# Joanna Vanderham

Joanna Vanderham (born 17 October 1990) is a Scottish actress. She was nominated for an International Emmy Award for her debut role in the Sky One crime drama The Runaway (2011).

## Early life

Vanderham was born in Perth and grew up in Scone and Dundee. Her father Tom, a Dutch businessman, and mother Jill Belch, a Scottish professor of cardiovascular research at Ninewells Hospital, divorced when she was a child. She has two sisters and a brother. She attended Robert Douglas Memorial School in Scone and then the High School of Dundee. She then went on to study acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff.

## Career

Vanderham made her onscreen debut in 2011 as Cathy Connor in the Sky TV six-part crime drama The Runaway, an adaptation of the novel by Martina Cole. She also had a supporting role in the BBC One biographical drama Young James Herriot.
From 2012 to 2013 over two series, Vanderham starred as Denise Lovett in the BBC television series The Paradise, written by Bill Gallagher and loosely based on the novel Au Bonheur des Dames by Émile Zola. She made her film debut as Margo in What Maisie Knew with Alexander Skarsgård and Julianne Moore.
Vanderham played society girl Pamela Luscombe in the BBC drama Dancing on the Edge, directed by Stephen Poliakoff. In 2015, she appeared as Katherine "Kitty" McVitie in BBC Two period drama series Banished and Marian Maudsley in the BBC One romance television film The Go-Between.
Vanderham received a Commendation at the 2016 Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Queen Anne in Richard III at the Almeida Theatre in London.
Also in 2016, Vanderham starred in the romance television film The Boy with the Topknot opposite Sacha Dhawan. The following year, she played Claire Elliot in the miniseries One of Us (also known as Retribution) and the younger version of Vanessa Redgrave's character Flora in the two-part drama Man in an Orange Shirt.
In 2019, Vanderham joined the main cast of the American action series Warrior as Penelope Blake. She played Atropos, a recurring character in the fifth season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. She starred as DS Amanda Drummond opposite Dougray Scott in the 2021 BritBox and later ITVX series Crime, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh.

## Personal life

Vanderham lives in Hackney, East London.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | What Maisie Knew | Margo | |
| 2013 | Blackwood | Jessica | |
| 2016 | And Then I Was French | Cara | |
| 2016 | Queimafobia | Alice | Short films |
| 2020 | A Song Still Inside | Laura | Short films |
| 2022 | Selkie | Selkie | Short films |
| 2022 | Eddie & Sunny | Sunny | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2011 | The Runaway | Cathy Connor | Main role; miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 2011 | Young James Herriot | Jenny Muirhead | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Above Suspicion | Amanda Delany | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | The Paradise | Denise Lovett | Main role; 16 episodes |
| 2013 | Dancing on the Edge | Pamela Luscombe | Main role; miniseries; 6 episodes |
| 2013 | Marple | Ellie | Episode: "Endless Night" |
| 2015 | Banished | Katherine "Kitty" McVitie | Main role; miniseries; 7 episodes |
| 2015 | The Go-Between | Marian Maudsley | Television film |
| 2016 | One of Us | Claire Elliot | Main role; miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Man in an Orange Shirt | Flora Talbot | Miniseries; Episode 1 |
| 2017 | The Boy with the Topknot | Laura | Television film |
| 2019 | The Tanner | Caitlin | Episode: "Babe's Got a Back Problem" |
| 2019–2020 | Warrior | Penelope Blake | Main role; 20 episodes |
| 2020 | Legends of Tomorrow | Atropos | Recurring role; 5 episodes |
| 2021–present | Crime | DS Amanda Drummond | Main role; 14 episodes |
| 2022 | The Control Room | Sam | Main role; 3 episodes |
| TBA | Outrageous | Diana Mitford | Main role |

## Stage

| Year | Play | Role | Company |
| 2012 | The Promise | Lika | Donmar Warehouse / Trafalgar |
| 2015 | The Dazzle | Millie Ashmore | Found111 / Michael Grandage Co. |
| 2014 | Othello | Desdemona | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 2016 | Richard III | Queen Anne | Almeida Theatre |
| 2024 | Double Feature | Tippi Hedren | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2025 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche DuBois | Crucible Theatre |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
| 2012 | International Emmy Awards | Best Actress | The Runaway | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Ian Charleson Awards | Ian Charleson Awards | Richard III | Nominated | |