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 (2015) and Mary Queen of Scots (2018).
Born Eileen O'Higgins on 22 January 1987 in Castlewellan, County Down, Northern Ireland, where she grew up. She attended St. Malachy's Primary School and Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch, County Down. O'Higgins later studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff.[1] [2]
After graduating, O'Higgins starred in the BBC television miniseries adaptation Emma, and the television film Enid based on the life of Enid Blyton with Helena Bonham Carter (both in 2009). She then appeared in theatre productions including Alice Birch's And Then There Were Four Little Beats of Four Little Hearts on the Edge of the World at The Old Vic.[3] 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 commented that her performance "conveyed an urgency... that was immediate and relatable".[4] [5] Her appearance helped her to be cast in a supporting role in her first film Brooklyn (2015) which also starred Saoirse Ronan.[5] O'Higgins then appeared in the BBC television series My Mother and Other Strangers (2016).[6] O’Higgins reteamed with Ronan in the film Mary Queen of Scots playing Scottish noblewoman Mary Beaton.[7]
In the early 2020s, she appeared in the crime drama series Dead Still (2020) and the film Misbehaviour (2020), starring Keira Knightley,[8] [9] followed by roles in the Netflix series The Irregulars (2021) and the Epix series Billy the Kid.[10]
O’Higgins is best friends with fellow actress Saoirse Ronan,[11] whom she first met during the filming of Brooklyn in 2014.[5]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Brooklyn | Nancy | ||
| 2016 | The Party | Allison | ||
| 2018 | Grace and Goliath | Lucy | ||
| 2018 | Mary Queen of Scots | Mary Beaton | ||
| 2020 | Misbehaviour | Joan Billings | ||
| Nowhere Special | Shona | |||
| 2022 | The Queue | Amy | ||
| Lucia Joyce | Pre-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Enid | Maid Maggie | ||
| Emma | Miss Martin 1 | 2 episodes | ||
| 2016 | My Mother and Other Strangers | Emma Coyne | 5 episodes | |
| 2018 | Genius | Eva Gouel | ||
| 2020 | Dead Still | Nancy Vickers | 6 episodes | |
| 2021 | The Irregulars | Alice | 3 episodes | |
| 2022 | Billy the Kid[12] | Kathleen McCarty | 3 episodes |