Tuppence Middleton
{{short description|British actress (born 1987)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tuppence Middleton
| image = Tuppence Middleton for Sidewalks.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Middleton in 2015
| birth_name = Tuppence Amelia Middleton
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|02|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Bristol, England
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 2007–present
| partner = Måns Mårlind
}}
Tuppence Amelia Middleton (born 21 February 1987){{cite web | url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=279703758:2260&d=bmd_1695680319 | title=FreeBMD Entry Info }} is a British actress. In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer.
Middleton appeared in various films before making her breakthrough in Morten Tyldum's historical drama The Imitation Game (2014), and subsequently appeared in The Wachowskis' science fiction film Jupiter Ascending (2015), Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's historical drama The Current War (2017), David Fincher's film Mank (2020), and the historical drama films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).
She made her first television appearance in Bones (2008) and subsequently appeared as a guest in New Tricks (2010), Friday Night Dinner (2011), and Lewis (2013). She also appeared as Jem in the Black Mirror episode "White Bear" (2013), as Miss Havisham in Dickensian (2015–2016), as Russian princess Hélène Kuragina in War & Peace (2016), and as Riley "Blue" Gunnarsdóttir in Sense8 (2015–2018).
Early life
Middleton was born in Bristol on 21 February 1987, the daughter of Tina Sheppard and Nigel Middleton.{{cite news |last=Pickstock |first=Heather |title=Bristol actress Tuppence Middleton stars in Hitchcock TV thriller ... |newspaper=Bristol Post |date=15 March 2013 |url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-actress-Tuppence-Middleton-stars/story-18421160-detail/story.html |access-date=31 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331180917/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-actress-Tuppence-Middleton-stars/story-18421160-detail/story.html |archive-date=31 March 2014 }} She has an older sister named Angel and younger brother named Josh. She was named "Tuppence" after the childhood nickname her grandmother gave to her mother.{{cite news|last=Williams |first=Andrew |title=Tuppence Middleton: I'm not stuck in a period piece ghetto|newspaper=Metro|date=9 January 2013 |url=http://metro.co.uk/2013/01/09/tuppence-middleton-im-not-stuck-in-a-period-piece-ghetto-3343207/ |access-date=30 March 2014}} She was raised in Clevedon, Somerset. She has described her younger self as shy, reclusive, and "geeky" at school, but "quite loud and brash" at home; she found youth theatre an "outlet" in which she could be confident.{{cite news |first=James |last=Mottram |title=Tuppence Middleton proves her worth to Hollywood |newspaper=The Independent |date=12 July 2013 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/tuppence-middleton-proves-her-worth-to-hollywood-8706028.html |access-date=4 September 2018 |archive-date=29 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229181021/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/tuppence-middleton-proves-her-worth-hollywood-8706028.html |url-status=live }} She attended Bristol Grammar School, where she was involved in school plays such as Guys and Dolls."[http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/11-bristol-celebrities-go-school-17024 Where did these 11 Bristol celebrities go to school?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520225052/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/11-bristol-celebrities-go-school-17024 |date=20 May 2017 }}",Bristol Post, 2 April 2017 (Accessed 4 April 2017) She also attended Stagecoach, a performing arts school in Portishead. She appeared in local drama productions, including a pantomime with her sister at the Princes Hall in Clevedon. She subsequently studied acting at the Arts Educational School in London, earning an honours degree in acting.
Career
Middleton gained a following for her appearance in the 2009 British comedy horror film Tormented.{{cite web|title=Tormented |publisher=The Film Catalogue |location=United Kingdom |url=http://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/catalog/FilmDetail.php?id=7262|access-date=6 February 2010}} Her character, head girl Justine Fielding, dates one of the most popular boys in school, only to find that he and his friends were responsible for a classmate's death. She has also appeared in adverts for the chewing gum Extra and for Sky TV.
In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer and she starred in Samuel Abrahams's BAFTA-nominated short film Connect.{{cite web| url= http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/winners-2011,2281,BA.html#jump22,|title=Film Award Winners|website= BAFTA.org}} In 2011, she played the character Tanya Green in the British sitcom Friday Night Dinner,[http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/friday_night_dinner/episodes/1/6/ Friday Night Dinner – Episode 1.6. The Date] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229180948/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/friday_night_dinner/episodes/1/6/ |date=29 December 2020 }}, British Comedy Guide, Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2012. and Sarah in Sirens. In 2012, she appeared in the spy thriller film Cleanskin.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598873/ Cleanskin (2012)]. Internet Movie Database
In 2013, she made her professional theatre debut in The Living Room,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/mar/13/living-room-review|title=The Living Room – review|first=Michael|last=Billington|work=The Guardian|date=13 March 2013 |access-date=28 July 2015|archive-date=30 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530031337/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/mar/13/living-room-review|url-status=live}} before playing a minor role in Danny Boyle's psychological thriller film Trance and giving a highly praised performance in the Black Mirror episode "White Bear".{{Cite web |date=2013-12-11 |title=Black Mirror: "White Bear" |url=https://www.avclub.com/black-mirror-white-bear-1798178958 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Black Mirror: White Bear, Channel 4, review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/9878463/Black-Mirror-White-Bear-Channel-4-review.html |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=18 February 2013 }}{{Cite web |date=2013-02-18 |title='Black Mirror' series two 'White Bear' review: "Full-blooded horror" |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a459140/black-mirror-series-two-white-bear-review-full-blooded-horror/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}} In 2014, after working on Lilly and Lana Wachowski's space opera film Jupiter Ascending (2015), she joined the main cast of their Netflix science fiction series Sense8 (2015–2018).{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=2014-06-21 |title=Cast Set, Plot Revealed For Wachowskis' Netflix Globe-Spanning Series 'Sense8' |url=https://deadline.com/2014/06/netflix-wachowski-series-sense8-cast-naveen-andrews-darryl-hannah-794011/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
In 2016, she starred in the BBC drama War & Peace, playing Russian aristocrat Princess Hélène Kuragina. The series received critical acclaim. The Daily Express said: "Rising star Tuppence Middleton takes on the role of the delightfully evil Hélène Kuragina, who is one half of the incestuous duo. Audiences witnessed her brother getting a little too intimate with his sibling in the first episode before she turned her attentions to Pierre and dug her claws into him. She is a vile character who will use and abuse Pierre without giving him a second thought."{{cite news |first=Neela |last=Debnath |title=War and Peace: Who's who character guide |work=www.express.co.uk |date=12 January 2016 }} Andrew Davies, who adapted War and Peace, described Middleton's Hélène as "the naughtiest woman on TV at the moment".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/31/tuppence-middleton-war-and-peace-dickensian |first=Vanessa |last=Thorpe |title=Tuppence Middleton: from Tolstoy's seductress to a Dickensian victim |newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 February 2016 |access-date=15 May 2016 }}
In 2018, she starred in Vicky Jones' play The One at the Soho Theatre in London and got the part of Lucy in the feature film Downton Abbey (2019),{{cite web |title=The One |url=https://sohotheatre.com/shows/the-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229180933/https://sohotheatre.com/shows/the-one/ |archive-date=29 December 2020 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |website=SohoTheatre}} which she later reprised in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/imelda-staunton-geraldine-james-downton-abbey-movie-1202922680/ |title=Imelda Staunton, Geraldine James Join 'Downton Abbey' Movie |date=30 August 2018 |access-date=4 September 2018 |archive-date=1 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901003711/https://variety.com/2018/film/news/imelda-staunton-geraldine-james-downton-abbey-movie-1202922680/ |url-status=live }} In 2019, she played the lead role in the mystery drama Disappearance at Clifton Hill. This film was soon followed by the psychological horror Possessor (2020), the Netflix-distributed historical miniseries The Defeated (2020), also known as Shadowplay, and David Fincher's biographical drama Mank (2020), in which she portrayed the wife of Herman J. Mankiewicz, the co-writer of Citizen Kane (1941).{{Cite web |author=Wonderland Staff |date=2020-12-04 |title=Mank Star Tuppence Middleton On Working With David Fincher |url=https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2020/12/04/tuppence-middleton-mank-david-fincher-netflix/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Wonderland |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=N'Duka |first=Amanda |date=2019-10-15 |title='Mank': Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, 'Downton Abbey's Tuppence Middleton & More Join David Fincher Pic |url=https://deadline.com/2019/10/mank-amanda-seyfried-lily-collins-tuppence-middleton-david-fincher-netflix-movie-1202760689/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
She narrated BBC World Service documentaries about the Spitfire and the life of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2020 and 2021, respectively.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/ws-spitfire BBC World Service marks VE Day with new podcast and radio series Spitfire: The People's Plane] BBC Media Release 22 April 2020[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct2fn2 HRH Prince Philip: A celebration of a life] The Documentary, BBC World Service, 10 April 2021 In 2021, Middleton also narrated an immersive step inside a story audiovisual tour for Hyde Park in London based around The Great Exhibition and written by Elizabeth Macneal for the BARDEUM mobile app.{{Cite web |title=Tuppence Middleton |url=https://www.bardeum.com/tuppence-middleton |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=BARDEUM |language=en}} She recently starred alongside Martin Compston and Rupert Penry-Jones in ITV1's drama Our House (2022),{{cite web |last=Hibbs |first=James |date=8 March 2022 |title=Meet the cast of new ITV thriller Our House |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/our-house-itv-cast/ |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=Radio Times}}{{cite web |last=Midley |first=Carol |date=10 March 2022 |title=My Brilliant Friend review — gorgeously acted . . . shame about the book |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/my-brilliant-friend-review-gorgeously-acted-shame-about-the-book-w2kwwfnd8 |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=The Times}} and is set to star in the folk horror film Lord of Misrule with Ralph Ineson and Matt Stokoe, directed by William Brent Bell.{{cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/tuppence-middleton-ralph-ineson-horror-lord-misrule-1234861645/|title=Tuppence Middleton & Ralph Ineson Set For Folk Horror 'Lord Of Misrule' From 'The Boy' Director William Brent Bell; Filming Underway In UK|last=Wiseman|first=Andreas|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=25 October 2021}} She currently is starring in the National Theatre as Elizabeth Taylor in the Sam Mendes directed Jack Thorne play The Motive and the Cue opposite Johnny Flynn as Richard Burton and Mark Gatiss as Sir John Gielgud.
In 2025, she played Annie Ernaux in the stage adaptation of her autobiographical novel The Years.{{cite news|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/tuppence-middleton-joins-the-cast-of-the-years-in-the-west-end_1665786/|first=Alex |last=Wood|title=Tuppence Middleton joins the cast of The Years in the West End|date=20 February 2025|website=WhatsOnStage}}
Personal life
Middleton has obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) that she developed at the age of 12.{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Helen |date=2022-03-06 |title=Tuppence Middleton: 'The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me...' |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/tuppence-middleton-doctors-didnt-know-wrong/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |last=Lillywhite |first=Maisie |date=2022-03-07 |title=Tuppence Middleton's 'confusing' bedtime routine as a child |url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/bbc-houses-tuppence-middleton-confusing-6764550 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=BristolLive |language=en}} In 2021, she conducted a series of interviews on the matter for BBC Radio 4, in which she talked with a clinical psychologist and a couple of other people struggling with the disorder.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - One to One, OCD: Tuppence Middleton talks to Gazal Jones |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v2rw |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Middleton revealed that she "struggles with self-imposed routines that sometimes stop her leaving the house, as well as obsessive mental counting and compulsive checking behaviours".{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Living with OCD: 5 Key Questions Answered |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1wk60wWvnBTTNGLn63RrvgN/living-with-ocd-5-key-questions-answered |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} She also stated that she has emetophobia, a fear of vomiting, which increases her excessive preoccupation with cleanliness.
She has denied rumours that she is related to Kate Middleton, Catherine, Princess of Wales.{{Cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Rebecca |last2=Meehan |first2=Abbie |date=2022-03-09 |title=Our House star Tuppence Middleton's curious links to Kate Middleton |url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/house-star-tuppence-middletons-curious-23339822 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Edinburgh Live |language=en}}
In August 2022, it was reported that Middleton had given birth to her first child with Swedish film director Måns Mårlind.{{cite web|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/982072-tuppence-middleton-gives-birth-welcomes-first-child-with-mans-marlind |title=Tuppence Middleton gives birth! welcomes first child with Mans Marlind |publisher=Thenews.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2022-08-14}}
Acting credits
=Films=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2009
| Justine Fielding | |
| rowspan="5" |2010
|In the Meadow |Grace |Short film |
| Ever Here I Be
| Short film |
| Skeletons
| |
| Connect
|Woman |Short film |
| Chatroom
| Candy | |
| 2011
|Subculture |Short film |
| 2012
| Kate | |
| rowspan="3" | 2013
| Trance | Young Woman in Red Car | |
| Trap for Cinderella
| Micky | |
| The Love Punch
| Sophie | |
| rowspan="2" | 2014
| Kathy | |
| The Imitation Game
| Helen Stewart | |
| rowspan="2" | 2015
| Kalique Abrasax | |
| Spooks: The Greater Good
| June Keaton |Known as MI-5 in the USA |
| 2017
| Mary Edison | |
| 2018
| Stine | Lizzie | Short film |
| rowspan="4" | 2019
| Alwyn | |
| Four
| The Young Woman | Short film; also writer |
| Disappearance at Clifton Hill
| Abby | |
| Downton Abbey
| |
| rowspan=2| 2020
| Ava Parse | |
| Mank
| Sara Mankiewicz | |
| 2022
| Lucy Branson | |
| 2024
| Rebecca Holland | |
| 2025
| Elizabeth | |
| 2025
| Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale | Lucy Branson | Post-production |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2008
| Bones | Vera Waterhouse | Episodes: "Yanks in the U.K. Part 1 & 2" |
| rowspan="2" | 2010
| Melanie Higgs | Episode: "Fashion Victim" |
| First Light
| Grace | TV film |
| rowspan="2" | 2011
| Tanya Green |
| Sirens
| Sarah Fraisor | Episodes: "Up, Horny, Down", "I.C.E." |
| 2012
| Sinbad | Tiger | 4 episodes |
| rowspan="4" | 2013
| Lewis | Vicki Walmsley | 2 episodes |
| Spies of Warsaw
| Gabrielle | 4 episodes |
| Black Mirror
| Jem | Episode: "White Bear" |
| The Lady Vanishes
| Iris Carr | TV film |
| 2015–2018
| Sense8 | Main role; 24 episodes |
| 2015–2016
| Main role; 20 episodes |
| 2016
| Princess Helene Kuragina | 6 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 2017
| Laura Phillips | TV film |
| Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams
| Linda | Episode: "The Commuter" |
| 2019
| A Working Mom's Nightmare | Hannah | TV film |
| 2020
| Claire Franklin | 8 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 2022
| Our House | Fi Lawson | Main role; 4 episodes |
| His Dark Materials
| Father Gomez's Daemon (voice) | Episode: "The Botanic Garden" |
| 2023
| Caught | Penny Pimberhurst | 6 episodes |
| {{TableTBA}}
| Upcoming miniseries |
| {{TableTBA}}
| |
=Theatre=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Playwright ! class="unsortable" | Venue |
|---|
| 2007
| Judith Bliss | rowspan="3" | Arts Educational Schools |
| rowspan="2" | 2008 |
| The Lights
| Lillian |
| 2013
| Rose Pemberton |
| 2018
| The One | Jo |
| 2023 |
| 2025
| Annie 3 | Annie Ernaux adapted by Eline Arbo |
=Music videos=
| class="wikitable unsortable"
!Year !Title !Artist !Director !Role |
| 2014
| "Real" | Robert Francis Müller | Clubber |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role |
|---|
| 2018
| World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | Lady Lucille Waycrest (voice) |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Twitter|Tuppence|Tuppence Middleton}}
- {{IMDb name|3095562}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Tuppence}}
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:Actresses from Bristol
Category:Actresses from Somerset
Category:English film actresses
Category:English television actresses
Category:Actors educated at Bristol Grammar School
Category:Actors educated at the Arts Educational Schools