Seána Kerslake (; born 21 October 1990) is an Irish actress. She is known for portraying the role of Aisling O'Dowd in

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 (formerly branded as RTÉ 2 from 1978–88, Network 2 from 1988–97, N2 from 1997–2004 and RTÉ Two from 2004–14) is an Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched on 2 Novemb ...

comedy-drama '' Can't Cope, Won't Cope'' (2016–2018). In 2017, she was named one of sixteen young actors by

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

as a '' Star of Tomorrow''. In 2020, she was ranked at number 50 in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' list of the greatest Irish film actors.

Early life

Kerslake, the middle of three daughters of John and Deirdre Kerslake, was born in 1990 in

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

, County Dublin where she was raised. She went on to study English and music at

NUI Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

, and screen acting at The Factory, Bow Street, Dublin.

Career

In 2010, while a student, Kerslake was cast in

Kirsten Sheridan Kirsten Sheridan (born 14 July 1976) is an Irish film director and screenwriter. She is best known for co-writing the semi-autobiographical film '' In America'' with her father, director Jim Sheridan, and her sister, Naomi Sheridan, for which s ...

's ''

Dollhouse A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy house made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North Americ ...

'', an

unscripted ''Unscripted'' is an American comedy drama series that aired on HBO in early 2005. The series was largely improvised by its performers. It was executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov. ''Unscripted'' is the sec ...

Irish film. Her performance earned her an

Irish Film & Television Academy The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

award nomination in 2013. In 2016, Kerslake played the title character in ''

A Date for Mad Mary ''A Date for Mad Mary'' is a 2016 Irish drama film directed by Darren Thornton. It won two 14th Irish Film & Television Awards, Irish Film & Television Awards, including Best Film. Thornton and his brother Colin adapted it from Yasmine Akram's on ...

'' directed by Darren Thornton. Her performance earned positive reviews from ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' ("mesmerizing") and ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' ("a barnstorming central performance"). She was awarded the Breakthrough Award by the Dublin Film Critics' Circle, and the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at the

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 Ire ...

2016. From 2016 until 2018, Kerslake played Aisling O'Dowd, a struggling twenty-something in

's '' Can't Cope, Won't Cope''. Her first London stage appearance was in May 2018 as Kat in

Joe Penhall Joe Scott Penhall (born 1967) is an English-Australian playwright and screenwriter, best known for his award-winning stage play '' Blue/Orange'', the award-winning West End musical ''Sunny Afternoon'' and creating the Netflix original series ' ...

Mood Music Mood music is easy listening music. Mood music may also refer to: * Beautiful music * Exotica * Light music * Lounge music * Elevator music * Music provided by Mood Media, Corporation * ''Mood Music'' (play), a 2018 play by Joe Penhall See ...

'', director

Roger Michell Roger Harry Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill'' and ''Venus'', as well as the 1995 made-for-television film ''Persuasi ...

, 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 ...

. She appeared in the 2018 film '' Dublin Oldschool''. She starred in Lee Cronin's '' The Hole in the Ground'', which was released in 2019. From 2021 to 2023, Kerslake played Grace Ahern in the

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

Alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

whodunit A ''whodunit'' (less commonly spelled as ''whodunnit''; a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal ...

mini-series '' Smother''. In 2022, Kerslake appeared as Theresa Claffin in season one of Bad Sisters. In 2022, Kerslake starred in the film '' Ballywalter'' with

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...

. The film was directed by

Prasanna Puwanarajah Prasanna Puwanarajah (; born 1981) is a British actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor. Early life and education Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Tamil Sri Lankan parents from Sri Lanka, his mother a p ...

. In 2024, she appeared in series two of the

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

crime drama '' Blue Lights''.

References

External links

* * 1992 births 21st-century Irish actresses Actresses from County Dublin Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of the Bow Street Academy Irish film actresses Irish television actresses Living people People from South Dublin (county) Irish stage actresses {{Europe-actor-stub