Louisa Connolly-Burnham

Louisa Sarah Anne Connolly-Burnham (born 23 June 1992) is an English actress, filmmaker, and musician. She gained prominence through her roles in the CBBC series Wolfblood (2012–2014) and the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis (2013).

Louisa Connolly-Burnham
Born
Louisa Sarah Anne Connolly-Burnham

(1992-06-23) 23 June 1992 (age 32)
Solihull, England
Occupation(s)Actress, filmmaker
Years active2007–present

She made her directorial debut with the short film The Call Centre (2020). Connolly-Burnham and her partner James New form a music duo called Virens.

Early life

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Connolly-Burnham was born in Solihull, West Midlands and grew up in Buckinghamshire with her two brothers. She attended Wycombe High School. Her father enrolled her in Saturday classes at Jackie Palmer Stage School.[1][2] She went on to train at Arts Educational School, Tring Park.[3]

Career

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Connolly-Burnham made her debut with small roles in the 2007 TV movie Coming Down the Mountain and the crime drama series Midsomer Murders. In 2012, Connolly-Burnham got her breakthrough in the BAFTA nominated CBBC hit drama Wolfblood as Shannon Kelly in which she starred alongside Bobby Lockwood, Aimeé Kelly and Kedar Williams-Sterling. She left the show at the end of season three in 2014.

In 2013, Connolly-Burnham played Willow Jenks in the third and final season of the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis. In 2014, she starred in the short film Beneath Water in which she was subsequently nominated for Best Actress at the Queens World Film Festival in 2015. Since then, she has appeared as Avril Fox in the 2014 Christmas special of the BBC period drama Call the Midwife. She has also had roles in Holby City (2015), Death in Paradise (2016), Drifters (2016) and Casualty (2016).

Connolly-Burnham made her stage debut playing a leading role in the 2017 theatre production Tribes at the Crucible Theatre.[4] She has also starred in the stage production Beirut in 2018 at The Park Theatre.[5] In 2019, Connolly-Burnham founded her own production company Thimble Films, and made her directorial debut with the short film The Call Centre (2020),[6][7] which amassed over 1.5 million views on YouTube[8] and earned Connolly-Burnham a nomination for Best Producer at the Underwire Film Festival UK.

In 2022, Connolly-Burnham returned to television with a recurring role as Silver in the Peacock adaptation of Vampire Academy.[9]

During lockdown, Connolly-Burnham met James New online, and they began making alternative folk music together under the name Virens. Their debut EP Couples Therapy will be released in 2023.[10]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Beneath Water Daisy Short film
2015 Friday Download: The Movie Clara
2016 Granatë Journalist Short film
2017 Breathe Emma Short film
2018 Time Will Tell Kim
David and Bathsheba Bathsheba Short film
The Marine 6: Close Quarters Sarah Dillon
Carly Melyssa Short film
2019 Odilo Fabian or (the Possibility of Impossible Dreams) Alice Short film
2020 The Call Centre Paige Director; short film
2024 Sister Wives
TBA A Midsummer Night's Dream Thaleia Upcoming

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 Coming Down the Mountain School Girl Television film
2008 Midsomer Murders Young Lou Episode: "Left for Dead"
2011 Outnumbered Shoe Shop Girl Episode: "The Girls' Day Out"
Little Crackers Susan Bulter Episode: "My First Brassiere"
2012–2014 Wolfblood Shannon Kelly Main role (series 1–3)
2013 House of Anubis Willow Jenks Main role (season 3)
Doctors Rose Morrison Episode: "A Curse Be Upon Her"
2014 Call the Midwife Avril Fox Episode: "Christmas Special"
2015 Holby City Rosie Greene Episode: "Homecoming"
Suspicion Morgan Episode: "Edge of Insanity"
2016 Death in Paradise Kim Sweeney Episode: "Dishing Up Murder"
Drifters Sienna Episode: "Big Break"
Casualty Penny Levitt Episode: "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
2022 Vampire Academy Silver Recurring role

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2020 South of the Circle Peter

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue
2017 Tribes Ruth Crucible Theatre
2018 Beirut Blue The Park Theatre

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result Ref
2015 Queens World Film Festival Best Actress Beneath Water Won [11]
2019 Underwire Film Festival Best Producer The Call Centre Nominated [12]

References

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  1. ^ "Louisa Connolly-Burnham - Wolfblood". Are You From That Show? (Podcast). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. ^ "15 minutes with… Actress, Louisa Connolly-Burnham". Push PR. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Louisa Connolly-Burnham, London". Mandy. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Review: Tribes at the Sheffield Crucible Studio". Exeunt Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  5. ^ King, Stuart. "Review: BEIRUT at the Park Theatre". Theatre News and Reviews. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  6. ^ "Louisa Connolly-Burnham". TresA. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Voicebank London". Voicebank London. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  8. ^ A woman at a call center makes a connection with a customer. But she goes too far. | The Call Centre, retrieved 2022-05-03
  9. ^ Zee, Michaela (18 August 2022). "'Vampire Academy' Casts 8 Recurring Guest Stars (EXCLUSIVE) — TV News Roundup". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Gorgeous Folk Pop Preview. - Virens: Stitch Me Back Up". ChillFiltr. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  11. ^ "BENEATH WATER by Charlie Manton - Short Narrative Film @ Queens World Film Festival". www.queensworldfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  12. ^ "2019 Festival". Underwire Festival. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
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