Early life

Riseborough grew up in Whitley Bay

Whitley Bay

Whitley Bay is a town in North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the North Sea coast and has a fine stretch of golden sandy beach forming a bay stretching from St. Mary's Island in the north to Cullercoats in the south...

. In reference to The Long Walk To Finchley, she has described her parents as "working-class Thatcherites

Thatcherism

Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...

".

At an early age, she appeared at the People's Theatre

The People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne

The People's Theatre is a theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.The People's Theatre originated from the Newcastle branch of the former British Socialist Party, who started to stage dramatic productions in 1911 in order to raise money to fund their political activities. One of the theatre's key...

, Newcastle upon Tyne, where she appeared in the play Riding England Sidesaddle by Christopher Goulding, playing Celia Fiennes

Celia Fiennes

Celia Fiennes was an English traveller. Born in Wiltshire, she was the daughter of an English Civil War Parliamentarian Colonel, who was in turn the second son of the William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. Celia Fiennes died in Hackney in 1741.-Pioneering Female Traveller:Fiennes never married...

. Riseborough spent her schooldays at the independent school

Independent school

An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

, Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School on Tankerville Terrace in Jesmond

Jesmond

Jesmond is a residential suburb and is split into two electoral wards just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The population is about 12,000. It is adjacent to, and to the east of, the Town Moor, providing pedestrian and cycle paths to Spital Tongues and the city's two Universities...

. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...

 in 2005.

Her sister Laura studies acting at the East 15 Acting School

East 15 Acting School

East 15 is a British drama school in Debden, Loughton, Essex. At the main campus, Loughton, it occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn...

.

Career

In 2010, she appeared in the films Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham

Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike and Jaime Winstone. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women...

and Mark Romanek

Mark Romanek

Mark Romanek is an American filmmaker, whose directing work includes feature films, music videos and commercials.He wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2002 film One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams...

's adaptation of Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go (2010 film)

Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian drama film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. Never Let Me Go is set in an alternate history and centers on Kathy, Ruth and Tommy who are portrayed by Carey...

.

Riseborough starred in the US premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell's award-winning The Pride at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

Lucille Lortel Theatre

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village.The venue was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse...

 in January 2010. The production was directed by Joe Mantello

Joe Mantello

Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America...

 and co-starred Hugh Dancy

Hugh Dancy

- Early life and career :Dancy was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of British philosopher Jonathan Dancy, a professor at the University of Reading and at the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Sarah, is a publisher. His brother, Jack, is a co-director of the travel company, Trufflepig...

 and Ben Whishaw

Ben Whishaw

Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in...

.

She appears in Rowan Joffe

Rowan Joffé

Rowan Marc Joffé is a British screenwriter and director. He is the son of director Roland Joffé and actress Jane Lapotaire, and half-brother of actress Nathalie Lunghi....

's new film adaptation of Brighton Rock and will also reteam with The Devil's Whore scribe Peter Flannery

Peter Flannery

Peter Flannery is a British playwright and screenwriter. He was educated at Bath Spa University and is best known for his work while a resident playwright at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

 in his screenplay based on the life of James Miranda Barry.

She writes with her creative partner, the actor Tom Burke

Tom Burke (actor)

Tom Liam Benedict Burke is an English actor.-Early life:Born on 30 June 1981; Kent, England), he is the son of actor David Burke and actress Anna Calder-Marshall...

, and with Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...

.

In July 2010, Riseborough began the shooting of W.E., directed by Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

. She will play the role of Wallis Simpson alongside James D'Arcy

James D'Arcy

-Early life:James D'Arcy was born as Simon D'Arcy and grew up in Fulham, London, with his mother, Caroline and his younger sister Charlotte. His father died when he was young. After completing his education at Christ's Hospital in 1991, he went to Australia for a year and worked in the drama...

, Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac

-Personal life:Isaac was born in Guatemala to a Guatemalan mother, Maria Estrada Nicolle, and a Cuban pulmonologist father, Oscar Gonzalo Hernandez. He was raised in Miami, Florida. While in Miami, he played lead guitar and sang vocals for his band "The Blinking Underdogs"...

 and Abbie Cornish

Abbie Cornish

Abbie Cornish is an Australian actress. She is well known in Australia for a number of film and television roles, particularly her award-winning lead performance in 2004's Somersault, and internationally for her role as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star and her appearance as Sweet Pea in Sucker Punch.-...

.

She will star alongside Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...

 and Iwan Rheon in Resistance

Resistance (2011 film)

Resistance is a 2011 Welsh film based on the novel of the same name by Owen Sheers. It is scheduled to have a UK release on 25 November 2011 .-Cast:*Andrea Riseborough - Sarah*Michael Sheen - Tommy Atkins*Kimberley Nixon - Bethan*Iwan Rheon - George...

, an adaptation of an Owen Sheers

Owen Sheers

Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author, playwright, actor and TV presenter.-Biography:Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974 and brought up in Abergavenny, South Wales...

 novel. The film is due for UK release on 25 November 2011.

Accolades

In 2009 she was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award

British Academy Television Awards

The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...

 for playing the title character in Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley

The Long Walk to Finchley

Margaret Thatcher - The Long Walk to Finchley, subtitled in the initial credits How Maggie Might Have Done It, is a 2008 BBC Four television drama based on the early political career of the young Margaret Thatcher , from her attempts to gain a seat in Dartford in 1949 via invasion to her first...

. In 2007 she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performances as Isabella in Measure For Measure

Measure for Measure

Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...

and as the title character in Miss Julie

Miss Julie

Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...

.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Format
2001	A Cat In The Road		The Customs House, South Shields The Customs House, South Shields The Customs House is an arts venue in South Shields, South Tyneside, North East England. It is the only non-amateur theatre in the borough, the local arts development agency, the largest gallery and, until recently, the only cinema.- History :...
2005	A Brief History of Helen of Troy	Charlotte	UK tour
	A Very Social Secretary	Amanda	TV movie
	Whatever Love Means	Anna Wallace
	Doc Martin Doc Martin Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...	Samantha	1 episode
2006	Burn	Linda	National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
	Chatroom	Emily
	Citizenship	Chantel/ Tarot reader's daughter
	Measure For Measure Measure for Measure Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...	Isabella	Theatre Royal, Bath Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....
	Miss Julie Miss Julie Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...	Miss Julie
	Venus Venus (film) Venus is a 2006 British comedy-drama film starring Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave and Jodie Whittaker. It is directed by Roger Michell and written by Hanif Kureishi....	Actress	feature film Feature film In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
	The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton	Myra	TV movie
2007	Party Animals Party Animals (TV series) Party Animals is a British television drama series screened on BBC Two in 2007. It was produced by World Productions, the makers of No Angels and This Life....	Kirsty	TV series
	Magicians Magicians (film) Magicians is a 2007 British comedy film released on 18 May 2007. It stars comic duo Robert Webb and David Mitchell as stage magicians Karl and Harry respectively. The two magicians compete together in a magic competition, despite their personal differences...	Dani	feature film
	The Pain and the Itch	Kalina	Royal Court Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
	Blood Wedding Blood Wedding Blood Wedding may refer to:* The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, also known as the Paris blood wedding* Blood Wedding , a 1933 play by the Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca* The Ruse blood wedding, a 1910 massacre in Rousse, Bulgaria...	Leonardo's wife/ Girl	BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation... / audiobook
2008	Love You More Love You More (film) Love You More is a short drama directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, written by Patrick Marber and produced by Anthony Minghella, which was screened in Main Competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film includes two songs by Buzzcocks and features a cameo appearance by the band's...	Georgia	short film Short subject A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
	Happy-Go-Lucky Happy-Go-Lucky Happy-Go-Lucky is a 2008 British Comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The screenplay focuses on a cheerful and optimistic primary-school teacher and her relationships with those around her...	Dawn	feature film
	Being Human Being Human (TV series) Being Human is a British supernatural drama television series. It was created and written by Toby Whithouse and is currently broadcast on BBC Three. The show blends elements of flatshare comedy and horror drama...	Annie	TV pilot
	A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians	Dzina	Soho Theatre Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
	Ivanov Ivanov Ivanov may refer to one of the following:*Ivanov , list of real people with this last nameFictional characters*D. D. Ivanov, a fictional character in the Macross universe...	Sasha	Wyndhams Theatre
	The Devil's Whore The Devil's Whore The Devil's Whore is a four-part television series set during the English Civil War, produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4 in 2008. It centres on the adventures of the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and the historical Leveller soldier Edward Sexby...	Angelica	miniseries Miniseries A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
2009	O.P.C. (Obsessive Political Correctness)		Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club (rehearsed reading)
	Mad Sad & Bad	Julia	feature film
2010	The Pride	Sylvia	MCC Theater MCC Theater MCC Theater is an Off-Broadway theater company located in New York City, founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey along with six graduates of the New York University drama department, including Jana Herzen...
	Made in Dagenham Made in Dagenham Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike and Jaime Winstone. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women...	Brenda	Feature film
	Never Let Me Go Never Let Me Go (2010 film) Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian drama film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. Never Let Me Go is set in an alternate history and centers on Kathy, Ruth and Tommy who are portrayed by Carey...	Chrissie	Feature film
2011	Brighton Rock	Rose	Feature film
2011	W.E. W.E. (film) W.E. is an upcoming romantic drama film co-written and directed by Madonna, starring Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough. It began filming on location in London, England, on July 5, 2010, and also shot in France and the United States...	Wallis Simpson	Feature Film
2012	Welcome to the Punch Welcome to the Punch Welcome to the Punch is a British thriller in post-production and scheduled for 2012 release. Written by Eran Creevy, the script had been placed on the 2010 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. With seven votes, the film was honored with third...	Sarah Hawks	post-production

External links

• Andrea Riseborough at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
  Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
  The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
  
  
• Northern Echo article June 2008
• Times article June 2008