Thaddea Graham (born 17 September 1997) is a Northern Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the Sky One series Curfew (2019), the Netflix series The Letter for the King (2020), The Irregulars (2021) and Sex Education (2023), and the BBC series Us (2020), Doctor Who: Flux (2021) and Wreck (2022).

Thaddea Graham
Born (1997-09-17) September 17, 1997 (age 27)[1]
China
EducationArts Educational Schools (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active2014–present

Graham appeared on the 2023 Screen International Rising Stars Ireland list.[2]

Early life and education

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Graham was adopted from an orphanage in Changsha, China at one year old and was raised in County Down.[3] She was one of the first international adoptees in Northern Ireland.[1] She attended Killinchy Primary School in Killinchy and later Bloomfield Collegiate School in Ballyhackamore.[4][5] She trained with Arts Educational School in London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2018.[6]

Career

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Graham made her television debut with a recurring role in season 3 of The Sparticle Mystery. In December 2018,[7] she landed her first major role as Iona in the 2020 Netflix fantasy series The Letter for the King, an adaptation of the classic Dutch book by Tonke Dragt.[8][9] The following December, she was cast as Bea in the 2021 Sherlock Holmes spinoff The Irregulars, also on Netflix.[10] In the meantime, she played Hanmei Collins in the Sky One action series Curfew, and Kat in the BBC One comedy-drama miniseries Us.[11][12] She joined the cast of Doctor Who for its thirteenth series (known as Doctor Who: Flux) as Bel, making her debut in "Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time".[13][14]

In 2022, Graham was in the main cast of the Virgin Media One and ITV crime drama Redemption as Siobhán Wilson and began starring as Vivian Lim opposite Oscar Kennedy and Jack Rowan in the BBC Three horror comedy Wreck. She joined the cast of the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education for its fourth season playing the character "O".

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Painkiller Short film
2015 The Sparticle Mystery Lucie 3 episodes
Dani's Castle Atka Episode: "Groundbog Day"
2019 Curfew Hanmei Collins Main role
2020 The Letter for the King Iona Main role
Us Kat Main role; miniseries
2021 The Irregulars Bea Main role
Doctor Who Bel Series 13
2022 Redemption Siobhán Wilson Main role; miniseries
Wreck Vivian Lim Main role
2023 Sex Education "O" Sarah Owen Main role, Season 4; 7 episodes
2024 DNA Journey Narrator Series 5
Bad Sisters DI Una Houlihan Season 2
2025 Untitled Noah Baumbach film Post-production[15]
TBA After the Hunt Filming

Stage

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 London Stories Made by Migrants Battersea Arts Centre[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b McCarthy, Esther (22 March 2021). "Thaddea Graham: Ireland's rising star on her new Netflix series, and her Chinese heritage". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  2. ^ McCarthy, Esther (15 February 2023). "Rising Stars Ireland 2023: Thaddea Graham (actor)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  3. ^ Barter, Pavel (13 March 2021). "Thaddea Graham: If I have a voice, I don't want to waste it". The Times. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  4. ^ McNeilly, Claire (24 September 2020). "Young Northern Ireland actress Thaddea Graham the star of new BBC drama Us". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Thaddea starring in hit BBC show". Down Recorder. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Thaddea Graham". ArtsEd. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (12 December 2018). "Netflix Sets Cast For 'The Letter For The King' Series Based On Classic Dutch Novel". Deadline. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Netflix's YA Spring Showcase: See photos of the streamer's brightest young stars". Entertainment Weekly. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  9. ^ Schick, Michal (30 March 2020). "Thaddea Graham talks being the biggest 'Letter for the King' badass". Hypable. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. ^ Furn, David (19 December 2019). "Netflix reveals who'll play Sherlock Holmes in its new series The Irregulars". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  11. ^ East, Ben (19 February 2019). "The dystopian duel of stars in their cars". Metro. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Tom Hollander to star in Us, David Nicholls' adaptation of his bestselling novel for BBC One". BBC Media Centre. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  13. ^ Preston, Allan (16 November 2021). "Watch: Dr Who's Thaddea Graham explains how she got NI accent onto BBC show". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  14. ^ Lewis, Isobel (21 November 2021). "Doctor Who review, 'Village of the Angels': Thaddea Graham is a stand-out in best Flux episode to date". The Independent. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (14 March 2024). "Netflix Sets All-Star Ensemble To Round Out Cast Of Noah Baumbach's Next Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Thaddea Graham". Independent Talent Group. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
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