About Me
Film. TV. Theatre. Voice.
SAG-AFTRA. Actors’ Equity.
Los Angeles | London
I’m a British born actress, currently living in Los Angeles. From German-Normandy heritage, born to a very British magical fairy of a ballerina-opera singer Mother and an even more British, gentle Buddha-like, over-grown leprechaun of a Father.
As a teenager I was a concert clarinetist, attempting to play Weber concertos with 50 piece orchestras behind me, whilst my knees knocked in pure terror. How I ever produced a soulful note from that beautiful piece of emotional sorcery, I will never know.
I then traversed into singing… Big band jazz in particular. I was 14 and singing Fever in front of 400 people, which made me high as a kite (naturally… no snorty stuff here: I wasn’t THAT kind of teenager). I still sing and, whilst I may not be the best singer on the block (I’ll leave that to Jenny…), I bloomin’ love it.
Later into my teens I remembered how much I liked to play dress-up as a small child. (…and still do <insert embarassed face here>) “What tiara can I wear today?” So, I started creating plays that involved dance, music, and acting – a musical, one might say, but I think I would stick with the description ‘something weird on a stage.’ I went to a very academic school and creativity “to such an extreme” was seriously not cool. “Henrietta, you can’t be an actress. Just like you can’t be a Princess. You’ve seen too many films.” My quick response… “I could marry Prince William to become a Princess, and that seems a lot more difficult than being an actress.”
I studied Brecht, then Method, then Stanislavski. I was lucky enough to train at the Webber Douglas Academy before it closed, as well as in Classical Theatre & Shakespeare at the Royal National Theatre, London. Then I found a place where it all came together and made perfect sense, in the true Meisner technique. My world turned around and my passion went from a simmer to a supernova.
Since then I have played roles from ISABELLA in “Measure for Measure” to a paranoid-schizophrenic meth head to SALLY BOWLES in “Cabaret.” I’ve thrived in and loved every minute of every role that has ever come my way. I am blessed to have a career I love and head-over-heels excited for all the marvelous roles I will play with in the future.
When people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m a storyteller. I create a space that allows others to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. We all get lost inside each others worlds, which both belong to someone else. As an artist, I believe that is what we creatives do; we create a space for others to escape to.