Sarah Solemani

Sarah Solemani
Born 4 September 1982
Camden, London, England
Nationality British
Occupation Actress, writer
Known for Him & Her, Bad Education
Children 1

Sarah Solemani (Persian: سارا سلیمانی‎, Hebrew: שרה סולימני) (born 4 September 1982[1]) is an English stage, television and film actress, writer and playwright, best known for starring in the BAFTA award winning sitcom Him & Her and BBC Three's series Bad Education.[2]

Early life

Born in Camden, London, the daughter of two teachers, Solemani has a Persian Jewish father and her mother is of Northern Irish descent. Solemani grew up in North London. Her mother died when she was 16.[3]

After passing her A levels, she took a gap year before reading Social and Political Sciences (now the Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos) at New Hall, Cambridge and graduating with an MA (Hons).[3][4]

At Cambridge, she joined the Footlights and became social secretary during her first year, replacing Dan Stevens, and then vice president.[5] Her contemporaries included the members of the sketch group Cowards, Jonny Sweet and Nick Mohammed.

Career

Theatre

Solemani was a member of the National Youth Theatre during her gap year, starring as Elaine in the West End theatre production of The Graduate.[5]

Solemani was a member of the Young Writer's Group attached to the Royal Court Theatre, and a writer at the Young Vic Theatre. Two plays she wrote were produced at Soho Theatre.[3] Another of her works, The Cost of Things (2010), was presented at the Public Theater New York under the aegis of the Old Vic Theatre as part of the TS Eliot Project.[6]

In 2011, she wrote The Baron which received the Old Vic New Voices Ignite award.[7]

In 2012, she appeared as Maryam in the play The House of Bernarda Alba at the Almeida Theatre from 19 January to 10 March 2012.[3] She wrote Up the Royal Borough, part of an evening of plays in response to Owen Jones' Chavs at the Lyric Hammersmith; it was performed to good reviews.[8]

Year Title Role Notes
2000 The Graduate Elaine Gielgud Theatre[9]
2007 Burning Cars Hampstead Theatre[10]
2009 Pornography Tricycle Theatre[11]
2012 The House of Bernarda Alba Maryam Almeida Theatre[12]

Television and film

Solemani's first film role was as a tableaux girl in Mrs Henderson Presents, which she performed during her third year of college.[3]

Her first major TV role was as "Becky" in BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, which was first broadcast in November 2010. Three series have been filmed and a fourth started broadcast in November 2013.[13]

In 2011, Solemani filmed a Channel 4 pilot comedy show, Coma Girl, alongside Katy Wix and Katherine Parkinson,[14] which was broadcast on 9 September.[15] The same year, Solemani and her comedy partner Olivia Poulet co-wrote a sitcom for the BBC, to be produced by Charlie Hanson.[6] She had a role in BBC One's Uptown Downstairs Abbey for Comic Relief.[16]

In 2012, Solemani starred in the BBC Three comedy, Bad Education.[17]

Solemani wrote and starred in an episode titled Aphrodite Fry in the Sky TV series Love Matters that aired in 2013.[18] In 2014, an episode of The Secrets written by Solemani was broadcast on BBC One.

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Red Cap Gillian Jennings TV series
2005 Mrs Henderson Presents Vera Film
2006 Undone Edna Radio series
2006 Hyperdrive Alie TV series
2007 Living with Two People You Like Individually... But Not as a Couple Antonia TV series – Pilot
2007 Roman's Empire Jenny TV series
2007 Suburban Shootout Donna TV series
2010–2013 Him & Her Becky TV series
2011 Silent Witness Mary Olivant TV series – episode 109 ("The Prodigal")
2011 Psychoville Emily TV series
2011 Coma Girl Siobhan TV series – Pilot
2011 Uptown Downstairs Abbey Lady Mary TV series – special for Comic Relief
2012 The Borgias Magdelena TV series
2012 Skins Celia Champion TV Series
2012–2014 Bad Education Miss Gulliver[17] TV series
2013 Love Matters Aphrodite Fry[19] TV series – episode 109 ("Aphrodite Fry")
2013 The Wrong Mans Lizzie Green TV series
2013 Crackanory Narrator TV series
2014 The Secrets Charlotte TV series

Print

Solemani has contributed to the New Statesman.[20]

Awards and acclaim

Solemani was awarded third place in the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust/New Statesman Prize for New Political Writing on the subject: "Do women's rights remain the privilege of the developed world?" in 2005.[21]

In 2011, Solemani won the Royal Television Society award for best Comedy Performance for her role in Him & Her along with her co-star Russell Tovey.[22]

In 2012, Solemani was named one of the year's Broadcast Hot Shots.[23]

Personal life

Solemani married Daniel Ingram, a Sustainable Development Expert[24] who was appointed Sir Nicholas Stern's Chief of Staff on the seminal Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change,[25] in Petah Tikva, Israel on 3 June 2012.[26][27] On 18 December 2013, Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Soraya Rae.

References

  1. ↑ http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records-in-birth-marriage-death-and-parish-records/and_births-and-baptisms?firstname=sarah&lastname=solemani
  2. ↑ "Him & Her – Sarah Solemani plays Becky" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 10 September 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Gilbert, Gerard (21 January 2012). "Where are all the female comics?". The Independent. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Alumnae Achievements" (PDF). The Dolphin (Cambridge: New Hall) (33): 12. Summer 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Simon Round (16 September 2010). "Interview: Sarah Solemani". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sarah Solemani". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Directors". Young Vic. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  8. ↑ Carmel Doohan (17 October 2012). "Chavs at Lyric Hammersmith". Exeunt Magazine.
  9. ↑ Darren Dalglish (23 October 2001). "The Graduate at Gielgud Theatre". London Theatre Guide. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Darings Pairings at Hampstead". The British Theatre Guide. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  11. ↑ Billington, Michael (7 August 2009). "Pornography, Tricycle, London". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  12. ↑ Daisy Jestico (30 January 2012). "Theatre Review: The House of Bernarda Alba at Almeida Theatre". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Him & Her Series 4". BBC Three. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  14. ↑ "Coma Girl". The British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Comedy Showcase: Coma Girl". Channel 4. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  16. ↑ "Comic Relief: Kim Cattrall and Joanna Lumley star in Downton Abbey spoof – pictures". The Telegraph. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Bad Education". BBC Three. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "Sky Living to show 6 one-off comedies". Custard TV. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  19. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2624894/
  20. ↑ "Sarah Solemani". New Statesman.
  21. ↑ "New Political Writing Prize 2005". Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  22. ↑ "RTS Announces Winners for the Programme Awards 2011" (Press release). Royal Television Society. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "Broadcast Hot Shots 2012". Broadcast. August 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  24. ↑ http://www.sri-connect.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=645&Itemid=1186
  25. ↑ http://www.hs-owl.de/fb8/fileadmin/download_autoren/immissionsschutz/Stern-Report/Introduction.pdf
  26. ↑ "Social & Personal" (PDF). New London Bulletin (New London Synagogue). May/June/July/August 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ↑ Liat Elkayam (29 June 2012). "Departures/Arrivals: Who took off from and landed at Ben Gurion Airport this week?". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

External links