Jemima Rooper

Jemima Rooper is an English actress born on 24 October 1981 in Hammersmith, London. The daughter of television journalist Alison Rooper, she was educated at Redcliffe Gardens School in Chelsea and the Godolphin and Latymer School, before completing her A levels at MPW sixth form college. She decided she wanted to pursue acting at the age of nine and secured representation through an agent at that time.

Rooper's professional career began in the early 1990s with film appearances in The Higher Mortals in 1993 and Willie's War in 1994. In 1996 she took on the recurring role of George in all episodes of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five, during the production of which she earned eight GCSEs at A and A* grades. Following several smaller parts in British television, she joined the cast of the Channel 4 series As If, playing Nicki Sutton across the show's three-year run. She then appeared in the Sky One supernatural drama Hex, portraying a character named Thelma across two series between 2004 and 2005.

Her screen work expanded to include a Hollywood debut in The Black Dahlia, followed by the 2008 television series Lost in Austen. Additional film credits include The Railway Children, A Sound of Thunder, Kinky Boots, One Chance, and The F Word, in which she played the on-screen sister of Daniel Radcliffe's character. In 2013 she appeared as Medusa in the television series Atlantis, and she has also guest starred in Agatha Christie's Poirot and Father Brown. In September 2023, Rooper starred in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance alongside Samantha Bond, Rob James-Collier, Gaynor Faye, and Adil Ray. As a voice actress, she voiced the companion Izzy Sinclair in Big Finish Productions audio dramas for Doctor Who.

Rooper's stage career spans multiple London venues and institutions. Early theatre credits include Where Do We Live at the Royal Court Theatre in 2002, Us and Them at the Hampstead Theatre in 2003, and A Respectable Wedding at the Young Vic in 2007. In July 2008 she played Eve Douglas in Her Naked Skin at the National Theatre, and in 2009 she appeared in both The Great Game: Afghanistan at the Tricycle Theatre and The Power of Yes at the National Theatre. She played Ann Deever in All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre from May through October 2010, and in January 2011 took on the role of Sally in Me and My Girl at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, a production that also featured Miriam Margolyes. In June 2011 she originated the role of Rachel Crabbe in One Man, Two Guvnors at the National Theatre.

Rooper's Broadway career spans 2012 to 2014 and includes two productions. She appeared in One Man, Two Guvnors and subsequently in the farce Blithe Spirit, in which she played the role of Elvira at the Gielgud Theatre in March 2014. That same production transferred to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from December 2014 into January 2015. Her West End work continued with Breeders by Ben Ockrent at the St James Theatre in September 2014, Hand to God at the Vaudeville Theatre in February 2016, and Little Shop of Horrors at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2018, where she played Audrey.