Francesca Henry

Francesca Eloise Henry (born March 1995) is an English actress. She began her career appearing in various television and stage shows including Doctors, A Discovery of Witches and Silent Witness, before being cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Gina Knight in 2023.

Francesca Henry
Henry in 2023
Born	Francesca Eloise Henry March 1995 (age 29) Waltham Forest, London, England
Education	Forest School, Walthamstow University of Bristol Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2018–present
Television	Doctors A Discovery of Witches Silent Witness EastEnders

Early life and education

Francesca Eloise Henry was born in March 1995 in Waltham Forest, London, and attended Forest School, Walthamstow.^[1] She began studying MA Acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2017.

Career

Henry made her acting debut appearing as PC Alice Brody in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors.^[2] Henry made her stage debut in the play The Wolves.^[3][4] She has appeared in various other productions, with her roles including Emily Webb in Our Town,^[5] Ashley in Germ Free Adolescent,^[6] The Letters Project,^[7] Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?^[8] and Rosencrantz in Hamlet.^[9] In 2022, Henry appeared in the recurring role of Celine in A Discovery of Witches. She also portrayed Nix Greaves in the Amazon Prime series Chelsea Detectives and Charlie Jarrett in an episode of the twenty-first series of Silent Witness.^[10] The same year, she made her film debut in 2.0 Lucy, in which she played the role of Alyssa.^[11]

In 2023, Henry was cast in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Gina Knight. Her character is the eldest daughter in the Knight family, who were introduced as new owners of the fictional Queen Vic pub.^[12] She made her on-screen debut on 1 June 2023 alongside the character's on-screen father George (Colin Salmon) and younger sister Anna (Molly Rainford). Henry described Gina as "spiky" and said that she "sees kindness in everyone and wants to be more like her sister Anna, but finds it hard to meet the world in an open-hearted way."^[13][14]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2019	Doctors	PC Alice Brady	Episode: "The Rabbit Hole"	[2]
2022	A Discovery of Witches	Celine	2 episodes	[1]
2022	The Chelsea Detective	Nix Greaves	Episode: "Mrs Romano"	[1]
2022	Silent Witness	Charlie Jarrett	Episode: "History – Part 4"	[10]
2022	2.0 Lucy	Alyssa	Film role	[11]
2023–present	EastEnders	Gina Knight	Regular role	[13]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2018	The Wolves	#2	Theatre Royal Stratford East	[3]
2019	Our Town	Emily Webb	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre	[5]
2019	Germ Free Adolescent	Ashley	The Bunker	[6]
2019	The Letters Project	Unknown	Gate Theatre	[7]
2020	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey	Tobacco Factory Theatre	[8]
2022	Hamlet	Rosencrantz	Shakespeare's Globe	[9]

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2023	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Newcomer	EastEnders	Nominated	[15]
2023	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Rising Star	EastEnders	Won	[16]
2024	RadioTimes.com Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	EastEnders	Pending	[17]

References

1. "Francesca Henry at Emptage Hallett Cardiff". Emptage Hallett Cardiff. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
2. "Doctors, Series 20, The Rabbit Hole". BBC. 23 January 2019. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
3. "The Wolves at Stratford East". Stratford East. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
4. "The Wolves review – swaggering, tender tales of women's football". The Guardian. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
5. "Francesca Henry to Star in Our Town, Plus Full Creative". BroadwayWorld. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
6. "Review: Germ Free Adolescent at the Bunker". Exeunt Magazine. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
7. "The Letters Project at The Gate Theatre". Gate Theatre. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
8. "Cast announced for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Tobacco Factory Theatre. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
9. "Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe – first look photos". WhatsOnStage.com. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
10. "Silent Witness series 25 episode 3 cast: Two infamous soap stars join the BBC One drama!". Entertainment Daily. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
11. "2.0 Lucy at Radio Times". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
12. "Colin Salmon, Harriet Thorpe, Francesca Henry and Molly Rainford join EastEnders". BBC. 28 March 2023. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
13. Kilkelly, Danielle. "EastEnders newcomer Francesca Henry teases "spiky" role as Gina Knight". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
14. "EastEnders spoilers: Gina Knight to be "spiky" and clash with Elaine". Radio Times. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
15. Gonzalez, Elliot (11 November 2023). "Nominations revealed for the I Talk Telly Awards 2023 as voting opens". I Talk Telly.
16. Zammitt, Erin. "EastEnders sweeps the board at the Digital Spy Reader Awards 2023". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
17. Daly, Helen (9 May 2024). "RadioTimes.com Soap Awards 2024 nominations revealed". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 May 2024.

External links

• Francesca Henry at IMDb