 May 1982, in
Eardisley Eardisley () is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire about south of the centre of Kington. Eardisley is in the Wye valley in the northwest of the county, close to the border with Wales. The village is part of the "Black and white villa ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...
, where she was raised on her father's farm. She is the younger of two daughters of farmer Allan Lloyd (descended from the Lloyd family of
Baynham Hall Baynham Hall is a Grade II* listed 17th -entury manor house located in Michaelchurch-On-Arrow, Gladestry, Powys, Wales. Originally built circa 1700, the stone house was added to an earlier wing of the previous property and developments. Of Willia ...
, who were well known for generations as
bonesetter Traditional bone-setting is a type of a folk medicine in which practitioners engaged in joint manipulation. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths and physical therapists, bone-setters were the main providers of this type of treatment. ...
s alongside their farming activities), and his wife Sue, who trained as a dancer and then worked as a nurse. Educated in
Kington, Herefordshire Kington is a market town, electoral ward and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Parish, the ward had a population of 3,240, while the 2011 Census registered a population of 2,626. Geography Kington is from the border w ...
, she wanted to be an actress from the age of 13, as her father starred in amateur dramatics with the Eardisley Little Theatre. In sixth form she studied theatre at A-Level and a BTEC in photography at
Hereford College of Arts Hereford College of Arts is an art school based in the West Midlands, UK, and is the only specialist college in the region dedicated to the Arts. Description It offers courses in both further and higher education fields, in Art & Design, Musi ...
and studied drama and cultural studies at the
University of the West of England, Bristol The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...
. After graduating, she was turned down by every drama school she applied to, so went to
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and taught
English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...
.


Career


Career beginnings and theatre work

Returning home after a year, she applied to the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
a second time and was accepted. Moving to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in anticipation of starting her course, she worked part-time as a waitress and for the company
BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...
. After graduating in 2008, Raine began a successful stage career, initially cast as
Lesley Sharp Lesley Sharp is an English stage, film and television actress whose roles on British television include ''Clocking Off'' (2000–2001), ''Bob & Rose'' (2001) and ''Afterlife'' (2005–2006). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress ...
's goth daughter in
Simon Stephens Simon Stephens (born 6 February 1971) is an English playwright and Professor of Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having taught on the Young Writers' Programme at the Royal Court Theatre for many years, he is now an Artistic ...
's ''
Harper Regan ''Harper Regan'' is a two-act play by Simon Stephens that premiered at the National Theatre in 2008. Setting Set in UK, Autumn of 2006 : from Uxbridge to Stockport to Manchester and back. Synopsis One woman's struggle with the difficulties ...
''. She played
Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...
's 16-year-old daughter in David Hare's ''
Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...
''. Raine played at the National Theatre in Mike Bartlett's ''
Earthquakes in London ''Earthquakes in London'' is a play by Mike Bartlett. It received its world premiere at the Royal National's Cottesloe Theatre on 4 August 2010, following previews from 29 July 2010. The production was directed by Rupert Goold in a co-product ...
'' as teenage wild-child Jasmine; and then as a secretary in the revival of Clifford Odets's ''Rocket to the Moon''. She has also appeared in ''Ghosts'' and ''Punk Rock'', for which she won the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played a role in the Young Vic's revival of Middleton and Rowley's 17th-century tragedy, '' The Changeling''. In 2012 Raine starred in ''Beyond Ballets Russes'' at the
London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
.


Film, radio and television

Raine's first screen credits were an appearance in a 2009 episode of ''
Garrow's Law ''Garrow's Law'' is a British period legal drama about the 18th-century lawyer William Garrow. The series debuted on 1 November 2009 on BBC One and BBC HD. A second series was announced on 7 July 2010 and was broadcast from 14 November 2010. A th ...
'' and a small role in the 2010 film ''Robin Hood''. She starred as the lead character Jenny Lee in the first three series of the
BBC One 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, ...
drama ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Ha ...
''. On 9 March 2014, it was announced that Raine was leaving the show at the end of series 3 to pursue a career in film in the United States. In radio, she has played Felice in the
Murray Gold Murray Jonathan Gold (born 28 February 1969) is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for ''Doctor Who'' from 2005, unti ...
play ''Kafka the Musical'', broadcast in April 2011 on BBC Radio 3. She also played the part of Kasey in Ed Harris' radio play ''The Wall'', first broadcast in February 2011. Raine was a guest star in the 2013 '' Doctor Who'' episode " Hide". Later that year, she appeared as ''Doctor Who''s original producer,
Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...
, in the fact-based drama ''
An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...
'', showing the creation of the series as part of its fiftieth anniversary celebrations. In February 2014, Raine joined the cast of the BBC Two police drama '' Line of Duty'' for series 2 as Detective Constable Georgia Trotman working for the AC12 anti corruption unit. In July 2015, Raine played Tuppence Beresford in the series '' Partners in Crime'' based on Agatha Christie's
Tommy and Tuppence Tommy and Tuppence are two fictional detectives, recurring characters in the work of Agatha Christie. Their full names are Thomas Beresford and his wife Prudence (née Cowley). Tommy and Tuppence first appeared in Christie's ''The Secret Advers ...
stories, though the series is set in 1952 rather than the 1920s. In 2017, Raine played Alison Laithwaite in ''The Last Post'', which she has described as "...my favourite character I've played so far, ever. It was a real transformation.... She's kind of self-destructive, witty and she's climbing the walls with frustration and boredom, but she just wants to have fun." This was seen as a very different role to her ''Call the Midwife'' character. In 2019, Raine played Genevieve Taylor, a British liaison officer for Europol in the Netherlands, in the
BBC One 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, ...
drama series ''Baptiste''.


Personal life

Raine began a relationship with fellow actor
Tom Goodman-Hill Tom Goodman-Hill is an English actor of film, television, theatre and radio. Early life Brought up near Newcastle upon Tyne, he qualified as a teacher before turning to acting. During his time in Newcastle, he regularly acted in amateur perform ...
in 2010 after they met while appearing in the play ''
Earthquakes in London ''Earthquakes in London'' is a play by Mike Bartlett. It received its world premiere at the Royal National's Cottesloe Theatre on 4 August 2010, following previews from 29 July 2010. The production was directed by Rupert Goold in a co-product ...
''. They married on 30 August 2015. In 2019, she gave birth to a son.


Filmography


Film


Television


Radio


Stage


Awards and nominations


References


External links

*
Jessica Raine @ the National Theatre

Interview with Official London Theatre Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raine, Jessica 1982 births Living people Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol British stage actresses British television actresses English film actresses English people of Welsh descent English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People from Herefordshire Teachers of English as a second or foreign language 21st-century English actresses