Vinette Robinson
Vinette Robinson is a British actress, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.[3][4][5] Her TV appearances include roles in Sherlock, Black Mirror, and as civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks in Doctor Who.
Vinette Robinson | |
---|---|
Born | Bradford, West Yorkshire, England |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1998–present |
She spent three years at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was awarded a Laurence Olivier bursary from the Society of London Theatre.[6][7][8] She had a small role as the Jamaican girl in the 2004 film Vera Drake but was given an entire character backstory by the director Mike Leigh.[8]
Her first stage role was in the highly lauded National/Complicite production of Measure for Measure. Following this she was part of the Gunpowder season at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she played the tortured servant May in Rupert Goold's production of Speaking Like Magpies by Frank McGuinness. In 2006 she played Eve in an acclaimed production of Paradise Lost. Commenting on her nude scene, Sheila Tracy of The Stage wrote "one can not imagine the action working in any other way".[9] Her performance in Sugar Mummies that same year led New York to list her as one of "London's hottest young stage actors" in 2007.[10]
Following the conclusion of Sugar Mummies, she appeared in a short feature for Time Out, in which she and five other actors were described as "innovative young theatrical talent".[8]
In 2009, she played Josie Porritt in the BBC television series Hope Springs and appeared as newly qualified English teacher Helen Hopewell in eight episodes of Waterloo Road's fifth series. From December 2009 to January 2010, she starred as the maid Florence in the Hampstead Theatre's Darker Shores. In a Daily Telegraph review that rated the play only two stars, Charles Spencer commended Robinson's performance as having "a warmth and emotional openness".[11] Kate Bassett for the Independent on Sunday also praised her, writing that she "copes admirably".[12] In 2010, she starred as police sergeant Sally Donovan in the BBC series Sherlock, continuing her role in the second and third series that aired in January 2012 and December 2013/January 2014.
In 2011, Robinson appeared in Philip Ridley's Tender Napalm for which she received Best Female at The Offie Awards. She then went on to play Ophelia in The Young Vic's production of Hamlet for which she received the Clarence Derwent Award. Her role as Ophelia led to her being included in The New York Times Magazine article 'Titans of the Stage'.
In 2016, she appeared in Hated in the Nation, an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.
In October 2018, Robinson appeared in Doctor Who as civil rights campaigner, Rosa Parks.[13] It was her second appearance in Doctor Who, following her portrayal of the character Abi Lerner in the 2007 episode 42.[14]
In 2019 Robinson made cinematic history, as one half of a Disney-produced LGBT kiss in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, also a first for the film franchise.[15] In 2019 she played ‘Yvonne’ in ‘Soon Gone’’A Windrush Chronicle’
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Director | Performance history |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Measure for Measure | Juliet | National Theatre | |
2005 | A New Way to Please You | Footman | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
Sejanus: His Fall | High Priestess | |||
Thomas More | Lady Roper | |||
Speaking Like Magpies | May | |||
2006 | Paradise Lost | Eve | Headlong | |
Sugar Mummies | Naomi | Royal Court Theatre | ||
2008 | War & Peace | Hélène/Mlle Bourienne | Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale | National tour, 7 February – 11 May 2008 |
2009 | Darker Shores | Florence Kennedy | Anthony Clarke | Hampstead Theatre, 7 December 2009 – 16 January 2010 |
2011 | Tender Napalm | Unnamed female lead | David Mercatali | Southwark Playhouse |
2011 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Ian Rickson | Young Vic, 28 October 2011 – 21 January 2012[16] |
2018 | Emilia | Emilia 2[17] | Nicole Charles | Shakespeare's Globe |
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | The Cops | Sarah Midgely | 1 episode: Series 1, Episode 6 – Television debut |
1999 | Children's Ward | Joy | 1 episode: Series 11, Episode 11 |
Cold Feet | Female Shop Assistant | 1 episode: Series 2, Episode 2 | |
2000 | This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper | Rita Rytka | |
Fat Friends | Young Shop Assistant | 1 episode: "Face the Fat" | |
Doctors | Cath Bickerstaff | 2 episodes: "In Deep" and "In Too Deep" | |
2003 | Between the Sheets | Tracy Ellis | |
2004 | Murphy's Law | Aimie | 1 episode: "Jack's Back" |
Blue Murder | Andrea | 1 episode: "Hit and Run" | |
Vera Drake | Jamaican Girl | Debut film role | |
Doctors | Melanie | 1 episode: "Daddy's Girl" | |
2005 | Casualty | Kirsty Evans | 1 episode: "Truth Will Out" |
Imagine Me & You | Zine | ||
2007 | Party Animals | Kerry | 2 episodes: Episode 1 and Episode 4 |
Hustle | Tina | 1 episode: "A Designer's Paradise" | |
Doctor Who | Abi Lerner | 1 episode: "42" | |
Doctors | Katie Waters | 1 episode: "Hero" | |
2008 | The Passion | Mina | |
2009 | Hope Springs | Josie Porritt | |
Waterloo Road | Helen Hopewell | 8 episodes: Series 5 Episodes 1-8 | |
2010 | Powder | Hannah | Feature film |
2010–14 | Sherlock | Sgt. Sally Donovan | 4 Episodes: "A Study in Pink", "The Great Game", "The Reichenbach Fall" and "The Sign of Three" |
2012 | Beginning | Claire | Short film |
2013 | Vera | Corrine Franks | Series 3, Episode 1 "Castles in the Air" |
2014 | Death in Paradise | Lauren Campese | Series 3, Episode 3 "An Artistic Murder" |
The Red Tent | Bilhah | 2 episodes | |
2016 | The A Word | Nicola Daniels | |
Black Mirror | Liza Bahar | Episode: "Hated in the Nation" | |
Morgan | Dr. Brenda Finch | ||
2016–2017 | Delicious | Rosa | 3 episodes |
2018 | Doctor Who | Rosa Parks | 1 episode: "Rosa" |
2019 [18] | Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle | Yvonne [19] | 1 episode: "Yvonne 1981" |
2019 | Frankie | Sylvia | |
2019 | A Christmas Carol | Mary Cratchit | Miniseries |
2019 | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Pilot Tyce |
Video games
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2014 | Dragon Age: Inquisition | Sister Tanner (voice) |
References
- England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
- "Robinson, Vinette 1981-". WorldCat. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
- "WISE WORDS: 'The A Word' Star On The Lesson Of Rejection, And 'That Magical Moment'". Huffington Post (HuffPost: UK Edition). Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- "Pair are class act in TV 'Road' show". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- "A Christmas Carol's Vinette Robinson is the rising star yet to come". Evening Standard. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- Clark, Nick (25 October 2017). "Vinette Robinson: 'Playing Ophelia had an impact on me I can't fully explain' | Interviews". The Stage. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- Staff (28 July 2002). "Lawrence (sic) Olivier bursaries". The British Theatre Guide. Retrieved on 19 November 2007.
- Staff (26 September 2006). "Theatre's bright young things". Time Out London. Retrieved on 19 November 2007
- Tracy, Sheila (15 May 2006). "Reviews: Paradise Lost". The Stage.
- Staff (26 March 2007). "A Guide to London's Hottest Young Stage Actors". New York (New York Media).
- Spencer, Charles (9 December 2009). "Darker Shores at the Hampstead Theatre, review". the Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group).
- Bassett, Kate (12 December 2009). "The colour of blood, the colour of money". The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
- "Doctor Who – Series 11 - Episode 3 Rosa". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- "This week's big Doctor Who guest star has actually been in the series before". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- Mohan, Monita (December 2019). "The best and worst of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker". FanSided.
- Shenton, Mark (10 November 2011). "Hamlet". The Stage. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- Desk, BWW News. "Shakespeare's Globe Announces Full Casting For Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's New Play EMILIA". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- "Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, BBC4". Broadcast. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- "BBC - Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2020.