Genevieve Barr

Genevieve Barr
Born Genevieve Louise Barr
December 1985
Harrogate, England
Occupation Actress, teacher
Years active 2010-present

Genevieve Barr (born 12 December 1985)[1] is an English actress best known for the role Amelia in the BBC award-winning series The Silence.

Further credits include roles playing psychopathic Lisa in Shameless, BAFTA award-winning The Fades, ITV's True Love alongside Jane Horrocks, Call the Midwife and ITV's most recent hit show, Liar.

Early life and career

Genevieve was born deaf into a hearing family with no hereditary record of deafness,[2] and has three younger siblings. She was fitted with hearing aids aged four and attended mainstream education at Harrogate Ladies' College, studied English and History at Edinburgh University, before graduating in 2008. A talented sports-woman, she played rounders for England at 15, was a high-board diver competing in national competitions, captained the Edinburgh University lacrosse team, before going on to play for Scotland.[1] Upon completion of her degree, Genevieve enrolled in the Teach First graduate scheme and was teaching in a secondary school in Bermondsey before commencing her acting career.[1][3] In 2016, Genevieve married her long-term partner, Alex. She lives in Crouch End, London.

In 2012, after The Silence came out, Genevieve went on to roles in Shameless and BBC3's award-winning drama The Fades. That was the first time Genevieve and Jack Thorne worked together before they were reunited with Thorne's hit play The Solid Life of Sugar Water. In 2013, Genevieve starred alongside Jane Horrocks in episode 4 of ITV's True Love, directed by Dominic Savage and played a Victorian prostitute in the BBC production Murder on the Victorian Railway.

In 2014, Genevieve played June Dillon in the season 4 finale - a deaf woman who relied solely on sign language coming to terms with childbirth and the prospects of raising a deaf child. In 2016 after a long stint of theatre work, Genevieve returned to television with ITV's hit show LIAR which has now been commissioned for a second season. In this, Genevieve was reunited with Harry and Jack Williams of The Missing fame, the writers of the show, who gave Genevieve her first acting job.

Genevieve can also be seen in the Maltesers advert, part of a huge international campaign celebrating diversity. This was the first advert to ever be aired solely in British Sign Language with captions.

Theatre

Genevieve's first stint in theatre was working with actor-director Adrian Dunbar on an international tour of Brian Friel's Translations. A few years later she was reunited with Jack Thorne on the theatre production, 'The Solid Life of Sugar Water'. Co-produced by Graeae, the disability-led theatre company and Theatre Plymouth Royal, it won five star reviews at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015 and went onto the National Theatre in London at the culmination of a successful tour. Further credits have included 'Unreachable' at the Royal Court and she is signed up for two new productions in 2018.

Television

YearTitleCharacterNotes
2016LiarDr Hartley
2015Call the MidwifeJune Dillon
2013Murder on the Victorian RailwayMary Ann Eldred
2012True LoveSarah
2011The FadesMaddyBAFTA TV Award winner, best drama series
2011ShamelessLisa
2010The SilenceAmeliaBAFTA TV best actress nominee
2009The Amazing DermotJessica

Film

YearTitleCharacterNotes
2018Been So LongArtemis
2017LightningSummer
2016The Solid Life of Sugar WaterAlice

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016UnreachableEvaRoyal Court
2015The Solid Life of Sugar WaterAliceGraeae/Theatre Plymouth Royal production, shown in Temporary Shed at National Theatre
2012TranslationsSarahMillenium Forum Theatre

Commercials

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016Maltesers - Deaf DogKate

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dehn, Georgia Genevieve Barr interview: the deaf star of the new BBC thriller The Silence, 24 June 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  2. ↑ Press Packs: The Silence: Genevieve Barr (Amelia), 7 July 2010, www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  3. ↑ Lee, Adrian (13 September 2011). "Deafness won't stop me being a TV star".
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