Jamie-Lee O'Donnell

Jamie-Lee O'Donnell (born 1992)[1] is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is best known for portraying Michelle Mallon in the Channel 4 Northern Irish sitcom, Derry Girls.

Jamie-Lee O'Donnell
Born1992 (age 27–28)
Derry, Northern Ireland
OccupationActress
Known forDerry Girls

Early life and career

O’Donnell was born in Derry, Northern Ireland.[2] O'Donnell comes from a large family[3] and has enjoyed acting since childhood. After graduation, O’Donnell decided to pursue acting[4] despite not being able to afford to attend acting school.[3] From 2011, she began to present herself at various castings, dividing her time between Ireland and England. She subsequently took part in various theatrical performances, and worked as a dancer both for promotional activities and for pantomime performances.[3]

Between 2012 and 2015, she got her first significant role playing Eva Maguire, one of the protagonists of the BBC2 NI series 6Degrees,[5] after the end of which she took part in the film Urban & the Shed Crew, by Candida Brady.

In 2018, she played in a theater production I Told My Mum I Was Going on an RE Trip, by Julia Samuels, playing an underage girl who decides to undergo an abortion. [3]

In 2019 she joined the cast of Girls and Dolls, a play by the Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee.[6] Also in 2019, she acted in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Gaiety Theatre.[7]

Derry Girls

In 2018, she landed the role of Michelle Mallon in Derry Girls, a sitcom by Channel 4 which gained international fame.[8] Of her role as Michelle, she says, "Michelle really thinks she’s maybe just a bit too big for the place she was born in and she’s ready to take on the world one swearword at a time. She’s really feisty, really ballsy, doesn’t really care about authority, just sort of up for anything and up for a laugh."[9]

O’Donnell and her fellow Derry Girls costars participated in the RTÉ fundraising special RTÉ Does Comic Relief, performing a sketch alongside Saoirse Ronan. All proceeds from the night went towards those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

Personal life

O'Donnell lives in Derry with her partner, DJ Paul McCay.[8]

She is a patron of the Liverpool-based youth theatre company 20 Stories High.[5]

Filmography

Cinema
  • Urban & the Shed Crew, directed by Candida Brady (2015)

Television
  • 6Degrees - TV series, 18 episodes (2012-2015)
  • Doing Money, directed by Lynsey Miller - TV film (2018)
  • Derry Girls - TV series, 12 episodes (2018-ongoing)
gollark: *the only interesting code I have is long*
gollark: Can you parse it in sections?
gollark: Ugh, my code is too long.
gollark: <@240517342189191168> Are you still a python interpreter?
gollark: !TSUR !TSUR !TSUR !TSUR !tsuR sdrawkcab referp I'

References
  1. This is what the cast of Derry Girls are like in real life The Tab
  2. "Derry Girls cast in real life: See Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan & Jamie-Lee O'Donnell out of character". HELLO!. 26 March 2019.
  3. "People expect me to be wild. They keep buying me shots! Derry Girls' Jamie-Lee O'Donnell on overnight fame". independent.ie. 26 August 2018.
  4. "Series 3 Cast Interview: Jamie-Lee O'Donnell". YouTube. 29 April 2015.
  5. "Jamie-Lee O'Donnell: pipe dreams and punchlines". Big Issue North. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. "Nick Hern Books - Girls and Dolls By Lisa McGee".
  7. "'Derry Girls' Star Jamie-Lee O'Donnell Signs With Gersh (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  8. Ganatra, Shilpa (4 December 2018). "Derry Girl Jamie-Lee O'Donnell: 'I didn't realise I'd be so intimidated by fame'". The Irish Times.
  9. "Jamie-Lee O'Donnell interview (who plays Michelle) | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  10. "Derry Girls cast fangirl over Ronan in hilarious sketch". 26 June 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.