Lauren O'Neil explained

Lauren O'Neil Is a British stage, screen and radio actor.

Early life

O'Neil was born Lauren Frances Rogers in Liverpool, England, the eldest daughter of two dentists. She left Liverpool to attend the University of Glasgow, before returning to Liverpool to complete an English degree. It was there that she first took up acting.[1]

O'Neil attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2009.

In 2017, she married Ollie Clueit, bassist of Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia....

Career

On graduating from Guildhall, O'Neil was awarded the 2009 Spotlight Showcase prize for Best Actress.[2] [3]

O'Neil's professional debut was as the character Kirsty in a Series 2 episode of BBC drama Being Human. Her stage debut came at the National Theatre where she played Bianca in Marianne Elliot's revival of Women Beware Women.[4] Her first feature film lead was as Nina in The Abominable Snowman (originally Deadly Descent).

In July 2011 she became the face of the Match.com advertising campaign, in "The Girl On The Platform".[5] O'Neil and her Match.com advert co-star, Steven Mitchell, also appear in the music video for 'She Began To Dance' sung by Matthew P. The music video shows the couple in similar but not identical outfits leaving the unidentified train station and going on a date to the beach. This suggests the advert and the music video were not filmed at the same time. Matthew P plays most of the 'characters' in the video whilst simultaneously singing his song with a ukulele.

In 2012 O'Neil appeared in two premieres at the National Theatre: in Nicholas Wright's Travelling Light and James Graham's This House.[6]

In 2014 O'Neil appeared in King Lear[7] alongside Frank Langella and in Richard III[8] with Martin Freeman, playing Regan and Lady Anne respectively. In 2015 she appeared in a 2-part episode "Squaring the Circle" in Series 18 of BBC One's Silent Witness as young City DI Sarah Parks.[9] She played Rowena in the Midsomer Murders season 18 finale 'Harvest of Souls'.[10]

She appeared as Steph in the UK premiere of Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Happy at The Hampstead Theatre in 2016, followed by the West End transfers of This House at the Garrick Theatre and The Twilight Zone, directed by Richard Jones, at the Ambassadors Theatre, along with television roles in No Offence, comedy pilot, Bugsplat!, Father Brown, London Kills, Casualty, Grace and Queens of Mystery.

In 2022, O'Neil played Romaine Vole in Witness For The Prosecution at London County Hall.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Spotlight news: welcome. spotlight.com. 18 August 2016.
  2. Web site: The Spotlight Showcase . 4 March 2016.
  3. Web site: Spotlight Prize winner Lauren O'Neil opening at National Theatre . 27 April 2010 . 4 March 2016.
  4. Web site: Lauren O'Neill - Company Members - National Theatre . 2010-11-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110617072016/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/56615/company-members/lauren-oneill.html . 17 June 2011 . dmy-all .
  5. http://advice.uk.match.com/our-campaigns/ukulele-2011 "Ukulele (2011)"
  6. Web site: Travelling Light - Productions - National Theatre . 2012-03-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120321130314/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/68375/productions/travelling-light.html . 21 March 2012 . dmy-all .
  7. Web site: Off Broadway Review: 'King Lear' Starring Frank Langella. Marilyn Stasio. Variety. 17 January 2014 . 18 August 2016.
  8. Web site: Error The Jamie Lloyd Company. Feast Creative. trafalgartransformed.com. 18 August 2016.
  9. Web site: BBC One - Silent Witness, Series 18, Squaring the Circle, Part 1. bbc.co.uk. 18 August 2016.
  10. Web site: S18-E6 Harvest of Souls . David Butcher . . 4 March 2016.