Jodie Whittaker made a name for herself in Venus back in 2006, starring alongside Peter O'Toole, cementing herself as a talent to keep an eye on.
She is back on the big screen this week in Perrier's Bounty, which sees her working alongside Cillian Murphy and Jim Broadbent.
Whittaker studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was soon juggling theatre and television roles.
But her big break came in 2006 with Venus. Maurice and Ian are a pair of veteran actors who never quite hit the big time. Now in their "golden years" they continue to work, though the jobs are far from glamorous.
But their comfortable routine and witty banter over breakfast in a favourite cafe is disrupted by the arrival of Ian's grand-niece, Jessie (Whittaker). Jessie quickly tries her great-uncle's patience; but Maurice is absolutely taken with the young woman and proceeds to show her the cultural sights of London.
As Maurice tries to give Jessie the benefit of his experience, he is surprised to discover how very little he actually knows about himself now that his life is drawing to a close.
Jessie, who had arrived with an enormous chip on her shoulders, slowly learns from Maurice the value of respect, for herself as well as others.
The actress received rave reviews for her performance and went on to be nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy/ Musical, Satellite Awards 2006.
She returned to TV to work on Dalziel & Pascoe and This Life +10 before returning to the big screen.
The actress showed off her range as she moved from comedy St Trinian's to war movie Good, alongside Viggo Mortensen.
She was also juggling theatre work at this time with roles in Enemies before going onto Bash: Latter Day Plays and Awake and Sing!
More recently the actress has work on Tess of the D'Urbervilles, TV mini series alongside Gemma Arterton before going on to Wired and Consuming Passion, also for TV.
But she is back on the big screen this week in the Dublin based comedy thriller Perrier's Bounty directed by Ian Fitzgibbon.
Michael (Murphy) owes money to Dublin’s meanest gangster, Darren Perrier. When the debt is called in Brenda, Michael’s recently dumped and neurotic best friend, accidentally shoots dead one of his goons.
To make matters worse Michael’s estranged father, Jim (Broadbent), arrives just in time to witness the scene. With a bounty on their heads Michael, Jim and Brenda (Whittaker) flee to the mountains.
On the run with his eccentric father, who’s convinced he’ll die the next time he sleeps, and an increasingly morose Brenda, Michael is about to lose his mind.
But as the net tightens and the helter-skelter chase reaches its climax he is forced to forgive his father and confront his true feelings for Brenda.
With every hard man in Dublin on their trail it looks like Michael won’t make it through the next 24 hours; however, The Grim Reaper and a gang of savage dogs have a funny way of intervening.
And the actress has some projects also in the pipeline; Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World sees her star alongside Ed Hogg, The Kid is directed by Nick Moran and also stars Rupert Friend, Natascha McElhone and Bernard Hill and Harmony teams her up with Dougray Scott and Emilia Fox.
Perrier's Bounty is out now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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