Kate O'Flynn

Kate O'Flynn (born 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her performance in National Theatre's production of ''Port'' for which she received a Critics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in plays '' A Taste of Honey'' in 2014, and '' The Glass Menagerie'' for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2017.

O'Flynn currently stars in '' Everyone Else Burns'' (2023–present) and has had recurring roles in '' Landscapers'' (2021) and '' My Lady Jane'' (2024) as well as appearing in the films '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008) and '' Bridget Jones's Baby'' (2018).

Education and training

O'Flynn attended Manchester's Royal Exchange youth theatre as a teenager, before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Career

O'Flynn's first professional role was in Mike Leigh's 2008 film '' Happy-Go-Lucky''. Later that year, her performance in '' The Children's Hour'' with the Royal Exchange Theatre Company won her the 2008 TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Play, with the Guardian writing "the one to watch is the outstanding newcomer Kate O'Flynn."

In 2009 Kate O'Flynn starred in the comedy-drama TV series '' Kingdom'', with Stephen Fry, as Emily Cartright, council solicitor and girlfriend of trainee solicitor Lyle Anderson, played by Karl Davies. In the same year, O'Flynn appeared with Russell Tovey at London's Royal Court Theatre in Molly Davies' '' A Miracle''. Michael Billington gave the play 3 stars out of five in his review for British newspaper ''The Guardian'', finding that "Kate O'Flynn's Amy is a model of gawky despair" but concluding that the cast "fill out a play that provides plenty of evidence of youthful talent but that also leaves you wanting more". In the ''Evening Standard'', Nicholas de Jongh praised O'Flynn's "beautiful rendering of passivity, selfishness and vulnerability", while ''The Daily Telegraphs Charles Spencer wrote, "Kate O'Flynn brings an astonishingly raw vulnerability to the stage as Amy, the tears streaming down her face as she describes how impossible she finds it to love and nurture her child".

O'Flynn appeared as Elizabeth Gough in the 2011 television film '' The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and'' as Liz in the British feature film comedy '' Up There'', which was the winner of the Best Feature Film award at the 2012 British Academy Scotland Awards and was broadcast on BBC Two in August 2015. In 2012, O'Flynn played the role of Beryl in BBC Four's BAFTA Award-winning television adaptation Room at the Top, based on John Braine's novel of the same name.

In 2013, she performed at the National Theatre in its production of ''Port''. Writing in ''The Guardian'', Maddy Costa noted: "As Rachael icin Simon Stephens's ''Port'', she grew from a mouthy 11-year-old to a downtrodden but resilient 24-year-old – and in the process transformed from a relative unknown to a star in the making". Her performance won her the Critics' Circle's Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer (other than a playwright). She returned to the National Theatre, playing Jo in its 2014 production of Shelagh Delaney's '' A Taste of Honey''.

In 2014, O'Flynn appeared in her second Mike Leigh film '' Mr. Turner''. She would then go on to appear in another of Leigh's films, ''Peterloo'', in 2018.

In 2015 O'Flynn played the part of Dr Peep in police comedy drama '' No Offence,'' reprising her role in all three series. The following year, O'Flynn played Myrtle in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom ''Dot'' set in the Cabinet War Rooms. In the same year, she also played Lady Alexandrina De Courcy in the ITV costume drama '' Doctor Thorne'', based on Anthony Trollope's novel of the same name. O'Flynn also played Alice Peabody, the new boss at Hard News in '' Bridget Jones's Baby''.

Also in 2016, O'Flynn appeared in episode 6 of the second series of BBC's '' Father Brown'' "The Eagle and the Daw" as Katherine Corven. She reprised the character in the 2017 episode 6.2 "The Jackdaw's Revenge".

In 2019 O'Flynn played Victoria Woodcock in the television drama '' Brexit: The Uncivil War'', written by James Graham. In 2021, she appeared in the miniseries ''Landscapers'' as DC Emma Lancing. In 2022, O'Flynn appeared in ''Death in Paradise'' as DI Neville Parker's sister Izzy.

In 2023, she was cast in '' Everyone Else Burns'' for Channel 4, playing Fiona, the wife of Simon Bird’s character David. For this, she won a Royal Television Society North West Award for Best Performance in a Comedy. O'Flynn also appeared as Jen in '' Henpocalypse!'' on BBC Two; in the same year she played the lead character, Cassie, in the BBC Radio Four psychological drama ''Spores''. In 2024, O'Flynn played Princess Mary Tudor in '' My Lady Jane'', with The i Paper writing she "almost steals the show".

Personal life

Jonathan Bailey, who starred alongside O'Flynn in the play ''The House of Special Purpose'' (2009), calls her his "all-time bezzie". The pair also hiked to the Everest base camp in Nepal together in 2018.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Radio

Video Game

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:OFlynn, Kate
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Actresses from Bury, Greater Manchester
1986 births
Living people
English stage actresses
English television actresses
English radio actresses