Lauren Lyle Explained

Lauren Lyle
Birth Place:Glasgow, Scotland
Alma Mater:National Youth Theatre
Occupation:Actress
Years Active:2013–present

Lauren Lyle is a Scottish actress best known for her recurring role as Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the Starz television drama Outlander, and peace protester Jade Antoniak in the BBC drama Vigil. Lyle also plays the leading role in the ITV crime thriller Karen Pirie.

Early life and education

Lyle was born on 12th July 1993 Glasgow, Scotland.

She originally pursued a career with the Scottish Young Conservatives, before deciding to try acting. After performing at the Edinburgh Fringe for Fourth Monkey and on stage in London in The Crucible she was accepted into the National Youth Theatre's REP programme in 2015. This programme offers free training for selected students.[1]

Career

Lyle’s first professional role was in 2014 when she starred in the critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, directed by Yael Farber at the Old Vic Theatre in London's West End.

In 2015, Lyle was accepted to the National Youth Theatre's rep programme, performing in three plays during the season. She appeared as Catherine in Wuthering Heights, Diane in Consensual, and the Prince of Arragon in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice..[2] [3] [4]

Her first television appearance, on BBC Three's BBC Comedy Feeds, saw Lyle appearing in a series four episode entitled "Radges".[5] [6] Long-running medical drama Holby City featured Lyle as Katherine Rice in the Series 18 episode "Who You Are" (2016).[7] [8] From there she featured in a three-episode stint, opposite Sean Bean, in the BBC drama Broken.[9] [10]

In 2017, Lyle debuted in the recurring role of Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in Starz's hit time travel drama Outlander, based on Diana Gabaldon's best-selling book series of the same name.[11] [12] Returning to her roots at the National Youth Theatre, Lyle appeared in the television documentary Stage Direction to discuss her experiences with the program.[13]

In 2018 Lyle starred in the film adaptation of Fiona Shaw's novel Tell It to the Bees, opposite Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger, and Lily Rose Thomas' debut short film Girls Who Drink.[14] [15]

In early 2020, Lyle began hosting the podcast She's a Rec'. In each episode, she interviews a female guest about the "albums, films, books and female heroes" that have had the most influence in their lives.[16] [17]

In 2021 Lyle appeared in the BBC crime drama Vigil. She portrayed Jade Antoniak, a peace protester and the girlfriend of Martin Compston’s character Craig Burke.[18] The show, which is set on a ballistic missile submarine, gained over 10.2 million views in the first seven days, making it the BBC’s most-watched show of the year.[19]

In 2022, Lyle starred as investigator Detective Sergeant Karen Pirie in the ITV murder drama series Karen Pirie, based upon author Val McDermid’s novel The Distant Echo.[20]

Awards

At the BAFTA Scotland Awards in November 2023, Lyle was awarded Best Actress Television for Karen Pirie and the Audience Award for Favourite Scot on Screen.[21]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleCharacterNotes
2013WhosAppGrace TimmsShort film
2014The CrucibleEnsemble
2014Office UgetsuAnnieShort film
2015...And You're Back in the RoomSisterShort film; also writer
2015The New HopeDamsel
2018Tell It to the BeesAnnie Kranmer
2018Girls Who DrinkShort film
2023Mercy FallsRhonaAlso executive producer
2024Something in the WaterLizzie

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015BBC Comedy FeedsLaurenEpisode: "Radges"
2016Holby CityKatherine RiceEpisode: "Who You Are"
2017BrokenChloe Demichelis3 episodes
2021VigilJade Antoniak4 episodes
2017–2022OutlanderMarsali MacKimmie Fraser29 episodes
2022Celebrity PageHerself2 episodes
2022Karen PirieDS Karen Pirie3 episodes
TBALockerbieFilming[22]

Theatre

YearTitleRoleDirectorTheatre
2014The CrucibleEnsembleYaël FarberThe Old Vic Theatre
2015Wuthering HeightsCatherineEmily LinAmbassadors Theatre
2015ConsensualDianePia FurtadoAmbassadors Theatre
2015Merchant of VenicePrince of ArragonAnna NilandAmbassadors Theatre

Podcast

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Five Years of NYT REP in the West End . National Youth Theatre. 1 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20221108050953/https://www.nyt.org.uk/about-us/news/five-years-nyt-rep-west-end . 8 November 2022 .
  2. Web site: Wuthering Heights. Watkinson. Nicola. 8 October 2015. Plays To See. en-GB. 1 April 2019.
  3. Web site: Consensual (Ambassadors Theatre) WhatsOnStage. www.whatsonstage.com. en-GB. 1 April 2019.
  4. Web site: REVIEW: The Merchant Of Venice, Ambassadors Theatre ✭✭✭. 13 October 2015. British Theatre. en-GB. 1 April 2019.
  5. Web site: Radges - BBC3 Sitcom. British Comedy Guide. en-GB. 2 April 2019.
  6. Web site: Cesar Domboy, Lauren Lyle Join Cast of Starz Hit Drama Outlander . BroadwayWorld.com. en. 2 April 2019.
  7. Web site: 'Outlander' Casts César Domboy and Lauren Lyle for Season 3. Thorne. Will. 3 October 2016. Variety. en. 2 April 2019.
  8. Web site: BBC One - Holby City, Series 18, Who You Are. BBC. en-GB. 2 April 2019.
  9. Web site: Last night's TV review: Broken (BBC1): stretching credibility to breaking point. 29 March 2019. The Independent. en. 2 April 2019.
  10. Web site: Leading Actor - SEAN BEAN. 29 March 2018. bafta.org. en. 2 April 2019.
  11. Web site: 'Outlander' Casts César Domboy As Older Fergus & Lauren Lyle As Marsali In Season 3. Petski. Denise. 3 October 2016. Deadline Hollywood. en. 2 April 2019.
  12. Web site: 'Outlander' Postmortem: Lauren Lyle analyzes Marsali's relationships with Fergus, Jamie, and Claire. Yahoo!. en-US. 2 April 2019.
  13. Web site: National Youth Theatre graduates share experiences for our new film, Stage Direction . Edwards. Richard. 30 October 2016. Rabbit & Snail Films . en-GB. 2 April 2019.
  14. Web site: 'Tell It to the Bees': Film Review TIFF 2018. The Hollywood Reporter. 18 September 2018 . en. 2 April 2019.
  15. Web site: Girls Who Drink: A Short Film By Lily Rose Thomas – Your Cinema. en-US. 2 April 2019.
  16. Web site: Ballhaus. Louisa. 2020-06-26. How Caitríona Balfe & Lauren Lyle Bonded Over Girl Power on the 'Outlander' Set . 2021-07-06. SheKnows. en-US.
  17. Web site: cartermatt. 2020-03-31. Outlander star Lauren Lyle debuting podcast; Caitriona Balfe to appear . 2021-07-06. CarterMatt. en-US.
  18. Web site: Lauren Lyle on her "dangerous" character in BBC One's Vigil — and the controversial Outlander season 5 finale. 2021-10-28. Radio Times. en.
  19. Web site: 2021-10-05. Martin Compston and Suranne Jones' Vigil breaks record for BBC . 2021-10-28. Digital Spy. en-GB.
  20. Web site: Lauren Lyle to star in ITV's Karen Pirie . 2021-07-06. www.msn.com.
  21. Web site: Winners announced: 2023 BAFTA Scotland Awards . BAFTA . 19 November 2023 . 13 January 2024.
  22. Web site: Hollywood Reporter. ‘Suits’ Star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells, Merritt Wever Cast in Netflix, BBC Series ‘Lockerbie’. Georg. Szalai. 5 March 2024. 5 March 2024.