Tamzin Merchant
Merchant in 2011
Alma materHomerton College, Cambridge
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present

Tamzin Claire Merchant[1] (born 1987 or 1988)[2] is an English actress and author, best known for her roles as Georgiana Darcy in the film Pride & Prejudice (2005), as Catherine Howard in the Showtime series The Tudors (2009–2010) and as Anne Hale in the WGN America series Salem (2014–2017). She wrote the 2021 children's book The Hatmakers.[3]

Early life

Merchant was educated at Windlesham House School and Brighton College,[4][5] although she has also lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[4] After twice deferring university places to concentrate on her acting career, she eventually studied English and Drama with Education at Homerton College, Cambridge.[5]

Career

Merchant's early credits include Margo Durrell in the 2005 BBC television film My Family and Other Animals. In 2006 she appeared in two more BBC dramas, as Sara Fox, the daughter of Alan Davies and Michelle Gomez, in the comedy The Good Housekeeping Guide, and as Probationer Eastwood in the historical drama Casualty 1906.

In 2007, while studying at the University of Cambridge, she performed in an audio production of Lady Windermere's Fan as Lady Agatha, while in 2008 she appeared in the ensemble drama Radio Cape Cod in which she plays a summer theatre camper.

She appears in the music video for Jamie T's "If You've Got The Money" and in Belle and Sebastian's "Nobody's Empire".

She was cast in the third season (2009) of The Tudors, playing Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She debuted in the part in the third-season finale and features heavily in several episodes of the fourth (and final) season.

Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels. The pilot was poorly received, and as a result the first episode was completely remade. Merchant was replaced in her role as Daenerys by Emilia Clarke.[6]

She has also starred in DCI Banks: 'Playing with Fire' as Miranda. In early 2012, Merchant played the 17-year-old Rosa Bud in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood, written by Gwyneth Hughes.

Merchant was a series regular for 3 seasons of Salem on WGN America from 2014 to 2017.[7]

In 2019 Merchant was cast as a series regular on the Amazon Prime series Carnival Row.[8] The series premiered on 30 August and was renewed for a second season.[9]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Pride & Prejudice Georgiana Darcy
2008 Radio Cape Cod Anna
2009 Princess Kaiulani Alice Davies
2011 Jane Eyre Mary Rivers
2011 Red Faction: Origins Lyra Mason
2012 Second Wind Anna
2014 Copenhagen Sandra
2015 Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse Rhonu Direct-to-video film
2015 The Messenger Sarah
2016 The Dancer Kate
2017 Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire Queen Rhonu Direct-to-video film
2020 Running Naked Sara
2022 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena
2022 James and Lucia Helen Fleischmann-Joyce

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2005 My Family and Other Animals Margo Durrell Television film
2006 The Good Housekeeping Guide Sara Fox Television film
2006 Casualty 1906 Probationer Eastwood Television film
2008 Bonekickers Helena Episode: "Army of God"
2009–2010 The Tudors Catherine Howard Main role (seasons 3–4), 6 episodes
2011 Red_Faction: Origins Lyra Television film
2011 DCI Banks Miranda Aspern Episodes: "Playing with Fire: Part 1 & Part 2"
2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood Rosa Bud Television film (2 parts)
2013 Murder on the Home Front Molly Cooper Television film
2014–2017 Salem Anne Hale Main role
Nominated—Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best TV Supporting Actress (2017)[10]
2017 Supergirl Lyra Strayd Recurring role, 5 episodes
2019-2023 Carnival Row Imogen Spurnrose Main role[11]
2019 Thanks for the Memories Joyce Conway 2 episodes (the entire film)
2023 Tom Jones Aunt Harriet 4 episodes

Music videos

Year Title Artist
2006 "If You Got the Money" Jamie T
2007 "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" Groove Armada feat Mutya Buena
2014 "Nobody's Empire" Belle and Sebastian

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Hay Fever Jackie Queens' College, Cambridge
2008 Dahling You Were Marvellous Sister 3, Hanger-on ADC Theatre
2009 Breakfast at Night Chorus ADC Theatre
2009 The 24hr Plays Group 1 Producer ADC Theatre
2010 Cigarettes and Chocolate Gemma ADC Theatre

References

  1. ^ "Tamzin Merchant Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ "A 'Tudors' tutorial". New York Daily News. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  3. ^ Hibberd, James. "Tamzin Merchant on The Hatmakers and Carnival Row season 2 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Tamzin Merchant". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Record Oxbridge Success". Brighton College. 28 June 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  6. ^ Hall, Jacob (4 February 2016). "'Game of Thrones' Showrunners Get Honest About the Awful Pilot They Had to Reshoot". Slash Film. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (1 November 2013). "Shane West Set As Male Lead of WGN America's 'Salem', Tamzin Merchant Cast as Female Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (22 September 2017). "'Carnival Row': Amazon Adds Four To Cast of Fantasy Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  9. ^ Massabrook, Nicole (1 September 2019). "Will 'Carnival Row' Return For Season 2? Renewal, Cancellation Details". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Never mind Oscar, here's the 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Nominees Ballot!". FANGORIA®. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  11. ^ Petski, Denise (22 September 2017). "'Carnival Row': David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Indira Varma & Tamzin Merchant Join Amazon's Fantasy Drama Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tamzin Merchant.
Authority control databases
Categories