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Justine Waddell
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Justine Waddell (born 4 November 1975) is a South African-British retired actress. She played roles in the 2006 film The Fall and 2005 film Chaos as well as Tess in the 1998 LWT adaptation of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Estella in the 1999 BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. Justine is also the founder and director of the streaming platform Klassiki.
Key Information
Early life
[edit]Waddell was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her father, Gordon Waddell (1937–2012), was a Scottish rugby union player who captained the Scottish national team and played for the British and Irish Lions. He later became a Progressive Party Member of Parliament in South Africa, and a director of Anglo American PLC. Her grandfather, Herbert Waddell (1902–1988), also played rugby for Scotland and the Lions. Waddell moved with her family to Scotland when she was eleven. Four years later they moved to London. Waddell is the only member of her family to take up a career in acting. She read Social and Political Science at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, which allowed her to take time off from her studies to pursue her career.
Career
[edit]Waddell has divided her work between stage and screen. Amongst her roles to date have been her performance as Sasha opposite Ralph Fiennes and Bill Paterson in the Almeida Theatre's London production of Ivanov (1997), Countess Nordston in Anna Karenina (1997), Tess in a London Weekend Television production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998), Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park (1999), Estella in Great Expectations, Nina in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (2000), for which she was nominated for an Ian Charleson award and Molly Gibson in the television mini series Wives and Daughters for which she won a Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actress award.[1] She played Mary Heller in the American film, Dracula 2000. In 2002 she starred in The One and Only. She won a Prism Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Natalie Wood in The Mystery of Natalie Wood, a 2004 TV movie directed by Peter Bogdanovich. In 2006 Waddell starred alongside Jason Statham and Ryan Phillipe in Chaos. During the same year, she co-starred with Lee Pace in Tarsem Singh’s The Fall.
In 2011, Waddell had a starring role in Mishen,[2] which is a Russian science fiction film directed by Alexander Zeldovich and written by Vladimir Sorokin.[3] Mishen had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and then a gala premiere at the Moscow International Film Festival. This would be her last acting role before her retirement. In 2014, Waddell was on the jury of the Festival of European Film "Voices" in Vologda, Russia.[4]
In 2015, she was on the jury of the Eurasia International Film Festival in Kazakhstan alongside jury chairman Abderrahmane Sissako and South Korean film director Kim Dong-ho.[5] She also took part in the BBC New Year film programme to discuss women in film with Francine Stock, Elizabeth Karlson and Carol Morley.[6]
She is also the founder and director of the streaming platform Klassiki, a curated collection of the best of Eastern European cinema from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia whilst also spotlighting the countries of the former Soviet Union,.[7]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Anna Karenina | Countess Nordston | |
| 1998 | The Misadventures of Margaret | Young Girl | |
| 1999 | Mansfield Park | Julia Bertram | |
| 2000 | Dracula 2000 | Mary Heller/Mary Van Helsing | |
| 2002 | The One and Only | Stevie | |
| 2006 | Chaos | Detective Teddy Galloway | |
| 2006 | The Fall | Nurse Evelyn | |
| 2007 | Thr3e | Jennifer Peters | |
| 2011 | Killing Bono | Danielle | |
| 2011 | Target (Mishen) | Zoe "Zoya" | Russian production |
| 2011 | The Enemy Within | Jean Kerr | Original title The Real American – Joe McCarthy |
| 2019 | Force of Nature Natalia | N/A | Producer |
| 2021 | Janine Jansen: Falling for Stradivari | N/A | Producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Moth | Millie Thorman | |
| 1997 | The Woman in White | Laura Fairlie | |
| 1998 | Tess of the D'Urbervilles | Tess Durbeyfield | |
| 1999 | Great Expectations | Estella | |
| 1999 | Wives and Daughters | Molly Gibson | |
| 2004 | The Mystery of Natalie Wood | Natalie Wood |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Broadcasting Press Guild | Best Actress | Wives and Daughters | Won | |
| 2005 | Prism Awards | Best Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries | The Mystery of Natalie Wood | Won |
References
[edit]- ^ "BPG TV & Radio Awards 2000". Broadcasting Press Guild. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
- ^ "Strange Energies from the East". Sight and Sound. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ^ "Personality/Justine Waddell". New-Style. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ^ "Мой фаворит — Винни-Пух по-русски". Известия (in Russian). 9 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "FIPRESCI - Almaty 2015". www.fipresci.org. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "Women in Film, The Film Programme - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "Kino Klassika Foundation – Russian Language Film Charity London". Kino Klassika Foundation. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Justine Waddell
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Justine Waddell (born 4 November 1975) is a South African-born British former actress and producer renowned for her performances in period dramas and literary adaptations.[1][2] She rose to prominence in the late 1990s with leading roles in BBC television productions, including Tess Durbeyfield in the 1998 adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Cynthia Kirkpatrick in the 1999 miniseries Wives and Daughters, for which she received critical acclaim and a Broadcasting Press Guild Award win for Best Actress.[3][4] Her film work spans genres, featuring notable appearances in the fantasy adventure The Fall (2006) directed by Tarsem Singh and the psychological thriller Chaos (2005).[5][2]
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Waddell relocated to the United Kingdom as a child and pursued higher education in social and political sciences at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, where she began performing in student theater productions.[4][6] Her early career included supporting roles in adaptations like The Woman in White (1997) as Laura Fairlie and Great Expectations (1999) as Estella, solidifying her reputation for portraying intelligent, resilient women in classic narratives.[7][8] Later projects, such as the horror film Thr3e (2007) and the Russian drama Target (2011), showcased her versatility in international cinema, with the latter requiring her to learn Russian for the role.[9][10]
In recent years, Waddell has shifted focus toward producing and screenwriting, contributing to projects that explore literary themes. She is also the founder of the streaming platform Klassiki, dedicated to cinema from Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.[11] She penned the script for the romantic comedy Virginia Woolf's Night and Day (2026), an adaptation of Woolf's novel starring Lily Allen, which completed principal photography in early 2025 and is currently in post-production.[12][13] This transition highlights her ongoing influence in the entertainment industry beyond acting.
Early life and education
Early life
Justine Waddell was born on 4 November 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to British-South African parents.[2] She is one of five children in the family.[6][14] Her father, Gordon Waddell (1937–2012), was a prominent Scottish rugby union player who captained the national team on five occasions between 1957 and 1962, toured with the British Lions, and later became a successful businessman and broadcaster.[15][16] Her mother, Cathy Gallagher Waddell, was a South African-born fashion designer who operated a shop in Soweto.[17][18] The family's international lifestyle, shaped by Gordon Waddell's career opportunities in South Africa, exposed Justine to diverse cultural environments from a young age.[14] Due to political unrest in South Africa, the family relocated to Scotland when Waddell was around ten years old, settling near the town of Kelso.[19] Approximately four years later, at age 14 or 15, they moved again to London to be closer to her boarding school.[14] This series of relocations—from a South African childhood, through Scottish adolescence, to English teenage years—marked her formative years and contributed to her adaptability in varied settings.[19]Education
Waddell enrolled at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, in 1994 to study Social and Political Sciences.[4] During her time at the university, she became actively involved in student theatre societies, which honed her performance skills and introduced her to professional opportunities. For instance, at the end of her first year, she performed as Joan of Arc in a Cambridge University production of Jean Anouilh's The Lark at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where her portrayal earned critical acclaim and an award, leading to her signing with an agent.[6][20] In 1996–1997, Waddell took a sabbatical from her studies to pursue acting opportunities, marking the beginning of her professional career. She returned to Cambridge afterward and completed her degree, graduating with a BA in Social and Political Sciences in 1998.[21][6] Her experiences at Cambridge, blending rigorous academic training in social and political theory with immersive student theatre, profoundly shaped her intellectual interests in societal structures, human motivations, and cultural expression through performance.[20]Acting career
Theatre
Justine Waddell's professional stage debut occurred in 1997, when she portrayed Sasha in Anton Chekhov's Ivanov at the Almeida Theatre in London.[22] Directed by Jonathan Kent with an adaptation by David Hare, the production starred Ralph Fiennes as the titular character and toured to Moscow's Arts Theatre later that year.[23][24] This role introduced her to audiences in a major Chekhov revival, showcasing her alongside established performers like Harriet Walter and Bill Paterson. Waddell further developed her stage presence with the Royal Shakespeare Company, taking on the role of Nina in The Seagull in 2000.[25] Under Adrian Noble's direction at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, she shared the stage with Penelope Wilton as Arkadina and Nigel Terry as Trigorin. Her interpretation of Nina, capturing the character's ardent idealism turning to despair, drew widespread praise for its ravishing emotional range and marked a star-making turn.[26][27] For this performance, she received a nomination for the Ian Charleson Award, recognizing outstanding work by actors under 30 in classical roles.[28] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Waddell's theatre engagements with ensembles like the Almeida and RSC provided foundational experience in classical drama, emphasizing live improvisation and direct audience engagement. Around 1998, she shifted focus to screen acting, building on her stage training in period pieces and literary adaptations.[6]Television
Waddell's television career began with her breakthrough role as the titular Tess Durbeyfield in the 1998 ITV adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, where she portrayed the free-spirited yet naive country girl at age 23, earning praise for her emotional depth in a lead dramatic role.[29][30] This period drama, directed by Ian Sharp and co-produced by London Weekend Television and A&E Networks, marked her emergence in British television adaptations of classic literature.[31] She followed this with the role of Molly Gibson in the 1999 BBC miniseries Wives and Daughters, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel that highlighted her ability to convey nuanced emotional complexity in a coming-of-age story set in 1830s England.[32] For this performance, Waddell received her first major award, the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress in 2000, recognizing her portrayal of the doctor's daughter navigating family changes and societal expectations.[33] Waddell demonstrated versatility in other significant television roles, including Estella in the 1999 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, where she played the cold-hearted ward of Miss Havisham opposite Ioan Gruffudd's Pip.[34] She later took on the biographical lead as Natalie Wood in the 2004 ABC miniseries The Mystery of Natalie Wood, depicting the Hollywood star's life from child actress to her mysterious death, which showcased her range in American biographical drama.[35] Her most active period in television spanned 1998 to 2004, during which she established a reputation in high-profile literary and biographical adaptations broadcast widely in the UK and US.[2] Following this peak, Waddell's on-screen television appearances diminished significantly, leading to her retirement from acting by the early 2010s as she transitioned to production work.Film
Waddell's entry into film came with her role as Mary Heller in the 2000 horror film Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier, where she portrayed a modern iteration of Mina Harker as the daughter of vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, pursued by Count Dracula in a contemporary New Orleans setting.[36][37] This performance marked her transition to Hollywood-style productions, building on her earlier television acclaim that opened doors to international film opportunities.[38] In 2005, she took on a supporting lead as Detective Teddy Galloway in the action-thriller Chaos, directed by Tony Giglio, starring opposite Jason Statham as a suspended cop navigating a high-stakes kidnapping plot amid police corruption in Seattle.[39] The film showcased her versatility in intense, fast-paced scenarios, contributing to its direct-to-video release that emphasized gritty procedural elements. Waddell's international profile rose with her acclaimed portrayal of Nurse Evelyn (also known as Sister Evelyn) in The Fall (2006), a visually stunning fantasy adventure directed by Tarsem Singh, where she played a compassionate caregiver in a Los Angeles hospital entangled in a patient's elaborate storytelling tale involving mythical heroes and exotic locales.[40] The film's poetic imagery and global filming across 24 countries highlighted her ability to convey emotional depth in a narrative blending reality and imagination, earning praise for its artistic ambition at festivals like Toronto.[40] She appeared as Jennifer Peters in the 2007 psychological horror thriller Thr3e, directed by Robby Henson and based on Ted Dekker's novel, where she played a seminary student caught in a cat-and-mouse game with a serial bomber.[41] Her later film roles included Danielle in the 2011 Irish comedy Killing Bono, directed by Nick Hamm, a semi-autobiographical story about two Dublin schoolboys' pursuit of rock stardom alongside future U2 members.[42] That same year, she portrayed Jean Kerr in the docudrama The Real American: Joe McCarthy (also known as The Enemy Within), directed by Lutz Hachmeister, depicting the wife of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare era.[43] She also starred as Zoya, the wife of a powerful Russian minister, in the 2011 Russian science fiction thriller Target (original title Mishen), directed by Alexander Zeldovich, which explored dystopian themes of immortality and societal elite in a near-future Moscow.[44] Waddell learned Russian for the part, immersing herself in the production that premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.[44] Her last acting roles were in 2011, after which she retired from acting to focus on production work.[38]Later career
Production ventures
After retiring from acting in 2011 following her role in the Russian film Target, Justine Waddell shifted her focus to production work, motivated by a growing interest in bringing underrepresented international cinema to wider audiences.[45][46] This transition was influenced by her experiences on set in Eastern Europe, where she developed a passion for cultural narratives often overlooked in mainstream Western markets. In 2014, Waddell founded Asterisk Films, a London-based production company dedicated to developing, supporting, and financing ambitious, multi-language projects with original viewpoints and international scope.[47] The company emphasizes arthouse films and documentaries from regions including Eastern Europe, aiming to promote diverse voices in global cinema.[47] Among Asterisk Films' early production credits are documentaries exploring cultural and artistic stories from post-Soviet contexts, such as Force of Nature: Natalia (2019), which follows the life and career of Russian prima ballerina Natalia Osipova.[48] Another key project, Janine Jansen: Falling for Stradivari (2021), chronicles the Dutch violinist's quest to record on rare Stradivari instruments, highlighting innovative approaches to classical music performance.[48] Waddell also wrote the screenplay for and produced the romantic comedy Night and Day (2025), an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel starring Lily Allen and Haley Bennett, with production beginning in 2024.[49] Through these works, Asterisk Films has supported narratives that bridge artistic traditions across borders. In recognition of its contributions, Asterisk Films received the 2021 Golden Prague Czech Television Award for Janine Jansen: Falling for Stradivari in the Music and Dance category at the 58th Golden Prague International Television Festival.[50] This accolade underscored the company's role in advancing innovative programming that fosters cultural exchange.[45]Klassiki platform
In 2021, Justine Waddell launched Klassiki, the world's first video-on-demand streaming platform dedicated exclusively to curated cinema from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the former Soviet Union, initially under the auspices of the Kino Klassika Foundation she founded in 2012.[51][52] The platform debuted on February 4 with an initial library of around 60 titles, offering subscription access to rare classics otherwise inaccessible to English-speaking audiences outside traditional festivals or limited releases.[20] Klassiki's curatorial approach prioritizes high-quality restorations, professional English subtitles, and supplementary educational materials to contextualize films for global viewers, drawing on the foundation's decade-long efforts in film preservation.[20][46] This includes in-depth programme notes, director biographies, behind-the-scenes imagery, podcasts, and essays that enhance appreciation of works like Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia (1983) and Sergei Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965), emphasizing their cultural and artistic significance amid Soviet-era constraints.[53][54] By 2022, Klassiki had expanded its offerings to incorporate contemporary indie films alongside classics, partnering with studios like Soyuzmultfilm for animated restorations and international festivals such as FilmFestival Cottbus to feature emerging regional voices.[55][56] The platform grew available on multiple devices including Amazon, Roku, and mobile apps, with a focus on ad-free streaming and downloadable content to broaden access.[11] Waddell's drive for Klassiki stemmed from her South African-British upbringing, which fostered a global perspective, and her early immersion in Russian culture through Cambridge studies and acting roles such as the 1997 film adaptation of Anna Karenina and the Russian-language production Target (2011).[20] After retiring from on-screen acting following her role in Target (2011), she sought to safeguard this cinematic heritage against digital overload and geopolitical barriers, motivated by the foundation's mission to bridge cultural divides.[57] Klassiki operates under her production company, Asterisk Films, aligning with her broader commitment to underrepresented narratives.[48]Awards and nominations
Acting awards
Justine Waddell's acting career in the late 1990s and early 2000s garnered critical acclaim, particularly for her television and theatre performances, leading to several notable awards and nominations that highlighted her versatility and emotional depth.[58] In 2000, she won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress for her role as Molly Gibson in the BBC miniseries Wives and Daughters, where her portrayal of the resilient and introspective young woman was praised for capturing the nuances of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel.[58][59] This accolade underscored her breakthrough in period drama, emphasizing her ability to convey quiet strength amid social constraints.[4] Five years later, Waddell received the Prism Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries for her lead role as Natalie Wood in the ABC biopic The Mystery of Natalie Wood, recognizing her sensitive depiction of the actress's struggles with mental health and personal turmoil.[58][60] The Prism Awards honor accurate and dignified portrayals of mental illness, and Waddell's performance was noted for bringing authenticity to Wood's complex life, from Hollywood stardom to private vulnerabilities. On the theatre front, Waddell earned a 2000 nomination for the Ian Charleson Award for her portrayal of Nina in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull with the Royal Shakespeare Company, an honor that spotlights emerging talent under 30 in classical roles and affirmed her promise as a stage actress.[28]Production awards
In recognition of her production work through Asterisk Films, Justine Waddell received the Czech Television Prize at the 2021 Golden Prague International Television Festival for the documentary Janine Jansen: Falling for Stradivari, directed by Gerald Fox and co-produced with Foxy Films.[50] The film chronicles violinist Janine Jansen's project to record an album using twelve Stradivari instruments, highlighting Waddell's role in supporting innovative music and arts documentaries.[48] Waddell's efforts in film preservation and curation via the Klassiki platform have earned broader acknowledgments from cultural institutions, including her appointment as an ambassador for the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum in 2017, which commended her initiatives to foster global access to Eastern European and Soviet-era cinema.[46] These honors underscore the impact of her post-acting career in promoting underrepresented film heritage through restoration and streaming innovations.Filmography
Film roles
Waddell's feature film debut came in 2000 with the role of Mary Heller, the daughter of Abraham Van Helsing, in the horror film Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier.[61] In 1999, she appeared as Julia Bertram in the period drama Mansfield Park, directed by Patricia Rozema.[62] In 2002, she portrayed Stevie, the wife of an Italian footballer, in the British romantic comedy The One and Only, directed by Simon Cellan Jones.[63] She played Detective Teddy Galloway, a police officer investigating a bank heist, in the 2005 action thriller Chaos, directed by Tony Giglio.[64] In 2006, Waddell appeared as Nurse Evelyn (also known as Sister Evelyn), a compassionate caregiver who becomes entangled in a patient's fantastical tale, in the fantasy adventure The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh.[65] Her role in the 2007 psychological thriller Thr3e, directed by Robby Henson, was Jennifer Peters, a criminal psychologist who assists the protagonist facing a moral dilemma.[66] In 2011, she starred as Danielle, a key figure in the aspiring rock band's circle, in the comedy Killing Bono, directed by Nick Hamm.[42] That same year, Waddell took on the role of Zoe (also referred to as Zoya), a wealthy woman on a futuristic journey, in the Russian science fiction film Target (original title Mishen), directed by Aleksandr Zeldovich.[67] In 2020, she played Natalia in the action thriller Force of Nature, directed by Michael Polish.[68]Television roles
Waddell's early television work primarily consisted of lead roles in literary adaptations broadcast as mini-series and TV movies.- 1997: Anna Karenina (TV mini-series, 4 episodes) as Countess Nordston.[69]
- 1997: The Moth (TV mini-series, 3 episodes) as Millie Thorman.[70]
- 1997: The Woman in White (TV mini-series, 4 episodes) as Laura Fairlie.[71]
- 1998: Tess of the d'Urbervilles (TV movie) as Tess Durbeyfield.[29]
- 1999: Wives and Daughters (TV mini-series, 6 episodes) as Molly Gibson.[32]
- 1999: Great Expectations (TV mini-series, 2 episodes) as Estella.[34]
- 2004: The Mystery of Natalie Wood (TV mini-series, 2 episodes) as Natalie Wood.[35]
- 2012: The Real American: Joe McCarthy (TV movie) as Jean Kerr.[43]