Anna Russell-Martin’s stage work has already attracted myriad plaudits, particularly two highly commended nods at the Ian Charleson Awards, the theatrical gongs that anoint the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under the age of 30. The first was for her 2022 performance as Rosaura in Life Is A Dream at the Lyceum Theatre in London; the second came two years later in Stratford for her Banquo in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Macbeth.
“Loads of the strong women that I know are Scottish and have this quiet confidence and a little gallus nous about them that I like to think I have as well,” says the Coatbridge-born actress. “It’s not a rudeness; but while English people in a room are being polite, I’m bolder and more ballsy. That’s who I am, that’s the women I’ve grown up around. I won’t apologise for that when I walk into a room or an audition, believing I belong there and I’m there to do a job.”
Russell-Martin started dance classes aged three, joined the Dance School of Scotland (Citizens Theatre) at the age of 16, before securing a place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2018. Her first screen role was in Laura Carreira’s short The Shift, which premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2020. As Russell-Martin walked the red carpet in support of the film, she realised she wanted more screen work. “It wasn’t until I started doing interviews that I thought, ‘Maybe I’m alright at this.’”
After appearing in Glasgow-based Italian writer/director Debora Maité Bottino’s short You Land, she reunited with Carreira for her Scotland-set feature debut On Falling, then secured a part in Falling Into Place, the directorial debut of German actress Aylin Tezel, filming her scenes in Germany despite most of the shoot taking place in Scotland.
On the small screen, Russell-Martin has appeared in the BBC’s long-running hospital drama Casualty; Scotland-set detective drama Annika, starring Nicola Walker, for Alibi; and in UK crime series Karen Pirie,based on the novels by Val McDermid. “I like playing good, meaty, well-rounded characters,” says Russell-Martin. “I enjoy having a varied life and my work can take me places.” But Scotland remains her base. “It’s more about where you want to be when you’re unemployed, where you feel at home, because you go wherever the project is being made.”
Contact: Ruth Young, United Agents
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