Maria Doyle Kennedy (born 25 September 1964 in Clontarf, Ireland) is an Irish actress and singer. She first garnered the attention of the general public in The Tudors as Catherine of Aragon and then later as Siobhan Sadler in the Canadian sci-fi/thriller series Orphan Black, though she had done some television work before either of those. Though she's more known for her television work, she's also done some film work, including Jupiter Ascending, Byzantium and Albert Nobbs and also is a skilled singer.
Her characters tend to be the Ensemble Dark Horse and she's known to love her fans. She also has a Twitter
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She appeared in
- The Tudors
- Downton Abbey
- Miss Julie
- Byzantium
- Jupiter Ascending
- Sing Street
- Orphan Black
- The Commitments
- Call the Midwife
- Dexter
- Wolfwalkers
Tropes
- The Cast Show Off: Is a professional singer, which she showed in her film debut The Commitments. She also sang in episode 3:9 of Orphan Black, doing a song that she co-wrote with her husband, who was in the on-screen band.
- Chronically Killed Actor: The Tudors = illness, Downton Abbey = malicious suicide, Orphan Black = Heroic Sacrifice.
- Costume Drama: Most of her filmography.
- Fake Nationality: Played Jupiter Jones' Russian mother Aleksa in Jupiter Ascending and Englishwomen several times. In fact, like her fellow Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, she rarely plays characters who are actually Irish.
- Manipulative Bitch: Her role as Vera Bates in Downton Abbey.
- Older Than They Look: Like Gillian Anderson, she is in her 50's and yet is shockingly gorgeous.
- Playing Against Type: Her role as Attracta in 4x07 of Call the Midwife.
- Star-Making Role: Catherine of Aragon in The Tudors.
