Rebecca Night

Last updated

Rebecca Night
Born
Rebecca Hardwick

(1985-07-13) 13 July 1985 (age 39)
Poole, Dorset, England
Alma mater Rose Bruford College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • voice actress
  • producer
  • writer
Years active2005–present
Spouse
(m. 2010)
Children3

Rebecca Night (born Rebecca Hardwick; 13 July 1985) [1] is an English actress who starred in the title role of James Hawes's BBC Four adaptation Fanny Hill . [2] Night and Stockard Channing co-starred as Jessie and Thelma in Marsha Norman's Pulitzer-Prize-winning play 'night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre. On her performance, described by lead theatre critic Mark Shenton: "Night is like a young Julia Roberts... with natural stage chops... It turns out to be a riveting, revealing evening."

Contents

Early life and education

Rebecca Night was born in Poole, Dorset. [3] She attended Yarrells Preparatory School in Upton, Dorset where she took part in the annual musical productions, and later Parkstone Grammar School in Poole as well as Brownsea Open Air Theatre. Night is a former member of the National Youth Theatre, where she appeared as Hero in Much Ado About Nothing and in Master & Margarita at the Lyric Hammersmith. She later trained at Rose Bruford College.

Career

Night came to prominence playing the title role in Andrew Davies' BBC production of Fanny Hill. Nancy Banks-Smith in The Guardian wrote, "Her freshness disinfects her story. It is a delightful debut." [4]

She has since played a wide range of roles including Catherine Linton in ITV's Wuthering Heights , alongside Tom Hardy, Sarah Jones in the Mike Figgis film Suspension of Disbelief and Yvonne Moncin in Maigret , with Rowan Atkinson.

Theatre roles include Jessie in Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning 'night, Mother alongside Stockard Channing as Thelma at the Hampstead Theatre, Queen Elizabeth in Oscar-winner David Seidler’s North American premiere of The King's Speech , Cecily Cardew in Peter Gill's The Importance of Being Earnest in London's West End and Rose of Sharon in Chichester Festival Theatre's Grapes of Wrath . She also created the role of Jack Cardiff’s carer Lucy alongside Tony-winner Robert Lindsay in Terry Johnson's Prism . Within the play, she transforms into both "a lustrous" (The Independent) Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall.

Personal life

She is married to fellow actor Harry Hadden-Paton, whom she met while performing The Importance of Being Earnest . They have been married since 2010 and have three children together.

Filmography

Television series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007 Fanny Hill Fanny HillDirected by James Hawes
2009 Lark Rise to Candleford Nan Carter4 episodes
Wuthering Heights Catherine Linton TV Mini Series
2010 Law & Order: UK Leila MertonEpisode: Shaken
This SeptemberLaura AirdEpisode: Family Secret
2011This September Season 2Laura AirdEpisode: The Reunion
2012 Starlings Season 1 Bell [5]
2013 Starlings Season 2 Bell8 episodes
2016 Agatha Raisin Deborah Camdenwith Ashley Jensen
Maigret Yvonne MoncinEpisode: Maigret Sets a Trap
2022 The Sandman EsmeEpisode: The Sound of Her Wings
Doctor Who Unbound RomanaEpisode: The Difference Office
Midsomer Murders Chrissie LarktonEpisode: A Grain of Truth

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006TailClaraShort
2007WednesdayNurseShort
RebeccaRebeccaShort
2008FramedAilish
Caught in a TrapBecci
2009 The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Danuta
Modern Life Is RubbishNatalieShort
2011DualBethanyShort
2012 Suspension of Disbelief Sarah Jones Academy Award nominee
2013LeopardThe GirlDirected by Eoin Macken
2014Between PlacesSueShort
2015Dartmoor KillingSusan
2024LegacyProducerShort

Podcast series

List of voice performances in podcast
YearTitleRole(s)Notes
2014Doctor Who: The Monthly AdventuresHeleneEpsiode: Masquerade
2016Doctor Who: Doom CoalitionMatilda GregsonEpisode: Bleachhead
2023 Gaslight Bella ManninghamVoice

Video games

List of voice performances in video games
YearTitleRoleNotes
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition Sister Antoinette / Griffon Wing Keep Merchant / Chantry Sister / Winterwatch Tower Cultist / Inquisition ScoutXbox 360
2017 Mass Effect: Andromeda Keri T'VessaPlayStation 4 [6]

Stage

TV adverts

Audio drama and podcasts

Related Research Articles

<i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> Play (farcical comedy) by Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893) and An Ideal Husband (1895). First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy depicting the tangled affairs of two young men about town who lead double lives to evade unwanted social obligations, both assuming the name Ernest while wooing the two young women of their affections.

'night, Mother is a play by American playwright Marsha Norman. The play won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockard Channing</span> American actress (born 1944)

Stockard Channing is an American actress. She played Betty Rizzo in the film Grease (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing (1999–2006). She also originated the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation; the 1993 film version earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Rachael Atlanta Stirling is an English stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage work. She played Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, and Millie in the ITV series The Bletchley Circle. She has also guest starred in Lewis and one episode of Doctor Who, co-starring with her mother Diana Rigg.

Elizabeth Garvie is an English actress known for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1980 BBC dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice. Her other screen roles include Nancy Rufford in The Good Soldier (1981), Lady Elizabeth Montford in The House of Eliott (1992), Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in Diana: Her True Story (1993), and Diana Rivers in Jane Eyre (1997). She has guest starred on the television series Alas Smith and Jones, Midsomer Murders, and Miss Marple.

<i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> (2002 film) 2002 film by Oliver Parker

The Importance of Being Earnest is a 2002 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Oliver Parker, based on Oscar Wilde's classic 1895 comedy of manners of the same name. A British-American co-production, the film stars Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, and Judi Dench in lead roles, with Tom Wilkinson and Frances O'Connor in supporting roles. The original music score is composed by Charlie Mole.

<i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Anthony Asquith

The Importance of Being Earnest is a 1952 British comedy drama film adaptation of the 1895 play by Oscar Wilde. It was directed by Anthony Asquith, who also adapted the screenplay, and was produced by Anthony Asquith, Teddy Baird, and Earl St. John.

<i>night, Mother</i> (film) 1986 American drama film directed by Tom Moore

'night, Mother is a 1986 American drama film starring Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft. It was directed by Tom Moore and written by Marsha Norman, based on Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. The film was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. Tom Moore had also directed the play on Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Brown (English actress)</span> English actress (born 1946)

Susan Elizabeth Brown is an English actress of stage and screen. She had roles in the film The Iron Lady (2011) and the first season of the television series Game of Thrones (2011).

Natalie Ogle is an English actress.

Celia Bannerman is an English actress and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Hilary</span> British actress (1942–2008)

Jennifer Mary Hilary was a British actress of stage, film and television. Her first acclaimed stage performance was as "Milly" in Henry James' The Wings of the Dove, which marked her debut in the West End.

Fiona Button is an English actress. She is best known for playing Rose Defoe in The Split.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Millard</span> English Shakespearean actress, actor-manager and "stage beauty"

Evelyn Mary Millard was an English Shakespearean actress, actor-manager and "stage beauty" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries perhaps best known for creating the role of Cecily Cardew in the 1895 premiere of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Flora Spencer-Longhurst is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the CBBC series Leonardo (2011), and the FX series The Bastard Executioner (2015).

Aline Waites is an English actress, director, producer, reviewer and writer.

Charlotte Jane Parry is a British actress.

<i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i> (opera) Opera by Gerald Barry based on the play by Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest is a three-act opera by Gerald Barry based on the 1895 play of the same name by Oscar Wilde. The opera was given concert performances in Los Angeles in 2011 and in London and Birmingham in 2012, and received its first fully staged performances in 2013 at the Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy. Its first British staged performance took place at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Covent Garden, in 2013.

Jenny Rainsford is an English actress.

Phoebe Campbell is an English actor known for playing Rhaena Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon. Campbell's previous work includes a role on the British TV show Midsomer Murders and the role of Cecily Cardew in a 2022 production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

References

  1. "Rebecca Night". BTVGuide. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  2. BBC Four gets turned on to Andrew Davies' steamy adaptation of Fanny Hill, BBC (13 July 2007)
  3. "Rebecca Night". Playbill.
  4. 1 2 Power, Chris (13 January 2008). "Rising star: Rebecca Night, actor". The Observer. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 via The Guardian.
  5. "Starlings - Rebecca Night interview (exclusive) - Your London Reviews". IndieLondon. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017.
  6. "Rebecca Night". Behind The Voice Actors.
  7. "Media Centre: Gaslight". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2023.