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Queer Trivia
This queer ally is an Irish actor.
She was born on January 9, 1987, in Galway, Ireland, and raised in the nearby town of Oranmore. Her interest in acting sparked at the age of five, inspired by watching her sister perform in a school play. She later earned a degree in English and Classical Civilisation from the National University of Ireland, Galway, before continuing her training in England at both the Oxford School of Drama and the Birmingham School of Acting.
After finishing drama school, she moved to London three times over the course of four years, but each time had to return to her parents' home in Ireland due to financial struggles. During this challenging period, she experienced depression and leaned on her family for support.
While working part-time at an optician in Galway, she came across an open casting call for Jess and Joe Forever at The Old Vic in London. She auditioned and landed the lead role of Jess, making her debut in September 2016 before embarking on a national tour.
In 2018, she began portraying Clare Devlin, one of the lead characters in Derry Girls, a sitcom set in 1990s Derry, Northern Ireland. The show became Channel 4’s most successful comedy since Father Ted and holds the record as the most-watched series in Northern Ireland since modern viewing figures began in 2002. In 2019, it was announced that she had been cast as Penelope Featherington in the Netflix series Bridgerton, which premiered in December 2020.
Following the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010 does not include transgender women, she launched a fundraising campaign in support of the trans charity Not A Phase. The organization supports trans-led initiatives and works to empower the community through social projects and awareness campaigns. Within just 24 hours, the campaign raised £63,000.
She said, "Now's the time to speak up and make your voice heard. Let your trans, non-binary friends and the community at large know that you're there for them and we'll keep fighting for them."
Do you know her name? The answer is at the bottom of the email.
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