Sian Clifford

Clifford was born in London on 7 April 1982, the daughter of an executive assistant mother and a father who works for the local council. She grew up in the London borough of Ealing. She has two brothers, Alex and Elliot and a sister, Natalie, who is an art dealer in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://spacegallerystbarth.com/about|title=Contact {{!}} Space Gallery St Barth|website=spacegallerystbarth.com|access-date=2019-10-08}} Growing up, she knew she wanted to be an actress and participated in youth theatre. She worked for three years as a writing consultant before being accepted into Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).{{Cite news |first=Susannah |last=Butter |title=Fleabag actress Sian Clifford on why this season packs a punch |date=2019-03-08 |work=Evening Standard |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/fleabag-actress-sian-clifford-on-why-this-season-packs-a-brutal-punch-a4086631.html |access-date=2019-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422170907/https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/fleabag-actress-sian-clifford-on-why-this-season-packs-a-brutal-punch-a4086631.html |archive-date=2023-04-22 |url-status=live}} While attending RADA, she met her future co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge early on and they became friends. She earned a BA in acting from RADA in 2006.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-sian-clifford-the-fleabag-actress-has-conquered-stage-screen-all-while-running-her-own-website-16917039|title=Who Is Sian Clifford? The 'Fleabag' Actress Has Conquered Stage & Screen, All While Running Her Own Website|last=Broster|first=Alice|date=12 March 2019|work=Bustle|accessdate=11 June 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rada.ac.uk/profiles/sian-clifford/|title=Sian Clifford — RADA|last=Fabrique|website=www.rada.ac.uk|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-10-08}}

In the first ten years of her professional acting career, Clifford became a prolific Off West End actress. In her first few years out of drama school, she was involved with Theatre503 in which she was involved the productions Without Laughing, Contraction, and Listening Out.{{Cite web|url=http://www.monicabertei.com/credits|title=Credits|website=Monica Bertei British Actress and Voice-Over Artist|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-10-09}} In March 2007, she acted in the play Not the End of the World at the Bristol Old Vic theatre.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2007/mar/21/theatre1|title=Theatre review: Not the End of the World / Old Vic, Bristol|last=Mahoney|first=Elisabeth|date=2007-03-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Her first notable performance was playing Ismene in the Nottingham Playhouse production of Burial at Thebes at the Barbican which premiered in September 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/burialthebes-rev|title=Theatre review: The Burial at Thebes at Nottingham Playhouse|website=British Theatre Guide|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-10-09}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2007/sep/20/theatre3|title=Theatre review: The Burial at Thebes / Pit, Barbican, London|last=Billington|first=Michael|date=2007-09-20|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

In Summer 2008, she acted in a play called The Pendulum, written by her co-star Alexander Fiske-Harrison, at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End, which ran for the month of June,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/jun/09/theatre1|title=Theatre review: The Pendulum / Jermyn Street Theatre, London|last=Billington|first=Michael|date=2008-06-09|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} and in the following month she took part in the annual Latitude Festival in the play Public Displays of Affection.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nabokov-online.com/nabokov/2008/07/latitude-2008|title=Latitude 2008|website=nabokov|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-09}} Clifford was in three theatre productions the next summer; in June she had a small role in a chamber opera titled Parthenogenesis at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio,{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/opera-classical-music/parthenogenesis|title=Parthenogenesis at Linbury Studio Theatre - Opera|accessdate=2019-10-09}} she co-starred in the Arcola Theatre play The Road to Mecca,{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7861975/The-Road-to-Mecca-Arcola-theatre-London-review.html|title=The Road to Mecca, Arcola theatre, London, review|last=Cavendish|first=Dominic|date=2010-06-29|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/jun/29/the-road-to-mecca-review|title=The Road to Mecca {{!}} Theatre review|last=Gardner|first=Lyn|date=2010-06-29|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} and she toured with the production Is Everyone Okay? which co-starred future Fleabag castmate Phoebe Waller-Bridge.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/feature/4084/is-everyone-okay|title=Is Everyone Okay?|website=Daily Info|access-date=2019-10-09}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nabokov-online.com/nabokov/2009/03/is-everyone-ok-2|title=Is Everyone Ok?|website=nabokov|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-09}}

Throughout September 2010, Clifford starred in the well-reviewed experimental theatre piece Pieces of Vincent at the Arcola Theatre.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/sep/07/pieces-of-vincent-review|title=Pieces of Vincent {{!}} Theatre review|last=Billington|first=Michael|date=2010-09-07|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2010/pieces-of-vincent-review-at-arcola-london/|title=Pieces of Vincent review at Arcola London {{!}} Review {{!}} Theatre|last=Tripney|first=Natasha|website=The Stage|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-09}}{{Cite web|url=https://londonist.com/2010/09/theatre_review_pieces_of_vincent_ar|title=Theatre Review: Pieces Of Vincent @ Arcola Theatre|date=2010-09-07|website=Londonist|language=en|access-date=2019-10-09}} For the rest of autumn 2010, she had a supporting role in the play Pains of Youth at the prestigious Royal National Theatre.{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/pains-of-youth|title=Pains of Youth at National Theatre, Cottesloe - West End|last=Theatre|first=National}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/137133/Pains-Of-Youth-National-Theatre-London|title=Pains Of Youth: National Theatre, London|last=Callan|first=Paul|date=2009-10-31|website=Express.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-10-09}} Finishing out the year, Clifford held the titular role in an original production of Beauty and the Beast, also at the Royal National Theatre. The production ran throughout the Christmas season and was critically successful.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8177417/Beauty-and-the-Beast-National-Theatre-review.html|title=Beauty and the Beast, National Theatre, review|last=Spencer|first=Charles|date=2010-12-02|access-date=2019-10-09|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/node/2697/view|title=Beauty and the Beast, National Theatre {{!}} reviews, news & interviews {{!}} The Arts Desk|website=theartsdesk.com|access-date=2019-10-09}}

In 2014, she was one of the stars of the Nottingham Playhouse's production of Time and the Conways. Also that year, she took part in Good. Clean. Fun., a collection of short plays by Phoebe Waller-Bridge which included an early version of Clifford's Fleabag character Claire, as well as the Victorian-era play Fever at the Jermyn Street Theatre.{{Cite news|last=Day|first=Elizabeth|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/10/phoebe-waller-bridge-crashing|title=Foul-mouthed, frank, funny: generation rent finds its comic voice|date=2016-01-10|work=The Observer|access-date=2020-04-08|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite news|last=Billington|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jun/17/fever-district-six-review-jermyn-street-theatre-south-africa|title=Fever/District 6 review – insights into South Africa's past traumas|date=2014-06-17|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

During her career, Clifford has also participated in many workshops and readings for Off West End productions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/cv/10113/acting|title=Sian Clifford CV|last=|first=|date=2019|website=United Agents|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=October 9, 2019}} She has often collaborated with DryWrite and Nabokov theatre companies, theatre directors Vicky Jones (DryWrite), Lyndsey Turner (Royal National Theatre, Theatre503) and Andrew Steggall, and writer/actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

In 2016, Clifford had her breakthrough screen acting role in Fleabag, as Claire, Fleabag's uptight older sister and character foil.

Clifford was part of the cast of the play Gloria, part of Hampstead Theatre's 2017 season and the play's Off West End premiere.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2017/gloria/|title=GLORIA|website=Hampstead Theatre|access-date=2020-04-08}} In 2018, she had a recurring role in the ITV miniseries Vanity Fair and was in a production of Circle Mirror Transformation in Manchester.{{Cite web|url=https://homemcr.org/production/circle-mirror-transformation/|title=Circle Mirror Transformation|website=HOME|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-08}} Later that year, she was part of the cast in the West End production of Consent at the Harold Pinter Theatre.{{Cite news|last=Haynes|first=Natalie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/may/29/consent-review-aeschylus-with-better-jokes-nina-raine|title=Consent review – bracingly clever courtroom drama|date=2018-05-29|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/consent-harold-pinter-theatre|title=Consent at Harold Pinter Theatre {{!}} in the West End|website=www.nationaltheatre.org.uk|access-date=2020-04-08}}

Fleabag returned in 2019 to huge fanfare. Clifford's performance in the show was widely praised and she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and the Critics' Choice Award for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance. She later won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

Following the second series of Fleabag, Clifford starred in more film and television roles. She had a small role in the independent dark comedy film A Serial Killer's Guide to Life in 2019. In 2020, Clifford had guest roles on the television shows Hitmen on Sky One and Liar. She starred opposite Matthew Macfadyen in the April 2020 miniseries Quiz, based on the 2001 Charles Ingram Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? scandal. Clifford later co-starred in the Sky comedy series Two Weeks to Live.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/game-of-thrones-star-maisie-williams-in-sky-uk-comedy-two-weeks-to-live-1203253295/|title='Game of Thrones' Star Maisie Williams to Star in Sky Comedy 'Two Weeks to Live'|last=Clarke|first=Stewart|date=2019-06-26|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2020-04-08}}

In May 2021, Clifford starred as Iris in the Inside No. 9 episode "Lip Service".{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/inside-no-9-episode-3-review-fleabags-sian-clifford-hits-mark/|title=Inside No 9, episode 3, review: Fleabag's Sian Clifford hits the mark in Line of Duty send-up|last=Power|first=Ed|date=2021-05-24|website=The Daily Telegraph|language=en|access-date=2021-05-25}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/tv/sian-clifford-guest-stars-as-iris-in-inside-no-9-but-what-else-has-she-been-in/|title=Sian Clifford guest stars as Iris in Inside No 9 – but what else has she been in?|last=Fear|first=Helen|date=2021-05-24|website=Entertainment Daily|language=en|access-date=2021-05-25}} In July 2021, Clifford voiced GS-8 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.{{cite web|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Star-Wars-The-Bad-Batch/GS-8/|title=GS-8 Voice|website=Behind the Voice Actors|access-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721015813/https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Star-Wars-The-Bad-Batch/GS-8/|archive-date=July 21, 2022|url-status=live}}

In July 2024, Clifford starred as journalist Chloe Slack in Time of the Week, a BBC Radio 4 comedy series.{{cite web |title=Sian Clifford to star in Radio 4's Woman's Hour spoof

|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/fyi/547/time-of-the-week-cast/ |website=comedy.co.uk|access-date=19 February 2025 |language=en |date=19 June 2024}} In March 2025, Clifford was nominated in the BBC Audio Drama Awards under Best Comedy Performance for her role in the show.{{cite web |title=The 2025 Shortlist |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/sqlydSLvmz5LTkDkLjw2gZ/the-2025-shortlist |website=BBC |access-date= 12 April 2025 |language=en |date= March 2025}} The series will be returning in 2025.{{cite web |title=Matt Forde, Laura Smyth & Ria Lina amongst Radio 4 comedy commissions

|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/news/8113/radio-4-2025-comedy-commissions/ |website=comedy.co.uk|access-date=19 February 2025 |language=en |date=4 November 2024}}

Clifford is a vegan and practises daily meditation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.matchesfashion.com/us/womens/the-style-report/2019/06/the-high-glamour-issue/my-fashion-life-sian-clifford-fleabag-aw19|title=My Fashion Life: Sian Clifford AW19|website=www.matchesfashion.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-08}} In 2016, she launched a digital wellness and meditation platform called Still Space.{{Cite web|url=https://still-space.com/|title=Still Space|publisher=Still Space|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-08}}

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Category:1982 births

Category:Living people

Category:Best Female Comedy Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners

Category:English film actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:Actresses from London