Tuppence Middleton
Middleton in August 2015
Born
Tuppence Amelia Middleton

(1987-02-21) 21 February 1987 (age 36)
Bristol, England
OccupationActress
Years active2007–present
PartnerMåns Mårlind
Children1[1]

Tuppence Amelia Middleton (born 21 February 1987)[2] is a British actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer.

Middleton appeared in various films before making her breakthrough in Morten Tyldum's historical drama The Imitation Game (2014), and subsequently appeared in The Wachowskis' science fiction film Jupiter Ascending (2015), Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's historical drama The Current War (2017), David Fincher's film Mank (2020), and the historical drama films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).

She made her first television appearance in Bones (2008) and subsequently appeared as a guest in New Tricks (2010), Friday Night Dinner (2011), and Lewis (2013). She also appeared as Jem in the Black Mirror episode "White Bear" (2013), as Miss Havisham in Dickensian (2015–2016), as Russian princess Hélène Kuragina in War & Peace (2016), and as Riley "Blue" Gunnarsdóttir in Sense8 (2015–2018).

Early life

Middleton was born in Bristol on 21 February 1987, the daughter of Tina and Nigel Middleton.[3] She has an older sister named Angel and younger brother named Josh.[3] She was named "Tuppence" after the childhood nickname her grandmother gave to her mother.[4] She was raised in Clevedon, Somerset.[3] She has described her younger self as shy, reclusive, and "geeky" at school, but "quite loud and brash" at home; she found youth theatre an "outlet" in which she could be confident.[4][5] She attended Bristol Grammar School, where she was involved in school plays such as Guys and Dolls.[6] She also attended Stagecoach, a performing arts school in Portishead. She appeared in local drama productions, including a pantomime with her sister at the Princes Hall in Clevedon.[3] She subsequently studied acting at the Arts Educational School in London, earning an honours degree in acting.[3]

Career

Middleton gained a following for her appearance in the 2009 British comedy horror film Tormented.[7] Her character, head girl Justine Fielding, dates one of the most popular boys in school, only to find that he and his friends were responsible for a classmate's death. She has also appeared in adverts for the chewing gum Extra and for Sky TV.

In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer and she starred in Samuel Abrahams's BAFTA-nominated short film Connect.[8] In 2011, she played the character Tanya Green in the British sitcom Friday Night Dinner,[9] and Sarah in Sirens. In 2012, she appeared in the spy thriller film Cleanskin.[10]

In 2013, she made her professional theatre debut in The Living Room,[11] before playing a minor role in Danny Boyle's psychological thriller film Trance and giving a highly praised performance in the Black Mirror episode "White Bear".[12][13][14] In 2014, after working on Lilly and Lana Wachowski's space opera film Jupiter Ascending (2015), she joined the main cast of their Netflix science fiction series Sense8 (2015–2018).[15]

In 2016, she starred in the BBC drama War & Peace, playing Russian aristocrat Princess Hélène Kuragina. The series received critical acclaim. The Daily Express said: "Rising star Tuppence Middleton takes on the role of the delightfully evil Hélène Kuragina, who is one half of the incestuous duo. Audiences witnessed her brother getting a little too intimate with his sibling in the first episode before she turned her attentions to Pierre and dug her claws into him. She is a vile character who will use and abuse Pierre without giving him a second thought."[16] Andrew Davies, who adapted War and Peace, described Middleton's Hélène as "the naughtiest woman on TV at the moment".[17]

In 2018, she starred in Vicky Jones' play The One at the Soho Theatre in London and got the part of Lucy in the feature film Downton Abbey (2019),[18] which she later reprised in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).[19] In 2019, she played the lead role in the mystery drama Disappearance at Clifton Hill. This film was soon followed by the psychological horror Possessor (2020), the Netflix-distributed historical miniseries The Defeated (2020), also known as Shadowplay, and David Fincher's biographical drama Mank (2020), in which she portrayed the wife of Herman J. Mankiewicz, the co-writer of Citizen Kane (1941).[20][21]

She narrated BBC World Service documentaries about the Spitfire and the life of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2020 and 2021, respectively.[22][23] In 2021, Middleton also narrated an immersive step inside a story audiovisual tour for Hyde Park in London based around The Great Exhibition and written by Elizabeth Macneal for the BARDEUM mobile app.[24] She recently starred alongside Martin Compston and Rupert Penry-Jones in ITV1's drama Our House (2022),[25][26] and is set to star in the folk horror film Lord of Misrule with Ralph Ineson and Matt Stokoe, directed by William Brent Bell.[27] She currently is starring in the National Theatre as Elizabeth Taylor in the Sam Mendes directed Jack Thorne play The Motive and the Cue opposite Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton and Mark Gatiss as Sir John Gielgud.

Personal life

Middleton has obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) that she developed at the age of 12.[28][29] In 2021, she conducted a series of interviews on the matter for BBC Radio 4, in which she talked with a clinical psychologist and a couple of other people struggling with the disorder.[30] Middleton revealed that she "struggles with self-imposed routines that sometimes stop her leaving the house, as well as obsessive mental counting and compulsive checking behaviours".[31] She also stated that she has emetophobia, a fear of vomiting, which increases her excessive preoccupation with cleanliness.[31]

In August 2022 it was reported that Middleton had given birth to her first child with Swedish film director Måns Mårlind.[32]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Tormented Justine Fielding
2010 In the Meadow Grace Short film
Ever Here I Be Valerie[33] Short film
Skeletons Rebecca[34]
Connect Woman Short film
Chatroom Candy
2011 Subculture Lily[35] Short film
2012 Cleanskin Kate
2013 Trance Young Woman in Red Car
Trap for Cinderella Micky
The Love Punch Sophie
2014 A Long Way Down Kathy
The Imitation Game Helen Stewart
2015 Jupiter Ascending Kalique Abrasax
Spooks: The Greater Good June Keaton Known as MI-5 in the USA
2017 The Current War Mary Edison
2018 Stine Lizzie Short film
2019 Fisherman's Friends Alwyn
Four The Young Woman Short film; also writer
Disappearance at Clifton Hill Abby
Downton Abbey Lucy Smith
2020 Possessor Ava Parse
Mank Sara Mankiewicz
2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era Lucy Branson

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Bones Vera Waterhouse Episodes: "Yanks in the U.K. Part 1 & 2"
2010 New Tricks Melanie Higgs Episode: "Fashion Victim"
First Light Grace TV film
2011 Friday Night Dinner Tanya Green Episodes: "The Date", "The Dress"
Sirens Sarah Fraisor Episodes: "Up, Horny, Down", "I.C.E."
2012 Sinbad Tiger 4 episodes
2013 Lewis Vicki Walmsley 2 episodes
Spies of Warsaw Gabrielle 4 episodes
Black Mirror Jem Episode: "White Bear"
The Lady Vanishes Iris Carr TV film
2015–2018 Sense8 Riley "Blue" Gunnarsdóttir Main role; 24 episodes
2015–2016 Dickensian Amelia Havisham Main role; 20 episodes
2016 War & Peace Princess Helene Kuragina 6 episodes
2017 Diana and I Laura Phillips TV film
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Linda Episode: "The Commuter"
2019 A Working Mom's Nightmare Hannah TV film
2020 The Defeated Claire Franklin 8 episodes
2022 Our House Fi Lawson Main role; 4 episodes
His Dark Materials Father Gomez's Daemon (voice) Episode: "The Botanic Garden"

Theatre

Year Title Role Playwright Venue
2007 Hay Fever Judith Bliss Noël Coward Arts Educational Schools
2008 Cause Célèbre Alma Rattenbury Terence Rattigan
The Lights Lillian Howard Korder
2013 The Living Room Rose Pemberton Graham Greene Jermyn Street Theatre
2018 The One Jo Vicky Jones Soho Theatre
2023 The Motive and the Cue Elizabeth Taylor Jack Thorne National Theatre

Music videos

Year Title Artist Director Role
2014 "Real" Years & Years Robert Francis Müller Clubber

Video games

Year Title Role
2018 World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Lady Lucille Waycrest (voice)

References

  1. ^ "Tuppence Middleton gives birth to first child". Geo.tv. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=279703758:2260&d=bmd_1695680319
  3. ^ a b c d e Pickstock, Heather (15 March 2013). "Bristol actress Tuppence Middleton stars in Hitchcock TV thriller ..." Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b Williams, Andrew (9 January 2013). "Tuppence Middleton: I'm not stuck in a period piece ghetto". Metro. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  5. ^ Mottram, James (12 July 2013). "Tuppence Middleton proves her worth to Hollywood". The Independent. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Where did these 11 Bristol celebrities go to school? Archived 20 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine",Bristol Post, 2 April 2017 (Accessed 4 April 2017)
  7. ^ "Tormented". United Kingdom: The Film Catalogue. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  8. ^ "Film Award Winners". BAFTA.org.
  9. ^ Friday Night Dinner – Episode 1.6. The Date Archived 29 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, British Comedy Guide, Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  10. ^ Cleanskin (2012). Internet Movie Database
  11. ^ Billington, Michael (13 March 2013). "The Living Room – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Black Mirror: "White Bear"". The A.V. Club. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Black Mirror: White Bear, Channel 4, review". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  14. ^ "'Black Mirror' series two 'White Bear' review: "Full-blooded horror"". Digital Spy. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (21 June 2014). "Cast Set, Plot Revealed For Wachowskis' Netflix Globe-Spanning Series 'Sense8'". Deadline. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  16. ^ Debnath, Neela (12 January 2016). "War and Peace: Who's who character guide". www.express.co.uk.
  17. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (1 February 2016). "Tuppence Middleton: from Tolstoy's seductress to a Dickensian victim". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  18. ^ "The One". SohoTheatre. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Imelda Staunton, Geraldine James Join 'Downton Abbey' Movie". 30 August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  20. ^ Staff, Wonderland (4 December 2020). "Mank Star Tuppence Middleton On Working With David Fincher". Wonderland. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  21. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (15 October 2019). "'Mank': Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, 'Downton Abbey's Tuppence Middleton & More Join David Fincher Pic". Deadline. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  22. ^ BBC World Service marks VE Day with new podcast and radio series Spitfire: The People's Plane BBC Media Release 22 April 2020
  23. ^ HRH Prince Philip: A celebration of a life The Documentary, BBC World Service, 10 April 2021
  24. ^ "Tuppence Middleton". BARDEUM. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  25. ^ Hibbs, James (8 March 2022). "Meet the cast of new ITV thriller Our House". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  26. ^ Midley, Carol (10 March 2022). "My Brilliant Friend review — gorgeously acted . . . shame about the book". The Times. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  27. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (25 October 2021). "Tuppence Middleton & Ralph Ineson Set For Folk Horror 'Lord Of Misrule' From 'The Boy' Director William Brent Bell; Filming Underway In UK". Deadline Hollywood.
  28. ^ Brown, Helen (6 March 2022). "Tuppence Middleton: 'The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me...'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  29. ^ Lillywhite, Maisie (7 March 2022). "Tuppence Middleton's 'confusing' bedtime routine as a child". BristolLive. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  30. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - One to One, OCD: Tuppence Middleton talks to Gazal Jones". BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  31. ^ a b "BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Living with OCD: 5 Key Questions Answered". BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  32. ^ "Tuppence Middleton gives birth! welcomes first child with Mans Marlind". Thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  33. ^ "Ever Here I Be (2010)". BFI. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020.
  34. ^ "IndieLondon: Tormented". United Kingdom: IndieLondon. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  35. ^ "British Council Film: Subculture". film-directory.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 15 September 2022.

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