Eileen O'Higgins is an Irish actress. Her breakthrough role was in the play ''Hold Your Tongue, Hold Your Dead'' which led to a supporting role in the film ''

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

'' (2015) and ''

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

'' (2018).

Early life

Born Eileen O'Higgins on 22 January 1987 in

Castlewellan Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve ...

, County Down, Northern Ireland, where she grew up. She attended St. Malachy's Primary School and

Assumption Grammar School Assumption Grammar School (also known as 'The Assumption', 'Assumption Grammar' or 'AGS’) is a Catholic girls' grammar school in Ballynahinch, County Down, Northern Ireland, with over 900 students. History The school was founded by the Assump ...

Ballynahinch, County Down Ballynahinch () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 6,164 people in the 2021 census. Ballynahinch was traditionally a market town, and the market still takes place in the square every Thursday. The town lies on ...

. O'Higgins later studied at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama () is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It has three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall, and ...

in Cardiff.

Career

After graduating, O'Higgins starred in the BBC television miniseries adaptation '' Emma'', and the television film '' Enid'' based on the life of

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

with

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...

(both in 2009). She then appeared in theatre productions including

Alice Birch Alice Birch (born 1986) is a British playwright and screenwriter. Birch has written several plays, including ''Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.'' for which she was awarded the George Devine Award, George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwr ...

's ''And Then There Were Four Little Beats of Four Little Hearts on the Edge of the World'' at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

Her breakthrough role was a supporting role as a young pregnant woman in the play ''Hold Your Tongue, Hold Your Dead''. A reviewer for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' commented that her performance "conveyed an urgency... that was immediate and relatable". Her appearance helped her to be cast in a supporting role in her first film ''

'' (2015) which also starred

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for four Academy Awards and sev ...

. O'Higgins then appeared in the BBC television series ''My Mother and Other Strangers'' (2016). O’Higgins reteamed with Ronan in the film ''

'' playing Scottish noblewoman

Mary Beaton Mary Beaton (about 1543–1597), or Bethune as she wrote her family name, was a Scottish courtier. She is remembered in history as one of the four girls who were companions of Mary, Queen of Scots from childhood, known as The Queen's Maries or ...

. In the early 2020s, she appeared in the crime drama series ''

Dead Still ''Dead Still'' is a six-part Irish-Canadian television drama series, which premiered on May 18, 2020 on Acorn TV and May 15, 2020 Citytv. The series is a co-production between Ireland's Deadpan Pictures and Canada's Shaftesbury Films and is wri ...

'' (2020) and the film '' Misbehaviour'' (2020), starring

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

, followed by roles in the Netflix series ''

The Irregulars ''The Irregulars'' is a British mystery adventure crime drama television series created by Tom Bidwell for Netflix. Loosely based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it features the Baker Street Irregulars working for Dr. Watson saving Lond ...

'' (2021) and the

Epix MGM+ (formerly known as Epix; pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as eᴘix), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary ...

series ''Billy the Kid''.

Personal life

O’Higgins is best friends with fellow actress

, whom she first met during the filming of ''Brooklyn'' in 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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EXCLUSIVE , 'Billy the Kid' star Eileen O'Higgins on bringing Kathleen to life
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohiggins, Eileen Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Film actresses from Northern Ireland Stage actresses from Northern Ireland Living people Actors from County Down Year of birth missing (living people) Television actresses from Northern Ireland 21st-century actresses from Northern Ireland People from Castlewellan People educated at Assumption Grammar School