Kellie Bright

Kellie Bright

Bright in 2016
Born Kelly Denise Bright
(1976-07-01) 1 July 1976
Brentwood, Essex, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1989–present
Notable work The Upper Hand (1990–96)
Bad Girls (2002)
Rock & Chips (2010–11)
EastEnders (2013–)
Strictly Come Dancing (2015)
Spouse(s) Paul Stocker (m. 2014)
Children 1

Kellie Bright (born Kelly Denise Bright,[1] 1 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for which she won the 2015 British Soap Awards for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance. Her other television roles include Joanna Burrows in The Upper Hand (1990–96), Cassie Tyler in Bad Girls (2002) and Joan Trotter in Rock & Chips (2010–11). In 2015, she was the runner-up in the 13th series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing.

Career

Early years

Bright has been acting since she was 11, appearing on stage in shows such as Annie and Les Misérables, before landing a place at The Sylvia Young Theatre School.[2] As a child actress, she appeared in several different series' on British television in the late 1980s and the 1990s, including T-Bag and Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. In 1990, at the age of 13, Bright was cast as Joanna Burrows in TV series The Upper Hand alongside Joe McGann, Diana Weston and Honor Blackman which ran for six years.

After The Upper Hand had finished, Bright has said that she struggled to make ends meet. She says, "I didn't have any acting work, so I got a job waiting on tables to pay the mortgage, but it was while The Upper Hand was still on air. Next thing I know, a customer had called a newspaper saying I was there and some photographers appeared out of the blue snapping away."[3] She also worked as a receptionist at a nightclub in London. She continued, "I was getting rejected from one job after another and no matter how much I tried not to take it personally, a part of me couldn't help but think: 'I was too ugly to get that part'." [3] Bright played Kate Madikane (née Aldridge) in Radio 4's The Archers, and was with the series from 1995 until 2014.[4]

Recent work

Bright has also had main roles in Bad Girls[5] and BBC radio programme The Archers.[4] She has also guest starred in Da Ali G Show and made an appearance in the film Ali G Indahouse. Bright has made several guest appearances on British television programmes, her credits include Holby City, Casualty, The Catherine Tate Show and Vera.[6]

Bright also starred as Joan Trotter in the Only Fools and Horses prequel, Rock and Chips, from 2010 until 2011.[7]

2013–present: EastEnders

Main article: EastEnders

In October 2013, Bright was cast as Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.[8] Linda made her first on screen appearance on 19 December 2013, but officially arrived on Albert Square with her husband, Mick (played by Danny Dyer) and her children on 26 December 2013. The Carter family were created by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins who planned to completely revamp the show. Since her arrival, Bright's character Linda has been a part of some of the show's biggest storylines such as struggling to accept that her son Johnny (Sam Strike) is gay. In October 2014, Linda was involved in a controversial storyline where she was raped by Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). On filming this particular storyline, Bright stated that "It is a challenging storyline, but it is an important storyline and I feel honoured to have been given it".[9] Bright was praised for her performance during this storyline. Bright won the 2014 Digital Spy's Readers Award for Best Female Soap Actress.[10] Along with Dyer, Bright was nominated for "Best On-screen Partnership" at The British Soap Awards 2014 for the relationship between Mick and Linda. In 2015, she was nominated for the "Serial Drama Performance" award at the National Television Awards,[11] however the award was won by Dyer.[12] She has been nominated for "Best Actress" and "Best Dramatic Performance" at The British Soap Awards 2015. Bright won both.

On 12 March 2015, Bright revealed that she had received "personal letters" from rape victims who had been affected by Linda's story, leaving her feeling "humbled" by the audience's response.[13]

Voice work

In 1992, Bright voiced the character of Beauty in the Bevanfield Films production of Beauty and the Beast. She has also voiced several video game characters, including the Hero of Brightwall in the game Fable III in 2010. In 2011, Bright did voicework for Nintendo and Monolith Soft's Xenoblade Chronicles as the medic Sharla.[14]

Other work

Bright took part in the BBC's Children in Need appeal in 2014 along with Danny Dyer and the rest of the EastEnders cast who performed a Grease medley titled "Grease Enders". Bright appears as Linda though dressed up as Sandy Olsen. She performed in "You're the One That I Want" and "We Go Together".

In September 2015, Bright joined the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.[15] Bright chose to continue playing Linda Carter on EastEnders while competing on Strictly Come Dancing, working all day at EastEnders and rehearses for Strictly in the evening. Paired with professional dancer Kevin Clifton, she was described by head judge Len Goodman as a "great all round dancer". On 19 December the pair reached the final three and topped the leaderboard with a score of 119. Their score including two maximum scores of 40 for their Tango to "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks and their showdance to "The Ding-Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Their final dance, a Charleston to "Cantina Band" from Star Wars, scored 39, but the public voted Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani as the competition winners.

Personal life

Bright married her long-term partner, Paul Stocker, at Trelill, Cornwall on 5 July 2014. [16] On 4 December 2011 she gave birth to a baby boy who has been brought up out of sight of the press. On 19 May 2016, Bright announced via Twitter that she was expecting her second child, stating she was expected to give birth by November.[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Ali G Indahouse Julie Major role
2003 How (Not) to Make a Short Film Stefania Short film
2005 Imagine Me and You Terri
2005 Kinky Boots Jeannie
2012 Ashes Lisa

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989 T-Bag and the Revenge of the T-Set Sally Simpkins/Anastasia TV series
1989 The Bill Mr. Carmody's daughter Uncredited
1989 Maid Marian and Her Merry Men Little girl Main Cast
1989 T-Bag's Christmas Carol Sally Simpkins TV movie
1990 T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom Sally Simpkins TV series
1990 Brush Strokes Child
1990–96 The Upper Hand Joanna Burrows TV series
1991 The Grove Family Daphne Grove One-off re-make to celebrate closure of Lime Grove Studios
1992 Beauty and the Beast Beauty
1996 Scenes Clare One episode: Alison
1997 Blackrock Leesha
1998 The Bill Lianne Clark 1 episode
2000 Nature Boy Katy 1 episode
2000 Cor, Blimey! Viola TV Movie
2000 The Thing About Vince Sally
2001 Outriders Julia's Mother 2 episodes
2002 Bad Girls Cassie Tyler 12 episodes
2002 The House That Jack Built Lisa Squire 6 episodes
2002 Silent Witness DC Mona Westlake
2005 Jericho WPC Penny Collins
2005 The Alice Lynette 1 episode
2006 Vital Signs Yvonne 1 episode
2006 Two Women Woman 1 episode
2007 The Catherine Tate Show Kelly Christmas Special
2008 New Tricks Sarah Madeley 1 episode
2008 Horne and Corden Various roles 5 episodes
2009 Hotel Babylon Meredith Sutton 1 episode
2009 Holby City Joy Miller 2 episodes
2010 Come Rain, Come Shine Joanne Mitchell TV movie
2010–11 Rock and Chips Joan Trotter Main cast
2012 One Night Dawn 2 episodes
2013 Great Night Out Shona 1 episode
2013 Casualty Tina Caffola 1 episode
2013–present EastEnders Linda Carter Regular role
2014 Vera Vanessa Barnes 1 episode
2014 Children in Need 2014 Linda Carter Grease Enders – EastEnders cast do Grease

As herself

Year Title Notes
2015 Strictly Come Dancing Participant
2015 Strictly – It Takes Two Weekly guest

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Fable III Hero of Brightwall
2011 Dragon Age II Grace/Idunna/Guardsman Brennan/Ella/Ginnis
2011 Xenoblade Chronicles Sharla

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2014 On Set With...Kellie Bright[18] Herself EastEnders web series
2015 Ramsay Square[19] Linda Carter Neighbours 30th Birthday Tribute

Selected theatre performances

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2014 The British Soap Awards Best On-Screen Parternership (with Danny Dyer) EastEnders Nominated
Digital Spy Reader's Award Best Female Soap Actor Won
2015 National Television Awards Outstanding Serial Drama Performance Nominated
The British Soap Awards Best Actress Won
Best Dramatic Performance Won
Inside Soap Awards Best Actress Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "England & Wales births 1837–2006; transcription of Kelly Denise Bright, Brentwood, Essex, 1976; volume 9; page 2162". Retrieved 3 December 2015 – via Find My Past. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ 5 things you didn't know about EastEnders' Kellie Bright – Showbiz News – Best Daily Archived 26 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 "I thought that I was too ugly to work again; From the acting scrapheap to being able to pick and choose parts, Kellie Bright has come back from the brink, says TIM RANDALL.". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 – The Archers – Kate Madikane". BBC. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. ↑ http://www.badgirls.co.uk/library/int-s4-kb.html
  6. ↑ "Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn stars in police drama Vera, written by Ann Cleeves – Western Morning News". Western Morning News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "BBC – Press Office – Rock & Chips press pack: Q&A with Kellie Bright".
  8. ↑ "BBC – Danny Dyer and Kellie Bright to join EastEnders – Media centre".
  9. ↑ "EastEnders' Kellie Bright: 'Linda Carter rape storyline is a challenge'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  10. ↑ Daniel Kilkelly. "EastEnders sweeps the board in 2014 Digital Spy Reader Awards". Digital Spy.
  11. ↑ "National Television Awards 2015: Nominations in full as Mary Berry battles Simon Cowell". The Independent. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Westbrook, Caroline (21 January 2015). "National Television Awards 2015: Danny Dyer pays tribute to EastEnders co-star Kellie Bright as he beats her to acting prize". Metro. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "poet". Write Out Loud. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Behind The Voice Actors – Kellie Bright". Behind The Voice Actors.
  15. ↑ Ellie Walker-Arnott. "Strictly Come Dancing 2015: Craig Revel Horwood reveals who he thinks will win series 13". RadioTimes. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "EastEnders star Kellie Bright marries longterm partner". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  17. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/eastenders/news/a794691/eastenders-star-kellie-bright-is-expecting-her-second-child-with-husband/
  18. ↑ "BBC One – EastEnders, On set with... Kellie Bright". BBC. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Ramsay Square – EastEnders: Neighbours 30th Anniversary tribute – BBC One. YouTube. 17 March 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kellie Bright.
Preceded by
Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton
Simon Webbe & Kristina Rihanoff		 Strictly Come Dancing runner-up
(with partner Kevin Clifton)
Series 13 (2015) 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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