Anna Skellern

Anna Skellern (born 27 April 1985)[1] is a United Kingdom-based Australian actress, best known as the first female member of The Chaser's television programme CNNNN.[1]

Anna Skellern
Born	(1985-04-27) 27 April 1985 Sydney, Australia
Alma mater	University of Sydney Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present

Biography

Skellern attended the University of Sydney, where she was a prominent student activist.[2] In the first season of The Chaser's CNNNN, an Australian television show satirising American news channels CNN and Fox News, she played her namesake Anna Skellern, a no-nonsense war correspondent noted for the frequent loss of her cameramen and dubbed 'the perfumed abattoir'.[3] In 2004, CNNNN shared the Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Comedy' with Kath & Kim.

After relocating to London, in July 2007 Skellern graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[4] That same month she made her professional stage debut in the successful West End production The Vegemite Tales, playing the role of Maddie.[5]

Skellern was cast as the new Sapphire in the Big Finish Productions radio show Sapphire and Steel – beginning with "Second Sight".[6]

Skellern was cast in the sequel to Neil Marshall's critically acclaimed horror film The Descent, The Descent Part 2, which was released in late 2009.[7] The script sees a survivor from The Descent forced back into the system of caves she battled her way out of in the first film, in a bid to locate the rest of her group.[8] Skellern played one of the members of the new search team that accompanies the survivor back into the caves.[9]

In 2009, Skellern filmed Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Clocks. She also filmed the new role of restaurant worker, babysitter, and Jake's crush, Kelly, for BBC1's award-winning, partly improvised comedy Outnumbered.

In 2010, Skellern spent time in Africa filming the lead role in the thriller Siren. She also played Jo in the British miniseries, A Passionate Woman.

She played the role of Lexy Price in series 2 of Lip Service broadcast on BBC Three in April 2012. In October 2012 Skellern played Elaine White in series 2 episode 2 of the Sky 1 comedy drama series Spy.

Filmography

Year	Title	Character	Production	Notes
2002–2003	CNNNN	Anna
2009	The Bill	Stephanie Lewis	ITV
2009	The Descent: Part 2	Cath
2009	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Fiona Hanbury	ITV
2010	A Passionate Woman	Jo
2010	Outnumbered	Kelly	BBC
2010	Half Hearted	Svetlana
2010	Siren	Rachel
2011	Camelot	Arwen	Starz
2011	A Night in the Woods	Kerry Hastings
2011	W.E.	Daphne
2011	The Incident	Lynn
2011	Fingers	Carrie
2011	7lives	Felicity
2012	Lip Service	Lexy Price	BBC Three
2012	Parade's End	Bobbie Pelham	BBC Two
2012	Spy	Elaine	Sky1
2012	Gambit	Secretary Fiona
2013	I Give It a Year	Claudia
2013	Jo	Vanessa Serfaty	TF1
2013	Heading Out	Sophie	BBC Two
2013	Plebs	Irina	ITV2	Season 1, Episode 5: "Bananae"
2013	Drifters	Ellie	E4
2014	The Musketeers	Maria Bonnaire		Episode 3: "Commodities"
2014	Blood Moon	Marie
2015	The Interceptor	Kim
2016	Humans	Emma
2018	Origin	Jennifer Moore		Episode: "Bright Star"

Personal life

In 2007, Skellern was at the centre of a public spat between two of her former boyfriends, singer-songwriter Tim Freedman and comedian Chris Taylor. On 7 October 2007, Freedman posted a message on the official website of his band The Whitlams, citing a parody of him that was written by Taylor, and was broadcast on the 3 October 2007 episode of The Chaser's War on Everything.[10] The song was performed by fellow Chaser Andrew Hansen, and the lyrics implied that Freedman was obsessed with the Sydney suburb of Newtown, and that he continually referred to the area of Newtown in his own songs. In his message, Freedman alluded that the lyrics were indeed written by Taylor, and that the parody had been motivated by jealousy over Skellern.[11]

Taylor denied this, and said that the song had nothing to do with Skellern. "He [Freedman] was speculating that the song was written out of some sort of jealous rage or payback which isn't the case at all," he said. "My relationship with Anna didn't end badly... we're still good friends and see each other quite a bit."[12]

References

1. Anna Skellern on IMDb
2. "Big Brother, The Whitlams and The Chaser caught up on one girl" Archived 13 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, LIVENEWS.com.au, 12 November 2007, retrieved 1 December 2007.
3. Program Summary, CNNNN – The Chaser NoNstop News Network at Australian Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 19 June 2008.
4. Anna Skellern Archived 5 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Guildhall School of Music and Drama website, retrieved 4 June 2008.
5. Cast Biographies Archived 22 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Vegemite Tales, 26 June 2007; retrieved 4 June 2008.
6. Sapphire & Steel – Second Sight Archived 13 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 26 May 2008; retrieved 4 June 2008.
7. The Descent 2 at the Internet Movie Database, retrieved 23 January 2011.
8. "Celador exploring 'Descent' sequel", The Hollywood Reporter, 1 May 2008; retrieved 19 June 2008.
9. Alan Jones, "The Darker Depths of THE DESCENT 2" Archived 22 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Fangoria – America's Horror Magazine, 1 May 2008, retrieved 19 June 2008.
10. I Love The Chaser Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Whitlams, 7 October 2007; retrieved 1 December 2007.
11. "Tim Freedman hits back at Chaser", NineMSN, 10 October 2007; retrieved 1 December 2007.
12. "Whitlams' Chaser love twist", News.com.au, 9 October 2007, retrieved 1 December 2007.

External links

• Official website
• Anna Skellern on IMDb