| Jessica Hynes | |
|---|---|
Hynes at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con |
|
| Born | Jessica Stevenson 15 November 1972 London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress/Writer |
| Years active | 1993—present |
| Spouse | Adam Hynes (2002-present) |
Jessica Hynes (née Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress and writer. She was known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007.[1]
She is possibly best known as one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom Spaced.
She lives in London with her husband Adam Hynes, whom she met when she was 18, and married in 2002. They have three children.
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Hynes was born in Lewisham, London, on 15th November 1972, but grew up in Brighton, where she attended Dorothy Stringer High School. As a teenager Hynes was part of the National Youth Theatre company, and she made her stage début with the company in Lionel Bart's Blitz in 1990.[2] In 1992–3 she played a season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. In the same year she appeared in Peter Greenaway's 1993 film The Baby of Mâcon, playing the first midwife. For the first fourteen years of her career, she used her maiden name as a stage name. Early in her career she teamed up with future Spaced co-star Katy Carmichael in a comedy double-act called The Liz Hurleys, appeared in two productions at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, and played parts on television in the nursing drama Staying Alive (1995–1997) and short-lived sketch shows Six Pairs of Pants, (Un)natural Acts and Asylum - where the Spaced team (Stevenson, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright) first assembled. She also guest starred in the first ever episode of Midsomer Murders in 1997.
From 1998-2000 she played the supporting role of Cheryl in the hit sitcom The Royle Family and reprised the role for special episodes in 2006, 2009, and 2010. Also in 1999, she co-wrote and starred in Spaced. Her London theatre début was in April 2002, playing the tough ex-prisoner "Bolla" in Jez Butterworth's The Night Heron at the Royal Court.[3] In 2004 she played a minor part as Yvonne in horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, again working with Pegg and Wright. In the same year she was also cast as Magda, friend of the titular character, in the Hollywood sequel Bridget Jones' Diary 2 also called Bridget Jones' Diary: The Edge of Reason. In 2005 Hynes took the lead role in the BBC One sitcom According to Bex (which she thought was so bad that she sacked her agent for putting her up for it),[1] and had a starring role in British comedy Confetti alongside Jimmy Carr, Martin Freeman, and Mark Heap.
In early 2007 she took the lead female role in the film Magicians, starring alongside comic duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Later that year she starred in Learners, a comedy drama television movie which she also wrote, on BBC One in November 2007.[4] She also provided the voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
She played as Joan Redfern in the 2007 Doctor Who episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood". She then appeared in part two of the story The End of Time, playing a character named Verity Newman, who is descended from Joan.[5] Hynes has appeared in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor audio adventure "Invaders from Mars", with her Spaced colleague Simon Pegg.
In 2007 she starred in Son of Rambow (credited as Jessica Stevenson), playing Mary Proudfoot opposite the star of the film, Bill Milner.
Hynes co-wrote the pilot Phoo Action, based on the cartoons of Jamie Hewlett, which was transmitted on BBC Three in early 2008.[6]
In the same year Hynes appeared in the film Faintheart and in a revival of Alan Ayckbourne's The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic. In 2009 she made her Broadway début in the play's transfer[7] and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance.
In 2009 she returned to the Royal Court in The Priory, a new play by Michael Wynne.[8]
She plans to pursue a solo career as a standup comedian[9] as well as publishing a children's book Ants in the Marmalade.[10]
Jessica has finished filming for the motion picture Nativity 2: The Second Coming, in which she plays competition host Angel Matthews. The film is due to be released in November 2012.
Hynes has won two British Comedy Awards, both for her performances in Spaced: Best Female Comedy Newcomer in 1999 and Best TV Comedy Actress in 2001.[11] She was nominated for a TV BAFTA for her performance in the largely improvised TV feature Tomorrow La Scala (2000), and for an Olivier Award for her role in the play The Night Heron in 2003.[11] In 2009 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play,[12] but lost out to Angela Lansbury.
| Year | Title | Role | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The House of Eliott | Charlotte Parker | TV series | Episode: Series 3, Episode 1 |
| 1995 | Six Pairs of Pants | Various characters | TV series | |
| Tears Before Bedtime | Maggie | TV series | ||
| Crown Prosecutor | Jackie South | TV series | ||
| 1996 | Mash and Peas | Various Roles | TV series | |
| Asylum | Martha & Nurse McFadden | TV series | ||
| Staying Alive | Alice Timpson | TV series | ||
| 1997 | Midsomer Murders | Judith Lessiter | TV series | Episode: "The Killings at Badger's Drift" |
| Armstrong and Miller | Various Roles | TV series | Series 1-2 | |
| Harry Enfield and Chums | TV series | Episode: "Harry Enfield and His Yule Log Chums" | ||
| 1998 | Unnatural Acts | Various Roles | TV series | Episodes: Episode 1, 2, 4 and 5 |
| Merry-Go-Round | Alice, the Ayatollah's Assistant | TV series | Episode: Episode 1 | |
| The Royle Family | Cheryl Carroll | TV series | Episodes: "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Sunday Afternoon", "Dad's Birthday", "Wedding Day", "Pregnancy", "Antony's Birthday", "Decorating", "Funeral", "The Christening", "The Queen of Sheba", "The Golden Egg Cup" and "Joe's Crackers" | |
| 1999 | People Like Us | Sarah | TV series | Episode: "The Estate Agent" |
| Spaced | Daisy Steiner | TV series | ||
| 2001 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Felia Siderova | TV series | Episodes: "Mental Apparition Disorder" and "Drop Dead" |
| Bob & Rose | Holly Vance | TV series | ||
| Comedy Lab | Wife | TV series | Episode: "Knife & Wife" | |
| 2002 | Dick Whittington | The Good Fairy | TV film | |
| Black Books | Eva | TV series | Episode: "Hello Sun" | |
| 2005 | According to Bex | Rebecca 'Bex' Atwell | TV series | |
| 2006 | Pinochet in Suburbia | Police Guard | TV film | |
| The Secret Policeman's Ball | Mrs. Peacock | Staged show | ||
| QI | Herself | TV series | Episode: "Domesticity" | |
| Marple | Amy Griffith | TV series | Episode: "The Moving Finger" | |
| 2007 | Doctor Who | Joan Redfern | TV series | Episodes: "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" |
| Learners | Bev | TV film | ||
| Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Herself | TV series | Episode: Series 21, Episode 1 | |
| 2009 | Doctor Who | Verity Newman | TV series | Episode: "The End of Time, Part Two" |
| 2010 | Lizzie and Sarah | Various Roles | TV pilot | |
| 2011 | Twenty Twelve | Siobhan Sharpe | TV series | |
| Skins | Crystal | TV Series | Episode: "Everyone" | |
| The Hour | Jane Kish | TV Series | Episode 4 |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Swing Kids | Helga |
| The Baby of Mâcon | The First Midwife | |
| 2000 | Born Romantic | Libby |
| 2002 | Tomorrow La Scala! | Victoria |
| Pure | Paramedic | |
| 2004 | Shaun of the Dead | Yvonne |
| Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Magda | |
| 2006 | Confetti | Sam |
| 2007 | Four Last Songs | Miranda |
| Son of Rambow | Mary | |
| Magicians | Linda | |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Mafalda Hopkirk (voice) | |
| 2008 | Faintheart | Cathy |
| 2010 | Burke and Hare | Lucky |