# Deirdre Mullins

Deirdre Mullins is an Irish actress, director and activist. In 2017, she won a Scottish BAFTA for Best Actress in Film for her role in The Dark Mile.

## Early life and education

Born in Dublin, Mullins grew up in Stoneybatter on the city's Northside. Her family moved to the suburb Howth when she was 10. She was head girl at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Clontarf. She began her studies in Drama and Theatre at Trinity College Dublin. She then transferred to the University of St Andrews where she studied Anthropology and later graduated with a degree in English Literature in 2006. She participated in the Trinity Players and the St Andrews Mermaids. She went on to train at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 2006 to 2008 before moving to London.

## Career

Mullins starred as Naomi in the Channel 4 series Man Down. Her theatre work includes playing Rosalind in As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe, Lika in Marina Carr's 16 Possible Glimpses at the Abbey Theatre, and Jessie Taite in Seán O'Casey's The Silver Tassie at the National Theatre.
Mullins' directing debut, a production of Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, was set in a hotel swimming pool and won her rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe 2006 including The Scotsman's top 5 shows to see at the Fringe. It was in Time Out's top 3 shows at the Fringe; giving it 5 stars, Rachel Halliburton said 'This is the kind of unexpected discovery that critics live for at Edinburgh'. A decade later, Mullins directed her second show, an experimental new play by Bea Roberts, Infinity Pool, which won a Toast of the Fringe Award at Plymouth Fringe Festival and went on to enjoy a place on The Guardian's list of recommended shows at the Edinburgh Fringe & International Festival 2016. The critic Lyn Gardner described it as 'painfully funny'. Giving it 5 stars from The Stage, Stewart Pringle said it was 'utterly unique and exceptional in every way, it's a heart-breaking story of a stunted life, told with theatrical verve and palpable compassion'. The play was short-listed for the highly prestigious Total Theatre Award.
Mullins is a core committee member of ERA 50:50, a campaign calling for equal representation of women on screen and stage. She made an impassioned speech about this when picking up her BAFTA (Scotland).

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Holy Water | Kate Mulvey | |
| 2012 | Comedown | Newsreader 1 | |
| 2013 | Doghouse | Julie Stepton | Short film |
| 2015 | My Name Is Emily | Emily's Mother | |
| 2016 | Tank 432 | Sarah Karlsson | |
| 2017 | The Dark Mile | Claire | |
| 2018 | Ötzi & the Mystery of Time | Helena | |
| 2019 | Crime Lessons: The Muggening | Chloe | Short film |
| 2019 | Mumford & Sons: Beloved | Mother | Music Video |
| 2020 | The Christmas Ball | Clare | |
| 2022 | Mandrake | Cathy Madden | |
| 2025 | In the Lost Lands | Mara | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Ashes to Ashes | Nurse | 1 episode |
| 2010 | De Troon (The Throne) | Joanna | Episode: "Maak er maar een republiek van" |
| 2010 | Midsomer Murders | Libby Morris | Episode: "The Noble Art" |
| 2011 | Trivia | Gráinne | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Whitechapel | Heather Green | 1 episode |
| 2012 | The Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story | BBC Receptionist | Television film |
| 2013 | Doctors | Chrissie Welsh | Episode: "Over a Barrel" |
| 2013 | Vikings | Peasant Woman | Episode: "A King's Ransom" |
| 2013 | Breathless | Diana Fairfax | Miniseries; 1 episode |
| 2013 | Man Down | Naomi | Main role (series 1) |
| 2015 | Inspector George Gently | Valerie Cullen | Episode: "Breath in the Air" |
| 2015 | The Frankenstein Chronicles | Agnes Marlott | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Father Brown | Bebe Fontaine | Episode: "The Mask of the Demon" |
| 2017 | Will | Anne Shakespeare | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | Natalie Burrows | Episode: "The One That Holds Everything" |
| 2019 | Flack | Janet | Episode: "Calvin" |
| 2020 | Miss Scarlet and The Duke | Tabitha Butler | Episode: "The Woman in Red" |
| 2021 | The Drowning | Kate | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Shadow and Bone | Tante Heleen | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | Angela Black | Emma | 1 episode |
| 2022 | London Kills | Dr Cassidy Hodges | Episode: "Control Freak" |
| 2023 | The Couple Next Door | Lena | |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Overkill's The Walking Dead | Heather | |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Director |
| 2008 | Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare | Viola | Redgrave Theatre | John Hartoch |
| 2008 | A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev (trans. Brian Friel) | Lizaveta | Tobacco Factory Theatre | Sue Wilson |
| 2009 | Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare | Mariana | Thelma Holt Ltd/Theatre Royal, Plymouth | Jamie Glover |
| 2009 | The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices | Actor | The Old Vic | Alice Lacey |
| 2011 | Old Vic 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala | Actor | The Old Vic | Alexander Ferris |
| 2011 | 16 Possible Glimpses (world premiere) by Marina Carr | Lika | Abbey Theatre | Wayne Jordan |
| 2011 | A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare | Helena | Headlong | Natalie Abrahami |
| 2012 | As You Like It by William Shakespeare | Rosalind | Shakespeare's Globe | James Dacre |
| 2013 | The Man Who Pays The Piper by GB Stern | Daryll | Orange Tree Theatre | Helen Leblique |
| 2014 | The Silver Tassie by Seán O'Casey | Jessie Taite | Lyttelton, National Theatre | Howard Davies |

## Audio
### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Channel | Notes |
| 2009 | Cavity | Jemma | BBC Radio 4 | dir Alison Crawford |
| 2009 | The Lake | Reader | BBC Radio 4 | dir Sarah Blunt |
| 2011 | Positive | Tess | BBC Radio 4 | dir Sara Davies |
| 2017 | The Cold God of Bad Luck by Colin Barrett | Reader | BBC Radio 4 | prod Duncan Minshull |
| 2019 | The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien | Martha | BBC Radio 4 | dir Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole |
| 2020 | For the Love of Leo | Mary Grace | BBC Radio 4 | dir Marilyn Imrie |
| 2021 | The Healer | Reader | BBC Radio 4 | dir Maggie Ayre |
| 2022 | English Rose | Siobhán | BBC Radio 4 | dir Mary Ward-Lowery |

### Drama

| Year | Title | Role | Production company | Notes |
| 2015 | The Confessions of Dorian Gray | Scarlet Moore | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2015 | Dracula | Mina Harker | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2016 | Doctor Who – "The Very Dark Thing" | Admiral Effenish | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2016 | Charlotte Pollard | Naomi | Big Finish Productions | dir Nicholas Briggs |
| 2017 | The Prisoner S2 | Number 2 | Big Finish Productions | dir Nicholas Briggs |
| 2017 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2017 | Doctor Who – "The War Master" | Osen | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2018 | Cicero | Vitellia | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock (nominated for Best Audio Drama 2018 Audie Awards) |
| 2018 | Class – "Gifted" | Mab | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2019 | Doctor Who – "Feast of Fear" | The Spae Wife | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2019 | Torchwood – "Serenity" | Kelly | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2020 | Doctor Who – "The Headless Ones" | Amanda Latimer | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |
| 2020 | Dracula's War | Mina Harker | Big Finish Productions | dir Scott Handcock |