My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää (born 22 September 1979), known professionally as MyAnna Buring (Swedish: [mʏˈânːa ˈbʉ̂ːrɪŋ]), is a Swedish-born British actress.[1] Her films include The Descent (2005), Kill List (2011), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and Part 2 (2012). On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC series Ripper Street (2012–2016) and the Netflix series The Witcher (2019–2023).

MyAnna Buring
Born
My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää

(1979-09-22) 22 September 1979 (age 45)
Nationality
  • Swedish
  • British
Alma mater
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present
Children1

Early life

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Buring was born My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää on 22 September 1979[2] in Sundsvall, Sweden and later moved to the Middle East.[3] Her father Klas was an orthopaedic consultant and surgeon,[4] while her mother sold fur coats and Christmas trees in Kuwait.[5] Buring attended secondary school at the American British Academy in Muscat, Oman with her childhood friend Stegath Dorr.

As a teenager, Buring temporarily quit school and worked as a glass collector in a Stockholm bar. She then moved to England, where she completed the International Baccalaureate at a boarding school in Oxford.[6] She studied Drama and Spanish (though she eventually dropped Spanish) at the University of Bristol and went on to graduate from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in 2004. She was the associate director of the MahWaff Theatre Company.[7]

Career

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Television

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In 2006, Buring appeared in "The Impossible Planet", the first episode of a two-episode Doctor Who story. Her character, Scooti, perished in the vacuum of space. Also in 2006, Buring played Olivia in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Exeter's Northcott Theatre Company, and appeared in a new play, Seduced, at London's Finborough Theatre. In 2008, Buring starred as Alice in the independent film Credo, also known as The Devil's Curse. Buring also starred as Debbie in Much Ado About Nothing (BBC One), Midsomer Murders (ITV), Casualty (BBC One) and Murder Prevention (Channel 5). For MahWaff Theatre Company, she starred in Guardians, Monologue for an Ensemble and An Inspector Calls.

Buring played the role of the CND peace activist and student Adriana Doyle in series three, episode two, of Inspector George Gently, which was screened in the UK on BBC One in October 2010. In 2012, Buring had significant supporting roles in the BBC drama serials Blackout and Ripper Street. She also joined the cast of Downton Abbey, playing the role of the maid Edna Braithwaite in the 2012 Christmas special episode and the fourth season.[8] In December 2012, Buring played protagonist Karen Clarke, a woman who is haunted by her past which eventually catches up with her, in a two-part drama called The Poison Tree that was broadcast on ITV1. In 2013, Buring appeared in an episode of NBC's Crossing Lines, playing villainess Anika Hauten. In July 2017, she played the lead role of Manchester police Detective Inspector Helen Weeks in BBC 4-part drama In the Dark.[9] Since 2019, she has played the role of Tissaia de Vries in the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher.

She played the role of Dawn Sturgess in the 2020 television series The Salisbury Poisonings.[10] In 2022 she played the role of Kate Carson in the BBC TV drama The Responder.[11]

Film

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In her first film role, Buring starred in a leading role in the 2005 horror film The Descent, as one of the main characters among the women who ventured down into an uncharted cave system. Buring also appeared in the film's sequel, The Descent Part 2, in the form of flashbacks.[12] Other film roles include:

  • Doomsday in 2008.
  • The female lead in the film Lesbian Vampire Killers, released to UK cinemas on 20 March 2009.
  • In May 2010, she appeared as Jozefa in Witchville for the SyFy channel.
  • Tanya of the Denali Coven in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Part 2.
  • Horror film Kill List, 2011, in which she acted the part of the protagonist's wife.

Theatre

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Buring played the lead as Vera in Mathilde Dratwa's Milk and Gall in South London's Theatre503. The show ran from 2 to 27 November 2021.[13]

Personal life

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Buring lives in North London. In May 2017, she gave birth to a son.[14] In 2022, she opened up about her experience with perinatal depression,[4] but generally prefers to keep the details of her personal life private.[15]

Activism

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A 2013 interview with The Herald noted Buring's knowledge of and "interest in the world around her".[5] She is a Women for Women ambassador and became involved with SolarAid in 2014. She is vocal on a number of social issues, such as climate change[16] and the rights of refugees.[17] In light of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Buring was one of over two thousand to sign an Artists for Palestine letter calling for a ceasefire and accusing western governments of "not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them."[18]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Descent Sam
2006 The Omen Tabloid Reporter #2
2007 Grindhouse Featured Woman Segment "Don't"
English Language (with English Subtitles) Esther Short film
2008 Doomsday Cally
Freakdog Shelby
Credo Alice
2009 The Road to Vengeance Short film
Lesbian Vampire Killers Lotte
City Rats Sammy
The Descent Part 2 Sam
2010 Devil's Playground Angela
Half Hearted Lauren Short film
2011 Au Revoir Monkeys Anna
Way of the Morris Will-O'-Wisps Documentary, voice role
Kill List Shel
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Tanya Denali
2012 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
2014 Hyena Lisa
Lost in Karastan Chulpan
2015 Hot Property Melody Munro
2016 The Comedian's Guide to Survival Nell
2019 Official Secrets Jasmine
Killers Anonymous Joanna
2023 97 Minutes Kim

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Murder Prevention Michelle Wynne Episode "Last Man Out: Part 1"
Casualty Kirsty Morrison Episode "Past Imperfect"
2006 Doctor Who Scooti Manista Episode "The Impossible Planet"
2007 The Bill Kim Heyes Episode "Stealth Attack"
2008 Midsomer Murders Mandy Episode "Midsomer Life"
The Wrong Door Various 5 episodes
2010 Comedy Lab Inga Episode "Filth"
Witchville Jozefa Television film
Inspector George Gently Adriana Doyle Episode "Peace & Love"
Any Human Heart Ingeborg 1 episode
2011 Super Eruption Claire Television film
2012 White Heat Lilly 6 episodes
Blackout Sylvie Three-part drama
2012–2013 Downton Abbey Edna Braithwaite Christmas special (series 4)
2012 The Poison Tree Karen Clarke Two-part drama
2012–2016 Ripper Street Susan "Long Susan" Hart / Caitlin Swift Series regular
2013 Agatha Christie's Marple Lucky Dyson Episode "A Caribbean Mystery"
Crossing Lines Anika Episodes "The Animals" and "Desperation & Desperados"
2014 The Great War: The People's Story Dorothy Lawrence Episode: "Reg, Alan, James and Dorothy"
2015 Prey Jules Hope Series 2 (3 episodes)
Dag Anne Series 4 regular
Banished Elizabeth Quinn 7 episodes
2017 In the Dark DI Helen Weeks 4 episodes
2018 One Night Elizabeth NRK series
2019–2023 The Witcher Tissaia de Vries Main role (seasons 1–3)
2020 The Salisbury Poisonings Dawn Sturgess 3 episodes
2022 The Responder Kate Carson 5 episodes
Primal Rikka Voice role, episode "The Red Mist"
Count Magnus Froken de la Gardie Television film
2024 The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot Victoria Cilliers Documentary

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Anna Henrietta
2023 Mia and the Dragon Princess Benicia

Stage

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Twelfth Night Olivia Northcott Theatre, Exeter
Seduced Finborough Theatre, London
2021 Milk and Gall Vera Theatre503, London
2023 Anthropology Merril Hampstead Theatre, London[19]

References

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  1. ^ Gilbert, Gerard (20 September 2013). "MyAnna Buring: I had no idea I'd be returning to Downton Abbey". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  2. ^ Ek, Torbjörn (1 January 2013). "Svenska "Downton Abbey"-stjärnan MyAnna Buring om sin stora hemlighet: "Säger man det får man inga jobb"". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  3. ^ Sweeting, Adam (2 March 2015). "Q&A: Actress MyAnna Buring". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Pryer, Emma (19 January 2022). "The Responder star reveals secret pregnancy battle - and what saved her life". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b "MyAnna Buring on Downton and Ripper Street". The Herald. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  6. ^ Watson, Keith (13 December 2012). "MyAnna Buring: Nobody's ever quite sure where I'm from – which is great for my career". Metro. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  7. ^ "The Waffs". Mahwaff Theatre Company. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
  8. ^ Marsh, Jenni (23 July 2012). "Twilight film star MyAnna Buring to vamp up Downton Abbey". Daily Express. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  9. ^ Harrison, Ellie. "In the Dark review: MyAnna Buring's rainy crime drama needs to delve deeper". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  10. ^ McIntosh, Steven (14 June 2020). "TV drama revisits Salisbury poison attack 'horror'". BBC News. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  11. ^ "The Responder: Meet the full cast of Martin Freeman's BBC drama". 24 January 2022.
  12. ^ Rob Carnevale. "Lesbian Vampire Killers – MyAnna Buring interview". IndieLondon.
  13. ^ "Theatre503 announces cast for Milk and Gall world premiere". WhatsOnStage. October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Downton Abbey's MyAnna Buring confirms the birth of her baby boy". goodtoknow.co.uk. TI Media. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  15. ^ Marrs, John (17 January 2016). "Downton Abbey actress MyAnna Buring: Fame doesn't matter to me". Daily Express. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  16. ^ "MyAnna's message to the World – The solar revolution is here and now". SolarAid. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  17. ^ Brazier, Tori (20 August 2021). "Star-studded slew of celebrities including Olivia Colman and Lena Headey join Cameo to raise money for Afghan refugees". Metro. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Tilda Swinton among 2000+ artists calling for Gaza ceasefire". Artists for Palestine. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  19. ^ Galton, Bridget (17 August 2023). "MyAnna Buring stars in Anthropology at Hampstead Theatre". Ham & High. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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