Kate O'Flynn (born 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her performance inNational Theatre's production ofPort for which she received aCritics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in playsA Taste of Honey in 2014, andThe Glass Menagerie for which she was nominated for aLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2017.^[1][2]

O'Flynn currently stars inEveryone Else Burns (2023–present) and has had recurring roles inLandscapers (2021) andMy Lady Jane (2024) as well as appearing in the filmsHappy-Go-Lucky (2008) andBridget Jones's Baby (2018).

O'Flynn attended Manchester'sRoyal Exchange youth theatre as a teenager,^[3] before training at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).^[4]

O'Flynn's first professional role was inMike Leigh's 2008 filmHappy-Go-Lucky.^[3] Later that year, her performance inThe Children's Hour with the Royal Exchange Theatre Company won her the 2008TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Play,^[5] withthe Guardian writing "the one to watch is the outstanding newcomer Kate O'Flynn."^[6]

In 2009 Kate O'Flynn starred in the comedy-drama TV seriesKingdom, withStephen Fry, as Emily Cartright, council solicitor and girlfriend of trainee solicitor Lyle Anderson, played byKarl Davies. In the same year, O'Flynn appeared withRussell Tovey at London'sRoyal Court Theatre in Molly Davies'A Miracle. Michael Billington gave the play 3 stars out of five in his review for British newspaperThe Guardian, finding that "Kate O'Flynn's Amy is a model of gawky despair" but concluding that the cast "fill out a play that provides plenty of evidence of youthful talent but that also leaves you wanting more".^[7] In theEvening Standard,Nicholas de Jongh praised O'Flynn's "beautiful rendering of passivity, selfishness and vulnerability",^[8] whileThe Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer wrote, "Kate O'Flynn brings an astonishingly raw vulnerability to the stage as Amy, the tears streaming down her face as she describes how impossible she finds it to love and nurture her child".^[9]

O'Flynn appeared as Elizabeth Gough in the 2011 television filmThe Suspicions of Mr Whicher and as Liz in the British feature film comedyUp There, which was the winner of the Best Feature Film award at the2012 British Academy Scotland Awards^[10] and was broadcast onBBC Two in August 2015.^[11] In 2012, O'Flynn played the role of Beryl inBBC Four'sBAFTA Award-winning^[12] television adaptationRoom at the Top, based onJohn Braine'snovel of the same name.^[13]

In 2013, she performed at theNational Theatre in its production ofPort. Writing inThe Guardian, Maddy Costa noted: "As Rachael [sic] inSimon Stephens'sPort, she grew from a mouthy 11-year-old to a downtrodden but resilient 24-year-old – and in the process transformed from a relative unknown to a star in the making".^[3] Her performance won her theCritics' Circle's Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer (other than a playwright).^[14] She returned to the National Theatre, playing Jo in its 2014 production ofShelagh Delaney'sA Taste of Honey.^[4]

In 2014, O'Flynn appeared in her second Mike Leigh filmMr. Turner.^[15] She would then go on to appear in another of Leigh's films,Peterloo, in 2018.

In 2015 O'Flynn played the part of Dr Peep in police comedy dramaNo Offence,^[16] reprising her role in all three series. The following year, O'Flynn played Myrtle in theBBC Radio 4 sitcomDot set in the Cabinet War Rooms.^[17] In the same year, she also played Lady Alexandrina De Courcy in the ITV costume dramaDoctor Thorne, based onAnthony Trollope'snovel of the same name.^[15] O'Flynn also played Alice Peabody, the new boss at Hard News inBridget Jones's Baby.^[18]

Also in 2016, O'Flynn appeared in episode 6 of the second series of BBC'sFather Brown "The Eagle and the Daw" as Katherine Corven. She reprised the character in the 2017 episode 6.2 "The Jackdaw's Revenge".

In 2019 O'Flynn playedVictoria Woodcock in the television dramaBrexit: The Uncivil War, written byJames Graham.^[19] In 2021, she appeared in the miniseriesLandscapers as DC Emma Lancing.^[20][21] In 2022, O'Flynn appeared inDeath in Paradise as DI Neville Parker's sister Izzy.

In 2023, she was cast inEveryone Else Burns forChannel 4, playing Fiona, the wife ofSimon Bird’s character David.^[22] For this, she won aRoyal Television Society North West Award for Best Performance in a Comedy.^[23] O'Flynn also appeared as Jen inHenpocalypse! onBBC Two;^[24] in the same year she played the lead character, Cassie, in the BBC Radio Four psychological dramaSpores.^[25] In 2024, O'Flynn playedPrincess Mary Tudor inMy Lady Jane, withThe i Paper writing she "almost steals the show".^[26]

Jonathan Bailey, who starred alongside O'Flynn in the playThe House of Special Purpose (2009),^[27] calls her his "all-timebezzie". The pair also hiked to theEverest base camp in Nepal together in 2018.^[28]

• Kate O’Flynn atIMDb

• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• Actresses from Bury, Greater Manchester
• 1986 births
• Living people
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English radio actresses

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