PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Vinette Robinson
Vinette Robinson
	Robinson in 2021
Born	1981 (age 42–43); Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present

Vinette Robinson (born 1981)^[4] is a British actress. Her TV appearances include roles in Sherlock, Black Mirror, Boiling Point, Waterloo Road and as civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks in the Doctor Who episode "Rosa".

Early life

Robinson was born to a Jamaican father and a British mother.^[5]^[6] She grew up in Bradford. Robinson went to Primary and Secondary school in Bradford, then did drama in sixth form at Intake High School in Leeds,^[7] along with weekly courses at the Scala School of Performing Arts theatre school in Leeds.^[5]^[6]^[8]^[9]

Career

Robinson began auditioning when she was thirteen years old; her first audition was for the role of Queen Amidala in the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; a part which ultimately went to Natalie Portman.^[10]^[11] She made her television debut in The Cops at the age of 17.^[12]^[13] Following this she spent three years at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was awarded a Laurence Olivier Bursary from the Society of London Theatre.^[14]^[15]^[16] She had a small role as the Jamaican girl in the 2004 film Vera Drake but was given an entire character backstory by the director Mike Leigh.^[16]

Her first stage role was in the highly lauded National Theatre/Complicitéproduction of Measure for Measure. Following this she was part of the Gunpowder season at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she played the tortured servant May in Rupert Goold's production of Speaking Like Magpies by Frank McGuinness. In 2006 she played Eve in an acclaimed production of Paradise Lost. Commenting on her nude scene, Sheila Tracy of The Stage wrote "one can not imagine the action working in any other way".^[17] Her performance in Sugar Mummies that same year led New York to list her as one of "London's hottest young stage actors" in 2007.^[18] Following the conclusion of Sugar Mummies, she appeared in a short feature for Time Out, in which she and five other actors were described as "innovative young theatrical talent".^[16]

In 2009, she played Josie Porritt in the BBC television series Hope Springs and appeared as newly qualified English teacher Helen Hopewell in eight episodes of Waterloo Road's fifth series. From December 2009 to January 2010, she starred as the maid Florence in the Hampstead Theatre's Darker Shores. In a Daily Telegraph review that rated the play only two stars, Charles Spencer commended Robinson's performance as having "a warmth and emotional openness".^[19] Kate Bassett for The Independent on Sunday also praised her, writing that she "copes admirably".^[20] In 2010, she starred as police sergeant Sally Donovan in the BBC series Sherlock, continuing her role in the second and third series that aired in January 2012 and December 2013/January 2014.

In 2011, Robinson appeared in Philip Ridley's Tender Napalm, for which she received a "Best Female at The Offie" award. She then went on to play Ophelia in The Young Vic's production of Hamlet, for which she received the Clarence Derwent Award. Her role as Ophelia led to her inclusion in the New York Times Magazine article "Titans of the Stage".^[21]

In 2016, she appeared in Hated in the Nation, an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.

In October 2018, Robinson appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Rosa", as civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks.^[22] It was her second appearance in Doctor Who, following her portrayal of the character Abi Lerner in the 2007 episode "42".^[23]

In 2019, Robinson appeared briefly in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as a pilot who receives a same-sex kiss, a first for the film franchise.^[24] She appeared in the 2021 one-take film Boiling Point for which she received critical acclaim, as well as the BIFA for Best Supporting Actress. She portrays a sous chef to an insolent, alcoholic head chef over the course of one hectic night at a busy restaurant.

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Performance history
2004	Measure for Measure	Juliet		National Theatre
2005	A New Way to Please You	Footman		Royal Shakespeare Company
	Sejanus: His Fall	High Priestess
	Thomas More	Lady Roper
	Speaking Like Magpies	May
2006	Paradise Lost	Eve		Headlong
2006	Sugar Mummies	Naomi		Royal Court Theatre
2008	War & Peace	Hélène/Mlle Bourienne	Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale	National tour, 7 February – 11 May 2008
2009	Darker Shores	Florence Kennedy	Anthony Clarke	Hampstead Theatre, 7 December 2009 – 16 January 2010
2011	Tender Napalm	Unnamed female lead	David Mercatali	Southwark Playhouse
2011	Hamlet	Ophelia	Ian Rickson	Young Vic, 28 October 2011 – 21 January 2012^[25]
2018	Emilia	Emilia 2^[26]	Nicole Charles	Shakespeare's Globe

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2004	Vera Drake	Jamaican Girl
2005	Imagine Me & You	Zina
2011	Powder	Hannah
2012	Beginning	Claire	Short film
2012	Brown Widow	Gee	Short film
2013	Assistance	Jenny	Television film
2016	Morgan	Dr. Brenda Finch
2016	Ramona & The Chair	Zadie	Short film
2018	The Dead Ones	Marla	Short film
2019	Frankie	Sylvia
	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Pilot Tyce
	Parlour Games		Short film
2020	Say Your Prayers	Imelda
2021	Boiling Point	Carly
2021	The Amazing Mr. Blunden	Mrs. Allen	Television film
2023	The Pod Generation	Alice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	City Central	Girl	Episode: "Justice to Be Done"
1998	The Cops	Sarah Midgely	Episode: "Top of the Game"
1999	Children's Ward	Joy	Guest role; 2 episodes
1999	Cold Feet	Female Shop Assistant	Episode: "Series 2, Episode 2"
2000	Doctors	Cath Bickerstaff	Guest role; 2 episodes
	This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper	Rita Rytka	Episode: "Episode 1"
	Fat Friends	Young Shop Assistant	Episode: "Face the Fat"
2001	Always and Everyone	Teresa	Episode: "Safe from Harm"
2003	Between the Sheets	Tracy Ellis	Miniseries; 6 episodes
2004	Murphy's Law	Aimie	Episode: "Jack's Back"
	Blue Murder	Andrea	Episode: "Hit and Run"
	Doctors	Melanie	Episode: "Daddy's Girl"
2005	Casualty	Kirsty Evans	Episode: "Truth Will Out"
2007	Doctor Who	Abi Lerner	Episode: "42"
	Party Animals	Kerry	Recurring role; 2 episodes
	Hustle	Tina	Episode: "A Designer's Paradise"
	Doctors	Katie Waters	Episode: "Hero"
2008	The Passion	Mina	Episode: "Episode 2"
2009	Hope Springs	Josie Porritt	Series regular; 8 episodes
2009	Waterloo Road	Helen Hopewell	Series regular; 8 episodes
2010–2014	Sherlock	Sally Donovan	Recurring role; 4 episodes
2013	Vera	Corinne Franks	Episode: "Castles in the Air"
2014	Death in Paradise	Lauren Campese	Episode: "An Artistic Murder"
2014	The Red Tent	Bilhah	Miniseries; 2 episodes
2015	Black Work	Zoe Nash	Miniseries; 2 episodes
2016	Black Mirror	Liza Bahar	Episode: "Hated in the Nation"
2016	Close to the Enemy	Rita	Miniseries; 5 episodes
2016–2017	Delicious	Rosa	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2016–2017	The A Word	Nicola Daniels	Series regular; 12 episodes
2017	Year Million	Eva	Miniseries; 5 episodes
2018	Doctor Who	Rosa Parks	Episode: "Rosa"
2019	I Am...	Toni	Episode: "I Am Kirsty"
	A Christmas Carol	Mary Cratchit	Miniseries; 3 episodes
	Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle	Yvonne	Episode: "Yvonne 1981"^[27]
2022	Code 404	Professor Sarah McAllister	Recurring role; 5 episodes
2022–2023	The Lazarus Project	Janet	Series regular; 10 episodes
2023	Six Four	Michelle O'Neill	Miniseries; 4 episodes
2023	Boiling Point	Carly	Miniseries; 4 episodes
2024	The Gathering	Natalie	Recurring role; 2 episodes^[28]
	Inside No. 9	Val	Episode: "Mulberry Close"
	Suspect	Louisa	Episode: "Louisa"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2014	Dragon Age: Inquisition	Sister Tanner (voice)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Role	Work	Result
2012	Clarence Derwent Awards	Best Female in a Supporting Role	Ophelia	Hamlet	Won
2021	BIFA	Best Supporting Actress	Carly	Boiling Point	Won
2023	BAFTA Scotland	Best Actress - Television	Michelle O'Neill	Six Four	Nominated