Jessica Regan

Jessica Regan
Born	(1982-02-24) 24 February 1982 (age 42) Kilkenny, Ireland
Education	University College Cork Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present
Television	Doctors

Jessica Regan (born 24 February 1982) is an Irish actress, known for portraying the role of Niamh Donoghue in the BBC soap opera Doctors. For her portrayal of the role, she won the award for Best Female Acting Performance at the 2014 RTS Midlands Awards, as well as the award for Best Newcomer at the 2015 British Soap Awards. Following her departure from Doctors, she starred in the BBC series Ill Behaviour. Regan also has numerous stage credits, having starred in productions including Blood and Gifts and Long Day's Journey into Night.

Life and career

Regan was born on 24 February 1982[1] in Kilkenny, and grew up in County Tipperary. She attended University College Cork (UCC), since the majority of her family live in Cork.[2] At UCC, she studied English and History.[3] In 2004, at the age of 22, Regan made her stage debut as Charlotte in a one-woman production of The Yellow Wallpaper. She described the show as the "catalyst" for her motivation to begin acting professionally, stating: "I wasn't sure if I had the ability or the stomach for acting and The Yellow Wallpaper helped me to figure that out".[4] Afterwards, she told her parents that she wanted to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, to which she stated that they were "not surprised".[4] She then borrowed the money for the train fare to Dublin from her parents in order to audition for a place at RADA, to which she was accepted.[2]

Regan made her television debut in the Channel 4 television film Ladies and Gentlemen in 2007, after graduating from RADA.[5] In 2007, she made a guest appearance in an episode of the BBC daytime soap opera Doctors.[6] Then in 2008, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Laura.[4] In 2013, she appeared in another episode of Doctors.[7] The following year, she was cast as a regular character in the soap, Dr. Niamh Donoghue.[8] On the casting process, Regan expressed her shock at the casting call, since they wanted an Irish actress aged 30 to 33, which she found to be rare in her experience, especially with the role being regular.[2] For her portrayal of the role, she won the award for the Best Female Acting Performance at the 2014 RTS Midlands Awards,[9] as well as the award for Best Newcomer at the 2015 British Soap Awards.[10] Her other nominations include the British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best On-Screen Partnership, alongside co-star Ian Midlane.[11] In 2016, after two years on the soap, Regan announced her departure from the role. She confirmed that the decision was her own, and her character departed from the series in April 2016 after being fired from her job.[12] In 2017, she starred in the BBC comedy-drama series Ill Behaviour,[13][14] and appeared in an episode of the BBC drama Casualty the following year.[15]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2004–2005	The Yellow Wallpaper	Charlotte	Mall Arts Centre	[4]
2009	The Flags	Ursula	Royal Court	[16]
2010	Blood and Gifts	Cal Foster	National Theatre	[17]
2011	The Cherry Orchard	Ensemble	National Theatre	[18]
2012	The Kitchen	Cynthia	National Theatre	[5]
2012	Stars in the Morning Sky	Anna	Belgrade Theatre	[19]
2012	Coalition	Claudia Hood	Pleasance	[5]
2013	Liolà	Tuzza Azzara	National Theatre	[20]
2016	Henry V	Montjoy	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre	[21]
2017	Long Day's Journey into Night	Cathleen	Wyndham's Theatre	[22]
2019	The Sweet Science of Bruising	Matilda Blackwell	Southwark Playhouse	[23]
2020	The Year of the Monkey	Various	Chelsea Physic Garden	[24]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Ladies and Gentlemen	Susanna	Television film
2007	Doctors	Lisa Geary	Episode: "Post Mortem"
2008	Peep Show	Actress in Play	Episode: "Burgling"
2008	EastEnders	Laura	1 episode
2009	The Wrong Door	Various	3 episodes
2009	No Signal!		3 episodes
2010	Silent Witness	PC Justine Gould	2 episodes
2012	Execution	Molly Childers
2013	Doctors	Philomena Caffrey	Episode: "Child Proof"
2014–2016	Doctors	Niamh Donoghue	Series regular
2014	This Morning	Herself	Guest
2017	Call the Midwife	Nurse Leonard	1 episode
2017	Halloween Comedy Shorts	Caroline	Episode: "It Should Have Been Me"
2017	Nowhere Fast	Yvonne	Main role
2017	Ill Behaviour	Tess	Main role
2018	Celebrity Mastermind	Herself	Contestant
2018	Casualty	Maxine O'Boyle	1 episode
2020	Ma'am	Queen Victoria	Short film

Audio

Year	Title	Role	Platform
2010	The Cider Queens	Martina Beausang	RTÉ Radio 1
2011	A Time to Dance	Jill Gladstone	BBC Radio 4
2013	Soul Sacrifice	Various	Video game
2016	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine	Sarah Godley	Video game
2017	Nioh	Saoirse	Video game
2017	The Guilty Feminist	Herself	Podcast
2020	Assassin's Creed Valhalla	Various	Video game
2023	No One Saw A Thing	Various	Audio Book

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2014	RTS Midlands Awards	Best Acting Performance – Female	Doctors	Won	[9]
2015	The British Soap Awards	Best Actress	Doctors	Longlisted	[25]
2015	The British Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	Doctors	Won	[26]
2015	The British Soap Awards	Best On-Screen Partnership (with Ian Midlane)	Doctors	Nominated	[26]
2015	Inside Soap Awards	Best Daytime Star	Doctors	Longlisted	[27]

References

1. @itsjessregan (24 February 2019). "Hey Oscars... it's my birthday.... missing my @bestpickpod boys but we'll check in later, won't we fellas! Big love... first time in six years we're not griping under a blanket at 4am London time." (Tweet). Retrieved 10 February 2021 – via Twitter.
2. "Irish actress Jessica Regan up for awards for role in Doctors". Irish Examiner. 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
3. "Irish actress Jessica Regan up for awards for role in Doctors". Irish Post. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
4. "UCC graduate Jessica Regan excited by starring role in BBC dark comedy Ill Behaviour". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
5. "Jessica Regan". United Agents. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
6. "Post Mortem". Doctors. 30 November 2007. BBC. BBC One. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
7. "Child Proof". Doctors. 19 September 2013. BBC. BBC One. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
8. "Doctors star Jessica Regan scoops Best Newcomer at the British Soap Awards 2015". Birmingham News. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
9. RTS Midlands [@rts_mids] (30 October 2014). "#RTSAwards2014 Best acting performance female - Jessica Regan DOCTORS" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "Doctors stars react to British Soap Awards win: 'We were ecstatic'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
11. "British Soap Awards 2015 voting opens, longlist nominees revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
12. "Doctors star Jessica Regan confirms she's leaving for good: 'It was my choice'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
13. "Former Doctors star Jessica Regan says there's plenty of fun in new comedy Ill Behaviour". Sunday Post. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
14. "Jessica Regan Discusses New Series Ill Behaviour". Female First. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
15. "Doctors - what time is it on TV? Episode 48 Series 16 cast list". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
16. "Comedy The Flags Ready for Liverpool Success". WhatsOnStage. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
17. "Review: Blood and Gifts, National Theatre". There Ought To Be Clowns. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
18. "Zoё Wanamaker and Conleth Hill Star in The Cherry Orchard at National Theatre". Playbill. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
19. "Meet the cast of our new production, Stars in the Morning Sky". Belgrade.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2021.^[permanent dead link‍]
20. "Theatre review: Liolà at Lyttleton Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
21. "Henry V, Regent's Park Theatre, review: 'Female king embroiled in France England clash'". Islington Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
22. "Cast confirmed for Long Day's Journey Into Night at Wyndham's Theatre". West End Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
23. "The Sweet Science of Bruising – Southwark Playhouse". London Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
24. "Chelsea Physic Garden Presents THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
25. "British Soap Awards 2015 voting opens, longlist nominees revealed". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
26. "Who won at British Soap Awards 2015? See the winners list in full". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
27. "EastEnders and Emmerdale lead 'final four' shortlists for the Inside Soap Awards 2015". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.

External links

• Jessica Regan at IMDb