Saskia Reeves
Encyclopedia
Saskia Reeves is a British actress perhaps best known for her roles in the films Close My Eyes
(1991) and ID
(1995), and the 2000 miniseries
Frank Herbert's Dune
.
Born and brought up in London
to a Dutch
mother and English
father, Reeves studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama
and has since worked with directors such as Mike Leigh
, Stephen Poliakoff
, Michael Winterbottom
and Nicholas Hytner
.
Early in her career she performed in puppet shows and in satirical revues at the Covent Garden Community Theatre.
Her television credits include Spooks
and the Bodies
finale. Her stage work
includes productions at London's National
and Royal Court Theatre
s as well as on international tour.
In addition to her acting career, Reeves does voice work, including commercial and narration (book readings) for VocalPoint.net.
In 2008, she starred in English Touring Theatre
's revival of Athol Fugard
's Hello and Goodbye at the Trafalgar Studios
in London.
In 2010 she starred as Anne Darwin, the wife of the famous disappearing canoeist John Darwin (played by Bernard Hill
) in Canoe Man, a dramatisation of the John Darwin disappearance case
for BBC4. and in the BBC1 series Luther
.
In 2011 Reeves played the matriarch, Anna Brangwen, in the first part of William Ivory's two-part adaptation of DH Lawrence's novels The Rainbow
and Women in Love
, first shown on BBC4.
Close My Eyes (film)
Close My Eyes is a 1991 film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Alan Rickman, Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves as well as Lesley Sharp and Karl Johnson...
(1991) and ID
ID (film)
I.D. is a 1994 British film made by BBC Films about football hooliganism, directed by Philip Davis and starring Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke. It is set in the 1980s, in England, mainly London, and also shot at Millmoor and Valley Parade football grounds in Rotherham and Bradford...
(1995), and the 2000 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was the last product by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's...
.
Born and brought up in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
mother and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
father, Reeves studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
and has since worked with directors such as Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
, Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
and Nicholas Hytner
Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English film and theatre producer and director. He has been the artistic director of London's National Theatre since 2003.-Biography:...
.
Early in her career she performed in puppet shows and in satirical revues at the Covent Garden Community Theatre.
Her television credits include Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
and the Bodies
Bodies (TV series)
Bodies is a BAFTA-nominated British television medical drama produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. Created by Jed Mercurio, the series began in 2004 and is based on his book Bodies. The first series debuted on BBC Three as the channel at this time was trying to break out into hour-long...
finale. Her stage work
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
includes productions at London's National
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
and Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
s as well as on international tour.
In addition to her acting career, Reeves does voice work, including commercial and narration (book readings) for VocalPoint.net.
In 2008, she starred in English Touring Theatre
English Touring Theatre
The English Touring Theatre is a touring theatre company in England. It is England's only touring company to receive a government subsidy for producing work for larger theatres, which is its main work...
's revival of Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...
's Hello and Goodbye at the Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
in London.
In 2010 she starred as Anne Darwin, the wife of the famous disappearing canoeist John Darwin (played by Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled 'hard man' whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking 1980s TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff...
) in Canoe Man, a dramatisation of the John Darwin disappearance case
John Darwin disappearance case
The John Darwin disappearance case was an investigation into the faked death of British former teacher and prison officer John Darwin, who turned up alive in December 2007, five years after he was thought to have died in a canoeing accident....
for BBC4. and in the BBC1 series Luther
Luther (TV series)
Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011...
.
In 2011 Reeves played the matriarch, Anna Brangwen, in the first part of William Ivory's two-part adaptation of DH Lawrence's novels The Rainbow
The Rainbow
The Rainbow is a 1915 novel by British author D. H. Lawrence. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, particularly focusing on the sexual dynamics of, and relations between, the characters....
and Women in Love
Women in Love
Women in Love is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence published in 1920. It is a sequel to his earlier novel The Rainbow , and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, pursues a destructive relationship with Gerald Crich, an...
, first shown on BBC4.
Screen credits
- Close My EyesClose My Eyes (film)Close My Eyes is a 1991 film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Alan Rickman, Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves as well as Lesley Sharp and Karl Johnson...
(1991) - December BrideDecember Bride (film)December Bride is a film produced in Ireland in 1990 and released on 29 November 1991. It stars Saskia Reeves as the title character, with Donal McCann and Ciarán Hinds as the brothers who become her lovers in a conservative rural part of Ulster...
(1991) - Antonia and JaneAntonia and JaneAntonia and Jane is a 1991 comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron and starring Imelda Staunton, Saskia Reeves, Brenda Bruce and Bill Nighy. It is about two mismatched woman friends who have had a love–hate relationship with each other since childhood....
(1991) - The BridgeThe Bridge (1992 film)The Bridge is a 1992 independent film based on the novel by Maggie Hemingway. Directed by Sydney Macartney, it stars Saskia Reeves, David O'Hara, Joss Ackland, Rosemary Harris, Anthony Higgins, and Geraldine James...
(1992) - IDID (film)I.D. is a 1994 British film made by BBC Films about football hooliganism, directed by Philip Davis and starring Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke. It is set in the 1980s, in England, mainly London, and also shot at Millmoor and Valley Parade football grounds in Rotherham and Bradford...
(1995) - Butterfly KissButterfly KissButterfly Kiss is a 1995 British film, directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. It stars Amanda Plummer and Saskia Reeves...
(1995) - Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol (1999 film)A Christmas Carol is a 1999 television film adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous novel A Christmas Carol. It was directed by David Hugh Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit...
(1999, TV movie) - Heart (1999)
- Frank Herbert's DuneFrank Herbert's DuneFrank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was the last product by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's...
(2000, TV miniseries) - The TesseractThe Tesseract (film)The Tesseract, is a 2003 thriller film starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Based on the novel of the same name by Alex Garland, it is directed by Oxide Pang....
(2003) - City of Birds (2008)
- The FixerThe Fixer (TV series)The Fixer is a British drama television series, produced by Kudos for ITV. Set in modern Britain, it follows the life of an ex-British Special Forces soldier arrested by police after he killed his aunt and uncle following his discharge from the military...
(2008, TV series) - Canoe Man (2010, TV drama)
- LutherLuther (TV series)Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011...
(2010, TV series) - Wallander (2010, TV series)
- Women in LoveWomen in LoveWomen in Love is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence published in 1920. It is a sequel to his earlier novel The Rainbow , and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, pursues a destructive relationship with Gerald Crich, an...
as Anna Brangwen (2011) in the first part of BBC television's two-part series - Lewis: Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things (2011, TV series) as Alison McLennan
- Page EightPage EightPage Eight is a 2011 film written and directed for the BBC by the British writer David Hare, his first film as director since the 1989 film Strapless. The cast includes Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis. The film had its world premiere on 18 June...
(2011, TV movie) as Anthea Catcheside