Karina Fernandez
Encyclopedia
Karina Fernandez is a British actress of Spanish descent. She is best known for her performances in two of Mike Leigh
's films - Another Year and Happy-Go-Lucky
.
and Woody Allen's Murder Mysteries. Her Shakespearean
work includes Hamlet
(as Ophelia
), Romeo and Juliet
(as Juliet
) and Macbeth
(as Lady Macduff
).
, My Family, The Forsythe Saga and Married Single Other
.
, directed by Mike Leigh
, where she played a flamenco
teacher with emotional problems from Seville
. She gained praise as one of the Top 10 Best Performances of 2008 That You May Not Have Heard About.
She followed this up with a larger role in Another Year, also directed by Leigh. She has talked about her experiences working with Leigh in a Guardian
video.
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...
's films - Another Year and 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...
.
Theatre
Fernandez began her regular theatre work in 1997, and has since performed in several plays including Shopping and FuckingShopping and Fucking
Shopping and Fucking is a 1996 play by English playwright Mark Ravenhill. It was Ravenhill's first full-length play. It received its first public reading at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995...
and Woody Allen's Murder Mysteries. Her Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
work includes Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(as Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...
), Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(as Juliet
Juliet
Juliet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo. She is the daughter of old Capulet, head of the house of Capulet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself....
) and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(as Lady Macduff
Lady Macduff
Lady Macduff, a character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is the wife of Macduff, the Thane of Fife, and the mother of an unnamed son and other children. Her appearance in the play is brief: she and her son are introduced in Act IV Scene II, a climactic and tragic scene that ends with both her and her...
).
Television
She has appeared regularly on British television, including appearances in Twenty TwelveTwenty Twelve (TV series)
Twenty Twelve is a BBC comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location documentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London...
, My Family, The Forsythe Saga and Married Single Other
Married Single Other
Married Single Other is a British television drama created and written by Peter Souter. The series is based on the lives of group of people who are either married, single or "other", other being defined as in a relationship. It began airing on Monday 22 February 2010 at on ITV1 and UTV...
.
Film
Her first major film was the multiple award-winning Happy-Go-LuckyHappy-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...
, directed by 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...
, where she played a flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
teacher with emotional problems from Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. She gained praise as one of the Top 10 Best Performances of 2008 That You May Not Have Heard About.
She followed this up with a larger role in Another Year, also directed by Leigh. She has talked about her experiences working with Leigh in a Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
video.