Kerri Quinn

Kerri Quinn
Born
Belfast
Alma materQueen's University Belfast
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active2006–present
Children1

Kerri Quinn is an actress and singer from Northern Ireland. On television, she is known for her roles in Coronation Street and Hope Street.

Biography

Early life and career

At the age of 13, Quinn started singing in bands. That gave her a boost in confidence, which prompted her to take on acting lessons.[1] Quinn followed theatre studies at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education (BIFHE) and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree at Queen's University Belfast in 2004.[2][3] She didn't go on with the studies, bored with writing essays, but instead chose to learn the art hands on, in the theatre.[4]

Quinn thinks she's lucky to be one of the few theatre talents that got a series of roles.[1] Her skills as a musician, certainly helped with that. She performed in bands,[5] as an in house singer,[6] and toured pubs and clubs with an ABBA tribute band.[7][8] Some of the interesting theatre pieces she played in, are the musicals West Side Story (2006) and Dancing Shoes (The George Best Story, 2010), the rock-and-play Huzzies (2012) and The Threepenny Opera (2018).

Radio and podcasts

At the end of 2023 Quinn made her first appearance as a radio narrator. It was in the BBC miniseries The Mystery of Mount Stewart, about a boat that sank on Strangford Lough in April 1895. Theresa, Lady Londonderry had lend her sailing boat to her senior servants, as a treat. The series tries to uncover what happened to the boat and its eight passengers that went missing.[9]

In 2024 Quinn starred in the RTÉ comical radio drama Helen Wheels by Fion Foley. Helen is the mother of a bicycle courier, working for a food delivery company, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belfast. When she finds drugs in her son's delivery bag, she decides to step in and go on a ride herself.[10] The programme won the 2024 IMRO Radio Award in the category Speech Drama.[11][12]

Personal life

In the 2010s Quinn had bought a bungalow in north Belfast at walking distance from her parents. Then locals raised Union flags, tore hers down and took their frustration out on Quinn by smashing her windows. After the attack, she and her daughter moved in with her parents.[7][13] When she asked for help, estate agents and politicians told her to simply sell the place. She left the house boarded up for a while.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014 Fishbowl Tina short by Martin McCann
2016 Unhappy Endings The Derby Woman short thriller
2018 The Good Christian Women's Writing Group Jackie short
2020 Caroline Caroline short
2023 The Bully Gloria short [15][16]
2023 Faith of Our Fathers Ann drama
2024 Kneecap Spin instructor dark comedy cameo[14]

Television

Year Title Role Episodes Notes Ref.
2011 Sketchy with Diarmuid Corr various roles 1/9 (S2E2)
2011 Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust Dervla TV movie BBC [17]
2015 The Frankenstein Chronicles Mrs. Bowyer 1/12 (S1E2) ITV [18]
2018 Come Home Brenna Coyle 3/3 BBC One, RTÉ One [7]
2018 Care Hilary TV movie
2018 Torvill & Dean (film) Mrs Murray / Woman in garden TV movie ITV
2018–2019 Coronation Street Vicky Jefferies 60/... ITV
2019 Derry Girls Rita 1/19 (S2E3) Channel 4 [19]
2020–present Hope Street Sergeant Marlene Pettigrew 35/36 BBC
2021 Three Families Louise Byrne 2/2 BBC One
2022 The Witcher: Blood Origin Aevenien 2/4 Netflix
2023 Der Irland-Krimi Saoirse Flynn S4E2 German production
2024 Dead and Buried Sally Bowman 4/4 BBC NI, Virgin Media Television
2024 Say Nothing Chrissie ... FX (USA) Disney+ (UK IE)

Theatre

Year Title Role Theatre Location Ref.
2006 West Side Story Anita Gaiety Theatre Dublin [3][20]
2009 Three Women Woman Two [21]
2009 The Weein Susie Ego Old Museum Arts Centre
Down Arts Centre		 Belfast
Downpatrick 		[22]
2010
2015		 Dancing Shoes - The George Best Story (musical) Angie Best
Mrs Fullaway		 on tour
Grand Opera House		 UK Tour
Belfast 		[23]
[24]
2012 Huzzies Dee Tinderbox Theatre Company The MAC Belfast [25][26][5]
2014 Cabaret (musical) Sally Bowles Metropolitan Arts Centre Belfast [3]
2016
2017		 Educating Rita Susan (Rita) White Lyric Theatre Belfast
All Ireland Tour 		[27]
[2]
2017 The Weir Valerie Lyric Theatre Belfast [28]
2018 The Threepenny Opera Jenny Diver Lyric Theatre Belfast, 13 performances [29]
2023 Burnt Out Cheryl Lyric Theatre Belfast [30]

"Other theatrical roles include The Nativity... What The Donkey Saw, Smiley and Here Comes The Night (Lyric Theatre), What We're Made Of (Tinderbox)," [2] "Lisa/Tracey in the all-female production of Flesh and Blood Women (GreenShoot Productions), Mother/Princess in Nivellis War (Cahoots NI), Roberta in Belfast by Moonlight (Kabosh), Beauty Queen in Hatch (P.J O'Reily/The Mac), Patsy in Baby its Cold Outside (Greenshoot Productions) Ma in Weddins Weeins and Wakes (Lyric Theatre), Emily in Titanic Boys (GBL Productions)."[27]

Radio

Year Title Role Channel Notes Ref.
2023-24 The Mystery of Mountstewart Narrator BBC Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Foyle		 documentary in 3 episodes [9][31]
2024 Helen Wheels Narrator/Main RTÉ comedy drama [10]

References

  1. ^ a b Robin Elliot (2019-09-09). "The Big Interview: Kerri Quinn". NVTV, Local TV for Belfast. Archived from the original on 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  2. ^ a b c "Educating Rita All Ireland Tour Programme 2017" (pdf). Lyric Theatre Belfast. 2023-08-16. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via ISSUU.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Critically acclaimed Educating Rita star is alumna Kerri Quinn". Queen's University Belfast. 2016-02-04. Archived from the original on 2024-09-26. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  4. ^ "Tonight With Gerry Kelly". NVTV, Local TV for Belfast. 2022-12-09. 34:27-43:00
  5. ^ a b "Huzzies - The other side of you acoustic". Katie Richardson. 2012-10-18. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "Kerri Quinn sings Maybe This Time at The Cabaret Supper Club". AMPM, Cabaret, Treehouse Belfast. 2019-08-29. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ a b c Tanya Sweeny (2018-03-23). "The mighty QUINN". Irish Daily Mail – via Pressreader.
  8. ^ "Abba by Candlelight at Cabaret Supper Club". AMPM, Cabaret, Treehouse Belfast. 2023-08-28. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ a b "Hope Street's Kerri Quinn delves into The Mystery of Mount Stewart in new BBC Sounds podcast". BBC. 2023-12-20. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  10. ^ a b "Drama on One: Helen Wheels by Fionn Foley". RTÉ. 2024-05-19. Archived from the original on 2024-09-28.
  11. ^ "2024 winners". IMRO Radio Awards 2024. 2024-10-04. Category C5 Drama.
  12. ^ "Helen Wheels - hear Fionn Foley's award-winning Drama On One play". RTÉ. 2024-10-07.
  13. ^ Little, Ivan (2018-07-18). "Bout ye, Chuck! Kerri Quinn's Belfast accent to cut across Coronation Street's famed cobbles". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  14. ^ a b Kerri Sad. "Actress Kerri Quinn says her heart breaks for arson attack victims as she recalls own sectarian trauma". Sunday World. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  15. ^ Sophie McLaughlin (2023-10-26). "The Bully: Award-winning Belfast playwright turns to writing for the big screen with new dark comedy film". BelfastLive.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  16. ^ "The Bully". Beezer Productions Ltd. 2024-03-04. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ "Betrayal of Trust (Full Movie)". Real Drama. 2022-01-24. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via YouTube. "Kerry" (IMDb spelling error) can be seen from timestamp 12:15 to 19:00.
  18. ^ "Seeing Things". IMDb. 2015-11-18. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  19. ^ "The Girls Meet Rita "The Woman Is A Maniac" | Derry Girls". Hat Trick Comedy. 2022-02-25 – via YouTube. Rita meets the girls in the video Derry Girls | Chased By Gypsies, her last line is in Derry Girls | James Becomes A Gypsy.
  20. ^ "Kevin set to star in top Gaiety musical". Irish Independent. 2006-10-11. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25. (production details)
  21. ^ "3 Women". c21 theatre company. Archived from the original on 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  22. ^ Lisa Fitzpatrick (2009-11-25). "The Weein". Irish Theatre Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-09-25 – via itmarchive.ie.
  23. ^ "Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story > Original Cast". CastAlbums.org. 2010. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  24. ^ Colm O'hagan (2015-08-13). "Dancing Shoes - The George Best Story returns to the Grand Opera House". Belfast Live. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  25. ^ Tom Maguire (2012-10-23). "Huzzies". Irish Theatre Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  26. ^ Helen Meany (2012-10-29). "Huzzies - review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  27. ^ a b "Educating Rita, Programme" (pdf). Lyric Theatre. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  28. ^ "Q&A: Belfast actress Kerri Quinn on new play The Weir at the Lyric Theatre". Belfast Telegraph. 2017-09-04. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  29. ^ "Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera), Weill, Northern Ireland Opera (2018)". Operabase.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-24. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  30. ^ James Martin McCarthy (2023-10-12). "Burnt Out review: Play will have you on the edge of your seat". BelfastLive.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  31. ^ "The Mystery of Mountstewart". BBC Sounds. 2023-12-23. Archived from the original on 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.