Acting
Apr 15, 1972
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Tanya Moodie
Acting
Biography
Tanya Moodie is a Canadian actress and producer, best known for her work on Motherland, The Clinic, and her many stage credits, which include productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. Tanya Moodie was born on 16 April 1972 in Ottawa, Canada, to Jamaican parents. She moved to England at the age of 17, when she was offered a place at RADA, where she was later employed as an associate teacher and council member. Moodie's first television role was in the comedy So Haunt Me in 1994, followed by a starring role as Hunter in Neil Gaiman's 1996 fantasy mini-series Neverwhere (1996). She featured in guest roles in various series in the 2000s, and in 2008–9 had a regular role in Irish medical drama The Clinic. She also played the role of John Watson's therapist Ella Thompson in Sherlock. In 2016 she played Gertrude in Simon Godwin's production of Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. From 2019, Moodie starred as Meg in the BBC comedy series Motherland. In a 2021 interview with the Huffington Post, Moody shared that she was proud of the feedback she had received about her character's cancer storyline: "There’s been people who have written me very personal messages saying that they’re going through [cancer] right now or their parents are, and they say we’ve really shown what it’s like. I’m really happy that that’s happened – I didn’t expect it to. I didn’t finish filming and say ‘I really feel like I’ve nailed what it’s like to go through this journey’, because it’s so subjective and unique to people." In 2020, Moodie starred in the third series of Tin Star as Catherine Mckenzie. The series was created by Rowan Joffé. In April 2022, Moodie featured as Regina in series 1 episode 4 of Ten Percent. Moodie appeared in Sam Mendes' film Empire of Light, released in the US in December 2022, and the UK in January 2023. Moodie appears alongside Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and Micheal Ward. Also in December 2022, Moodie reprised her role as Meg in the Christmas special of Motherland, titled "Last Christmas". The episode garnered wholly positive reviews from critics. In March 2023, Moodie appeared as Serena in two episodes of the Cash Carraway-created Rain Dogs.
Feature Films (17)
The duty manager of a seaside cinema, who is struggling with her mental health, forms a relationship with a new employee on the south coast of England in the 1980s.
Empire of Light
What do you do when the party of the year kicks you to the curb? Simple... create your own! When Sean and his friends are refused entry to the night of their year, they embark on a mission to stage a monster event, whilst at the same time taking down the opposition.
Legacy
In 1950s America, protests for racial equality erupt in the face of voter suppression. On Broadway, Wiletta Mayer, a talented black actress, begins rehearsals for a new play about racism – written and directed by two white men. When Wiletta finds that her arguments to tell the truth of the story are dismissed, she decides to take action. First staged over 60 years ago, Trouble in Mind is widely considered the masterpiece of actress and playwright Alice Childress – a wry and radical satire of racism in theatre.
National Theatre Live: Trouble in Mind
An alcoholic falls in love with a Salvation Army captain who is trying to help him.
Promoted to Glory
Hamlet has the world at his feet. Young, wealthy and living a hedonistic life studying abroad. Then word reaches him that his father is dead. Returning home he finds his world is utterly changed, his certainties smashed and his home a foreign land. Struggling to understand his place in a new world order he faces a stark choice. Submit, or rage against the injustice of his new reality. Simon Godwin directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare's searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own mortality in an imperfect world. Hamlet played in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until throughout summer 2016.
RSC Live: Hamlet
Television & Series (33)
Richard Mayhew leads an ordinary life in London when one day a girl named Door falls, injured, across his path. The next thing he knows, his life is gone and he's pulled into the fantastical world of London Below. Pursued by the murderous Messrs. Croup and Vandemar, Door and Richard with the help of Hunter and the Marquis de Carabas, attempt to find the Angel Islington, who knows the secret behind the murder of Door's family, and possibly a way for Richard to go home.
Neverwhere
Dr Willoughby is a British sitcom broadcast on ITV from 14 November - 13 December 1999. The show was set on the set of a fictional soap opera, also called Dr Willoughby and followed the often over dramatic storylines and the personal lives of the cast and crew. Joanna Lumley plays Donna Sinclair, who plays the fictional part of Dr Willoughby. Donna is less than popular with her co-stars and her producer and gets less fanmail than anyone else, including new cast member Crystal and long standing co-star Ralph Whatman. Ralph Whatman is the male lead in Dr Willoughby and whenever Donna Sinclair has bad publicity or is heading for a fall he wastes no time in trying to make the show his own. Emma Goodliffe is the shows producer, unable to cope with the stress she is begging to be removed from the show. She is even heard in one episode to be applying for a job in a supermarket only to be told she is over qualified. Crystal is the new girl, she is receiving more fan mail than Donna after just two weeks on the show, something which Donna cannot stand. She demands that producer Emma remove her from the show but her request is rejected leading to Donna to advise Crystal not to wear a bra in order to put off her male fans.
Dr Willoughby
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
