Jenna Coleman

Michael* · March 21, 2012

Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986) is an English actress, known for appearing in the British soap opera Emmerdale.

Background and personal life

Coleman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire. She attended Arnold School in Blackpool where she was Head Girl and gained straight A's in her A-levels. Whilst discussing her role on Emmerdale, Coleman states that part of her regretted not having a conventional university experience stating "part of me feels sorry I'm missing that but I'm living the life I want." Whilst filming Emmerdale she initially shared a flat with actress Julia Mallam, who played Dawn Woods.

While at school Coleman was a member of a theatre company, 'In Yer Space' with whom she performed at the Edinburgh Festival in the play Crystal Clear. She won an award for her performance, whilst the play was also received favourably.

Career

Whilst auditioning for drama schools, Coleman landed the part of Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale in 2005. In 2007 Coleman was nominated for two awards. At the British Soap Awards she was nominated as "Best Newcomer", and at the National Television Awards she was nominated as "Most Popular Newcomer". In the 2009 British Soap Awards she was nominated in the "Best Actress","Sexiest Female" and "Best Dramatic Performance" categories alongside a "best actress" nomination from TV Choice.

In early 2006, Coleman left the United Kingdom for a brief period in order to appear in US politico-legal drama Boston Legal. However, when the cancellation of the show was subsequently announced, Coleman returned to her roles in the United Kingdom.

In May 2009 it was announced that Coleman would be joining BBC drama Waterloo Road, as new "hard girl", Lindsay James. As she was 23 at the time of her casting, Coleman found the experience of playing a schoolgirl again "surreal".

In December 2010, it was announced that Coleman would be appearing in a new BBC Four television adaptation of the John Braine novel, Room at the Top playing the the role of Susan Brown.

In 2011, she made her big screen debut in Captain America: The First Avenger and then landed the part of 'Annie Desmond' in Julian Fellowes four part mini-series Titanic. Coleman described the character of Annie as a "cheeky cockney" and the "Eliza Doolittle" of the ship. She did the voice acting for the character Melia in the 2011 video game, Xenoblade Chronicles. She is currently working on Stephen Poliakoff's 'Dancing on the Edge'.

On 21 March 2012, Doctor Who producer Steven Moffat confirmed at a press conference that Coleman would replace Karen Gillan as the Doctor's companion alongside Matt Smith, from series 7 (Autumn 2012/Spring 2013) onwards.

Michael* · March 21, 2012

As of now, I'm pretty much undecided on Jenna as the Doctor's companion, and will reserve judgement until the new season starts. But she's bound to receive more attention in the coming months and thus, I figured a thread wouldn't go amiss. :hehe: