Alexandra Elizabeth Roach (born 20 August 1987)[2] is a Welsh actress best known for her roles as Becky in Utopia and DS Joy Freers in No Offence. She has also made appearances in series including Being Human, Inside No. 9, Black Mirror and Killing Eve.
Alexandra Roach | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexandra Elizabeth Roach 20 August 1987 Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (B.A., 2010) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Spouse |
Jack Scales (m. 2018) |
| Children | 1[1] |
Life and career
editRoach was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales. A number of her relatives, including her father Jeff (who went on to work for the Welsh Rugby Union), her brother and her sister, have been part of the police force at one point.[3] A fluent Welsh speaker, Roach appeared in long-running television soap Pobol y Cwm in her early teens and won Best Juvenile Actor in a Soap at the Children in Entertainment Awards.[4] After leaving the series in 2005, she spent time with the National Youth Theatre of Wales before going on to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
She has described how her Welsh accent counted against her in an early audition for a television role. "This old guy was the director and he was so well spoken, and he asked me where I was from, and I told him: 'Wales, Swansea,' and he just blanked me and turned to the casting director and said, 'oh no, she's not right'" ... So I said, 'I'm not going to do it in this voice, I'm going to do it with an English accent,' and he was like, 'no, honestly, there's no point'. He just wouldn't look at me, he wasn't listening to me."[5]
In May 2010 Roach appeared in The Door Never Closes by Rex Obano at the Almeida Theatre.[6] A number of high-profile roles followed, including Sasha in Being Human, Beth Partridge in Candy Cabs, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (in which she played notorious child murderer Constance Kent).
Roach starred as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.[7] She appeared as Helene in Sky Comedy's Hunderby in autumn 2012,[8] and was cast as Molly in the film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 2003 novel Private Peaceful.[9] She was included on the Screen International "Stars of Tomorrow" list in 2011.[10] In 2013, she starred in the British TV series Utopia.
On 3 June 2013, Roach appeared in the fifth episode of the ITV comedy Vicious, as Ash's vegan girlfriend Chloe. She returned to the role for one episode in June 2015. On 8 August 2014, she appeared in the inaugural episode of the BBC One TV comedy drama film Walter, in which she played a Welsh-speaking detective.[11] In 2015 she starred in the TV series No Offence as DS Joy Freers.
In 2016, she became engaged to club promoter Jack Scales,[3] whom she later married.[12]
Roach was a presenter at the 2017 BAFTA Cymru Awards ceremony.[13]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Iron Lady | Young Margaret Thatcher | |
| 2012 | Electric Cinema: How to Behave | Modern Day Woman | Short film |
| Private Peaceful | Molly Monks | ||
| Anna Karenina | Countess Nordston | ||
| Night of the Loving Dead | Felicity | Short film | |
| Girls' Night Out | Princess Elizabeth | ||
| 2013 | Trap for Cinderella | Do | |
| One Chance | Julie-Ann Cooper: Mrs. Paul Potts | ||
| That Night | Girl | Short film | |
| 2014 | Cuban Fury | Helen | |
| Testament of Youth | Winifred Holtby | ||
| 2016 | The Huntsman: Winter's War | Doreena | |
| Pregnant Pause | Steph | Short film | |
| 2017 | Memento Mori | Short film | |
| 2018 | The Orgy | Meg | Short film |
| 2019 | The Kid Who Would Be King | Miss Foster | |
| A Guide to Second Date Sex | Laura | ||
| 2022 | This Is Christmas | Amanda |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–2005 | Pobol Y Cwm | Elin Owen | |
| 2010 | The IT Crowd | Stenographer | Episode: "Reynholm vs Reynholm" |
| 2011 | Being Human | Sasha | Episode: "Type 4" |
| Candy Cabs | Beth Partridge | 3 episodes | |
| New Tricks | Nina Ward | Episode: "Moving Target" | |
| The Suspicions of Mr Whicher | Constance Kent | Episode: "The Murder at Road Hill House" | |
| 2012 | Loserville | Kathryn | Television film |
| 2012–2015 | Hunderby | Helene | 10 episodes |
| 2013 | The Thirteenth Tale | Hester Barrow | Television film |
| 2013–2014 | Utopia | Becky | Main role, 11 episodes |
| 2013, 2015 | Vicious | Chloe | 2 episodes: "Dinner Party" (2013), and "Stag Do" (2015) |
| 2014 | Under Milk Wood | Mae Rose Cottage | Television film (BBC) |
| Walter | DC Anne Hopkins | Television film | |
| Crackanory | Montserrat Bligh | Episode: "Man's Best Friend & Return to Sender" | |
| 2015–2018 | No Offence | DS Joy Freers | Main cast, 16 episodes |
| 2017 | Inside No. 9 | Nina | Episode: "The Riddle of the Sphinx" |
| Black Mirror | Carrie | Episode: "Black Museum" | |
| 2018 | On the Edge | Becca | Mini-series. Episode: "That Girl" |
| 2018–2019 | Hold the Sunset | Felicity | 2 episodes: "Roger the Carer" and "The Lemming Family" |
| 2019 | Sanditon | Diana Parker | 7 episodes |
| Sticks and Stones | Jess | Mini-series, 3 episodes[14] | |
| 2020 | Death in Paradise | Bethan Miller | Episode: "Murder on Mosquito Island" |
| Killing Eve | Rhian | 2 episodes: "Beautiful Monster",[15] and "Are You Leading or Am I?" | |
| Zog and the Flying Doctors | Sunburnt Mermaid (voice) | Television film | |
| 2021 | Viewpoint | Zoe Sterling | Mini-series, 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Y Golau (The Light in the Hall) | Cat | 6 episodes |
| 2023 | Bodies | Maggie | Mini-series, 3 episodes |
| Men Up | Ffion Jenkins | Television film | |
| 2024 | Nightsleeper | Abby Aysgarth | Six-part BBC One series[16] |
| TBA | Lazarus | Jenna Lazarus | Mini-series. Filming[17] |
Video games
edit- Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death (2019), as Mary Jane Kelly (voice role)
- Elden Ring (2022), as Asimi (voice role)
References
edit- ^ "A L e X a N D R a R O a C H on Instagram: "Toni's 6 months old today..."
- ^ Alexandra Roach [@alexandraroach1] (20 August 2014). "Getting spoilt at work this morning for my birthday... Thanks to the best ADs @likeasalmon, @LucyGoughJones" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Curtis, Nick (21 April 2016). "Alexandra Roach: 'I'm not a movie star. Yet'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ "Young actress wins soap award". BBC News. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ Liz Skone James (January 2020). "Interview: Alexandra Roach". Fabric Magazine. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ "The Door Never Closes". Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ Grice, Natalie (27 December 2011). "Mining town actor's Thatcher role". BBC News. Retrieved 7 August 2019 – via BBC.
- ^ "Comedy's A-List Join Julia Davis' Hunderby". Sky.com. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ Cooper, Sarah (19 August 2011). "Screen Star Alexandra Roach joins all British cast of Private Peaceful". Screendaily.com. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ "Screen unveils 2011 Stars of Tomorrow". Screendaily.com. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ "Cymeriad sy'n siarad Cymraeg ar BBC 1 heno". Golwg360 (in Welsh). 8 August 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ Nathan Bevan (28 May 2020). "Who is Killing Eve's new villain Rhian? Everything about Welsh actress Alexandra Roach". WalesOnline. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ "Cyhoeddi'r Enillwyr: Gwobrau'r Academi Brydeinig yng Nghymru 2017". BAFTA (in Welsh). 8 October 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ Sticks and Stones (TV Mini-Series 2019) – IMDb, retrieved 17 May 2021
- ^ ""Killing Eve" Beautiful Monster (TV Episode 2020) – IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ "Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole board BBC drama Nightsleeper". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ Seddon, Dan (16 February 2024). "Harlan Coben's new show gets first look at cast filming". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 February 2024.