Hannah John-Kamen
John-Kamen in June 2018
Born (1989-09-07) 7 September 1989 (age 34)
Hull, East Yorkshire, England
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Hannah Dominique E. John-Kamen (born 7 September 1989) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Yalena "Dutch" Yardeen in the Syfy television series Killjoys (2015–2019), F'Nale Zandor in Steven Spielberg's film Ready Player One (2018), Ava Starr / Ghost in the superhero film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), the title character in the Netflix mystery miniseries The Stranger (2020), and Jill Valentine in the film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021).

Early life

Hannah Dominique E. John-Kamen[1] was born in Anlaby, Yorkshire, England, on 7 September 1989, the daughter of a Norwegian fashion model mother and a Nigerian forensic psychologist father.[2] She has an older brother and an older sister. She attended primary school in nearby Kirk Ella, received her secondary education at Hull Collegiate School,[3] and trained at the National Youth Theatre in London.[4] In 2012, she graduated from London's Central School of Speech and Drama.[5]

Career

John-Kamen began her career in 2011, providing voice work for the video game Dark Souls. She went on to make appearances in episodes of television series Misfits (2011), Black Mirror (2016), Whitechapel (2012), The Syndicate (2012), The Midnight Beast (2012) and The Hour (2012).

From 11 December 2012 to 29 June 2013, she took the lead role of Viva in the Spice Girls-themed West End musical Viva Forever![6] The musical premiered at the Piccadilly Theatre to largely negative reviews.[7] The Daily Mirror, however, praised John-Kamen's performance and called it a "shame" that she and the rest of the cast were "let down by a clichéd plot and leaden dialogue".[8]

In 2015, John-Kamen had a starring role in the SyFy series Killjoys.[9][10] In 2016, she had a guest-star role on the HBO series Game of Thrones.[11] That year, she appeared in the Black Mirror episode "Playtest"[12] and an episode of The Tunnel. Addressing John-Kamen's role in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One (2018), Kristen Tauer wrote, "While much of Ready Player One takes place in a virtual reality world, Hannah John-Kamen's character is unique in that she is rooted in the reality throughout the film."[13] That same year, John-Kamen played Ava Starr / Ghost in the superhero film Ant-Man and the Wasp.[14] In 2021, John-Kamen starred in the action-thriller film SAS: Red Notice and portrayed Jill Valentine in the reboot film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. She was cast as Red Sonja in the upcoming film by the same name from Millennium Films but reportedly left the project for unknown reasons.[15][16]

Personal life

John-Kamen moved to London at the age of 18 and has lived there since.[5] She enjoys playing the piano and is trained in various dances such as ballet, cabaret, jazz, salsa and tap.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens First Order Officer
2018 Tomb Raider Sophie
Ready Player One F'Nale Zandor
Ant-Man and the Wasp Ava Starr / Ghost
2021 SAS: Red Notice Dr. Sophie Hart
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Jill Valentine
2023 Unwelcome Maya
Breaking Point Kate

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Misfits Carly 1 episode
Black Mirror Selma Telse Episode: "Fifteen Million Merits"
2012 Whitechapel Roxy 2 episodes
The Syndicate Young Shop Assistant 1 episode
The Midnight Beast Pizza Girl 1 episode
The Hour Rosa Maria Ramírez 4 episodes
2014 Death in Paradise Yasmin Blake 1 episode
Happy Valley Justine 4 episodes
2015 Cucumber Violet 2 episodes
The Ark Nahlab Television film
Banana Violet 2 episodes
2015–2019 Killjoys Yalena "Dutch" Yardeen Main role, 50 episodes
2016 The Tunnel: Sabotage Rosa Persaud 5 episodes
Black Mirror Sonja Episode: "Playtest"
Game of Thrones Ornela 2 episodes
2019 The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Naia (voice) Recurring role, 5 episodes
2020 The Stranger The Stranger Miniseries, 8 episodes
Brave New World Wilhelmina "Helm" Watson Main role, 9 episodes[17]

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2012–2013 Viva Forever! Viva Piccadilly Theatre[7]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Dark Souls Lord's Blade Ciaran Voice
2014 Dark Souls II Sweet Shalquoir Voice

Music videos

Year Artist Title
2015 The Chemical Brothers "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted"
2019 Sun Silva "Just the Romantic"

References

  1. ^ "Search Results for Civil Births in Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records". findmypast.co.uk. England & Wales Births 1837–2006. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  2. ^ Brown, Emma (20 January 2017). "DISCOVERY: HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN". Interview Magazine.
  3. ^ "Hannah John-Kamen to star in Spice Girls musical". This Is Hull and East Riding. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Hannah John-Kamen". The Casting Website.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Meet the star of The Stranger: Hannah John-Kamen". London Evening Standard. 26 February 202. Retrieved 28 April 2020. At 18 she moved to London and went to what was then the Central School of Speech and Drama
  6. ^ Shenton, Mark (13 July 2012). "Initial Casting Revealed for West End's Viva Forever!, Featuring Music of The Spice Girls". Playbill. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. ^ a b Shenton, Mark (26 June 2012). "Viva Forever, Musical Featuring Spice Girls Songs, Confirms West End Opening at Piccadilly Theatre". Playbill. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  8. ^ Palmer, Alun (12 December 2012). "Lost in Spice: Viva Forever! the Spice Girls musical is just a Wannabe". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  9. ^ "'Killjoys' actress unleashes her 'bossy' side". .bendbulletin.com. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  10. ^ "An Interview with Killjoys' Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke Macfarlane – Discussing Season Two". talknerdywithus.com. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  11. ^ "'Killjoys' John-Kamen generating heat". Welland Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  12. ^ "'Black Mirror' Season 3 Trailer: "No One Is This Happy'". Deadline. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. ^ Tauer, Kristen (30 March 2018). "Hannah John-Kamen, a Villain on the Rise". WWD. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (7 June 2017). "'Black Mirror's' Hannah John-Kamen Lands Key Role in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'". Variety.
  15. ^ Vary, Adam B. (5 May 2021). "'Red Sonja' Will Star 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Actor Hannah John-Kamen". Variety.
  16. ^ "Report: Hannah John-Kamen Leaves Red Sonja Film". ComingSoon.net. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  17. ^ White, Peter (19 June 2019). "'Brave New World': Kylie Bunbury, Hannah John-Kamen, Sen Mitsuji, Joseph Morgan & Nina Sosanya Added To USA Network Drama". Deadline Hollywood.

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