In a short article titled, “Up-and-Coming Character Actors to Watch”, published on 5 April 2011, the London Evening Standard rounded up a list of 5 character actors/actresses which they have labelled as “up-and-coming” and “to watch”. For the convenience of Nicola fans, we quote below what the paper had to say about Nicola :
Nicola Walker
Walker, 40, best known for her long-running role as Ruth in the BBC’s Spooks, has a wonderful knack of providing the quiet, beating heart of whatever drama she’s in. Ruth, the still centre of an office of MI5 mayhem, is a case in point, as is her recent turn as lovelorn Rachel in Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings at the National.
The other character actors covered in this article were :
Pip Carter
Bryony Hannah
Anna Maxwell Martin
Russell Tovey
Nicola last shared the stage with Pip Carter in Gethsemane (2008-2009). Nicola recently worked with Russell Tovey in Being Human (episode titled The Longest Day). Although Anna Maxwell Martin has not yet worked with Nicola, she does have a (somewhat tenuous) connection with Nicola in that Anna was recently seen on TV as the female lead in South Riding, a TV mini series in which Peter Firth also had a small but important role. Certain fans have expressed the view that Anna’s role in South Riding should have or could have been done by Nicola. This is no more than these fans’ hope for a perpetuation of the “Ruth and Harry” characters from Spooks, which is not only an unnecessary pigeonholing of Nicola’s enormous talents but also dismissive of the skills of Anna Maxwell Martin, an equally capable actress in her own right.
Anna Maxwell Martin is often mistaken for Nicola. Some fans think that the two of them must be somehow related. They are not. Please see our comments on this subject in this Fun Fact.
We are not sure whether Nicola should be labelled as “up-and-coming”, given that she has had lead roles on TV, comedy (Chalk) and drama (Touching Evil), in the past. But on the grounds that any publicity is good publicity, we still want to thank the London Evening Standard for including Nicola in this list! π
Update : 7 April 2011
We have received a number of requests from fans of the other actors named in this list, so for everyone’s convenience, we will quote below what was said in the article about these other actors :
Pip Carter
Quietly making a name for himself as a recurrent cast member of headline National Theatre productions (Never So Good, David Hare’s Gethsemane), Carter, 26, recently provided the perfect foil to Matt Smith’s flamboyant Christopher Isherwood as a wryly world-weary yet quietly smitten WH Auden in the BBC’s Christopher and His Kind.
Bryony Hannah
Many would contest that it is the diminutive Hannah who is the real star of current stage hit The Children’s House, rather than headline names Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss. Her scheming schoolgirl Mary is another of the compelling children that 27-year-old Hannah has become known for, after notable work at the National in Earthquakes in London and War Horse.
Anna Maxwell Martin
Her angular beauty might not quite fit the Hollywood mould, but Maxwell Martin, 32, has surprised and delighted with her professional choices ever since her BAFTA-winning work in the BBC’s Bleak House (2005). Her turn as a progressive headmistress in the recent television adaptation of South Riding showcased her at her passionate, questing best.
Russell Tovey
The personable Tovey, 29, first garnered public attention and affection as sports-mad Rudge, one of Alan Bennett’s iconic original History Boys, a role he played at the National, on Broadway and on film. Now he’s wooing BBC3 audiences as flat-sharing werewolf George in the popular supernatural drama Being Human.
‘the quiet, beating heart of whatever drama sheβs inβ
I’m with Nia. I thought this a very accurate comment! Up and coming is an interesting description of Nicola but I do have to say that her “acting profile” has increased recently (by which I mean more seem to know of her) so maybe that is what the paper meant?
Oh well. It was a lovely write up and I wish Nicola luck with anything she does in the future always.
‘the quiet, beating heart of whatever drama sheβs in’
– So absolutely true!
As you say, maybe not so ‘up-and-coming’ given her lead roles, but she’s been doing a lot more work (and variety in her work) lately so maybe they’re not too far off the mark there π
Re Nicola and Anna Maxwell-Martin – while I’ve never been of the opinion that Nicola should have been in the role of Sarah (Anna was perfect casting there in my opinion) I did notice some similarities between the two actresses (vague similar physical resemblance as well as in style of acting), and also in one of Sarah’s scenes I could so picture Ruth saying and acting exactly the same!
Even so, both brilliant actresses in their own right π
We saw a sprinkling of comments re NW and AMM on Twitter when South Riding first aired. We’ve also had a number of fans land on the fansite after using the keywords, “Nicola Walker South Riding”!