Kate O'Flynn

Kate O'Flynn (born 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her performance in National Theatre's production of Port for which she received a Critics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in plays A Taste of Honey in 2014, and The Glass Menagerie for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2017.^[1][2]

Kate O'Flynn
Born	1986 (age 38–39) Bury, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present

O'Flynn, currently stars in Everyone Else Burns (2023–present) and has had recurring roles in Landscapers (2021) and My Lady Jane (2024) as well as appearing in the films Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) and Bridget Jones' Baby (2018).

Education and training

O'Flynn attended Manchester's Royal Exchange youth theatre as a teenager,^[3] before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).^[4]

Career

O'Flynn's first professional role was in Mike Leigh's 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky.^[3] Later that year, her performance in The Children's Hour with the Royal Exchange Theatre Company won her the 2008 TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Play,^[5] with the Guardian writing "the one to watch is the outstanding newcomer Kate O'Flynn."^[6]

In 2009 Kate O'Flynn starred in the comedy-drama TV series Kingdom, with Stephen Fry, as Emily Cartright, council solicitor and girlfriend of trainee solicitor Lyle Anderson, played by Karl Davies. In the same year, O'Flynn appeared with Russell Tovey at London's Royal Court Theatre in Molly Davies' A Miracle. Michael Billington gave the play 3 stars out of five in his review for British newspaper The Guardian, finding that "Kate O'Flynn's Amy is a model of gawky despair" but concluding that the cast "fill out a play that provides plenty of evidence of youthful talent but that also leaves you wanting more".^[7] In the Evening Standard, Nicholas de Jongh praised O'Flynn's "beautiful rendering of passivity, selfishness and vulnerability",^[8] while The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer wrote, "Kate O'Flynn brings an astonishingly raw vulnerability to the stage as Amy, the tears streaming down her face as she describes how impossible she finds it to love and nurture her child".^[9]

O'Flynn appeared as Elizabeth Gough in the 2011 television film The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and as Liz in the British feature film comedy Up There, which was the winner of the Best Feature Film award at the 2012 British Academy Scotland Awards^[10] and was broadcast on BBC Two in August 2015.^[11] In 2012, O'Flynn played the role of Beryl in BBC Four's BAFTA Award-winning^[12] television adaptation Room at the Top, based on John Braine's novel of the same name.^[13]

In 2013, she performed at the National Theatre in its production of Port. Writing in The Guardian, Maddy Costa noted: "As Rachael [sic] in Simon Stephens's Port, she grew from a mouthy 11-year-old to a downtrodden but resilient 24-year-old – and in the process transformed from a relative unknown to a star in the making".^[3] Her performance won her the Critics' Circle's Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer (other than a playwright).^[14] She returned to the National Theatre, playing Jo in its 2014 production of Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey.^[4]

In 2014, O'Flynn appeared in her second Mike Leigh film Mr. Turner.^[15] She would then go on to appear in another of Leigh's films, Peterloo, in 2018.

In 2015 O'Flynn played the part of Dr Peep in police comedy drama No Offence,^[16] reprising her role in all three series. The following year, O'Flynn played Myrtle in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Dot set in the Cabinet War Rooms.^[17] In the same year, she also played Lady Alexandrina De Courcy in the ITV costume drama Doctor Thorne, based on Anthony Trollope's novel of the same name.^[15] O'Flynn also played Alice Peabody, the new boss at Hard News in Bridget Jones' Baby.^[18]

Also in 2016, O'Flynn appeared in episode 6 of the second series of BBC's Father Brown "The Eagle and the Daw" as Katherine Corven. She reprised the character in the 2017 episode 6.2 "The Jackdaw's Revenge".

In 2019 O'Flynn played Victoria Woodcock in the television drama Brexit: The Uncivil War, written by James Graham.^[19] In 2021, she appeared in the miniseries Landscapers as DC Emma Lancing.^[20][21] In 2022, O'Flynn appeared in Death in Paradise as DI Neville Parker's sister Izzy.

In 2023, she was cast in Everyone Else Burns for Channel 4, playing Fiona, the wife of Simon Bird’s character David.^[22] For this, she won a Royal Television Society North West Award for Best Performance in a Comedy.^[23] O'Flynn also appeared as Jen in Henpocalypse! on BBC Two;^[24] in the same year she played the lead character, Cassie, in the BBC Radio Four psychological drama Spores.^[25] In 2024, O'Flynn played Princess Mary Tudor in My Lady Jane, with The i Paper writing she "almost steals the show".^[26]

Personal life

Jonathan Bailey, who starred alongside O'Flynn in the play The House of Special Purpose (2009),^[27] calls her his "all-time bezzie". The pair also hiked to the Everest base camp in Nepal together in 2018.^[28]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Happy-Go-Lucky	Suzy	Directed by Mike Leigh
2011	Up There	Liz
2012	Mr Turner	Prostitute	Directed by Mike Leigh
2015	Eliana	Eliana	Short film
2016	Bridget Jones's Baby	Alice
2018	Peterloo	Chadderton Woman	O'Flynn's third film directed by Leigh
2019	The Octopus Nest	Becky	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Heartbeat	Laura Hill	Episode: "Pretty Woman"
2007	Trial & Retribution	Jane Donnelly	Episode: "Paradise Lost: Part 1"
2008	The Palace	Ruby Riley	Regular character
2009	Kingdom	Emily Cartwright	Series 3 regular
2011	The Suspicions of Mr Whicher	Elizabeth Gough	Television film: "The Murder at Road Hill House"
2012	Above Suspicion	Jeannie Bale	3 episodes
	Playhouse Presents	Woman	Episode: "The Snipist"
	The Syndicate	Tanya	2 episodes
	Room at the Top	Beryl	2 episodes
2013	New Tricks	Grace Kennedy	Episode: "Wild Justice"
2015	Ordinary Lies	Saskia	Episode: "Rick's Story"
2015–2018	No Offence	Dr Peep	Regular cast
2016	Doctor Thorne	Lady Alexandrina de Courcy	Mini series, regular
2017; 2017	Father Brown	Katherine Corven	2 episodes
2018	Wanderlust	Emily Riley	5 episodes
2019	Brexit: The Uncivil War	Victoria Woodcock	Television film
	Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators	Ava Foyle	Episode: "Nothing Will Come of Nothing"
	Casualty	Lou Briggs	Series 33, episode 33
2021	Close to Me	Rose	3 episodes
	Landscapers	DC Emma Lancing	Main role
2022	Death in Paradise	Izzy Parker	3 episodes
2023–present	Everyone Else Burns	Fiona Lewis	Main role
2023	Henpocalypse!	Jen	Main role
2024	My Lady Jane	Princess Mary	Main role

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2008	The Children's Hour	Mary Tilford	Royal Exchange Manchester
	See How They Run	Ida	Royal Exchange Manchester
2009	A Miracle	Amy Aston	Jerwood Theatre, Royal Court Theatre
	The House of Special Purpose	Anastasia	Minerva Theatre
2010	The Whisky Taster	Nicola	Bush Theatre
2010	Marine Parade	Sally	Brighton Festival, as part of the English Touring Theatre[29]
2011	Theatre Uncut- Open Heart Surgery	Lisa	Southwark Playhouse
	Lungs	W	The Crucible,[30] Shoreditch Town Hall, part of Paines Plough's Roundabout season
	The Sound of Heavy Rain	Foxy O'Hara	The Crucible, Shoreditch Town Hall, part of Paines Plough's Roundabout season
2013	Port	Racheal Keats	Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre
	The Ritual Slaughter of George Mastromas	Louisa	Royal Court[31]
2014	A Taste of Honey	Jo	Lyttelton Theatre, Royal National Theatre[32]
2015	The Trial	Rosa, Cherry, Female Guard, Chastity, Girl, Tiffany	Young Vic
2017	The Glass Menagerie	Laura	Duke of York's Theatre,[33][34] Edinburgh International Festival[35]
	Anatomy of a Suicide	Anna	Royal Court
2018	Precisely, One for the Road, Mountain Language, Ashes to Ashes	Roger, Gila, Young Woman, Rebecca	Harold Pinter Theatre
2019	The End of History	Polly	Royal Court
	Blank	Various	Donmar Wharehouse, Royal Court
2020	All of It	Various	Royal Court, monologue[36]
2021	The Two-Character Play	Clare	Hampstead Theatre[37]
2022	Grey Man	Maya	Young Vic, also digital theatre short[38]
2023	All of It		Jerwood Theatre, Royal Court, one woman show

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Lungs	W	BBC Radio 3 play, adapted from stage
	Absolutely Delish	Charlotte	BBC Radio 4, episode 3: "Flying the Nest"
2015	The Stuarts	Charlotte Stuart	BBC Radio 4 historical drama, episode: "Charlotte Stuart: The Last Stuart"
2016–2020	Dot	Myrtle	BBC Radio 4 sitcom, written by Ed Harris
2016	Blood Sex and Money by Emile Zola	Satin	BBC Radio 4 historical drama based on Émile Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart novels, series 2- Sex
2017	I Confess	Anna	BBC Radio 4 drama
	Long Time Coming	Rachel
2019	Opening Pandora's Box	Writer, Lulu	BBC Radio 4 drama written by Katie Hims[39]
	The Love Test	Kate	BBC Radio 4 comedy drama
	China Towns	Anna	BBC Radio 4 drama based on Arnold Bennett's Five Towns novels[40]
2020	The English Lesson	Lola, student	BBC Radio 4 drama
2023	Spores	Cassie	BBC Radio 4 psychological horror

Video Game

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	The Good Life	Elizabeth Dickins, Rita Barrett, Virginia Yeats	Voice role
2022	Dragon Quest Treasures	Additional voices	English version