Nia Roberts (born 5 July 1972) is a Welsh actress. She is married to director Marc Evans.

Nia Roberts
Born (1972-07-05) 5 July 1972 (age 52)
OccupationActress [1]
Years active1998–present
SpouseMarc Evans
Children1

Biography

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The youngest of three girls, Roberts was born and brought up in Brecon, Powys. Her first language is Welsh, and she attended Brecon's Welsh-medium primary school Ysgol-y-Bannau from 1975 to 1983. Her family were active members of the Brecon Little Theatre amateur dramatics group, and she was seven years old when she first appeared on stage. aged seven she first trod the boards. Five years later, she landed her first television role as the lead girl in "The Farm", a 30-minute Jackanory play for BBC1.

After gaining ten GCSEs and three A Levels, she joined the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She studied acting at Birmingham University, where she passed with distinction.

Career

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Roberts' big break came in 1998, when she appeared in Solomon a Gaenor opposite Ioan Gruffudd. With dialogue in Welsh and Yiddish, the movie won Best Film at the 2000 Verona Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Academy Awards. It was written and directed by British filmmaker Paul Morrison.

Her subsequent Welsh-language credits include Fondue, Rhyw a Deinosors!, Newes of the Weeke, Y Palmant Aur, Glan Hafren, the long-running soap opera Pobol y Cwm, and S4C's gangster drama Y Pris. Roberts' English-language television credits include the comedy series Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, the drama Border Café, and several single-episode appearances in prime-time British shows such as The Bill and Casualty.

Roberts has starred in two films directed by her husband, Marc Evans: Snow Cake (2006), a drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man traumatized after surviving a fatal car accident; and Patagonia (2009), a drama set in Y Wladfa, Argentina. In 2009, Roberts starred as registrar Mary Finch in Crash!, a hospital drama commissioned by BBC Wales and produced by Tony Jordan.[2]

In 2010, Roberts guest-starred in the two-part Doctor Who Series 5 episode "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood". More big-screen productions followed: She appeared in Hattie Dalton's Third Star (2010) and in Vertigo Films' The Facility (2012), an atmospheric, micro-budget horror film about volunteers fighting for their lives after a drug trial goes wrong.[3]

In 2014, Roberts appeared in the fourth episode of Y Gwyll (Hinterland), a highly acclaimed noir detective series shot in both Welsh and English.

Personal life

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Roberts, her husband, and their daughter, Edith, live in Cardiff.[4] She is a supporter of Plaid Cymru.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 Solomon & Gaenor Gaenor Rees
2000 Canone inverso Costanza
2005 9 Steps to a New Start Carolyne
2006 Snow Cake Janet
2006 Calon Gaeth Miriam
2010 Patagonia Gwen
2010 Third Star Chloe
2011 Little Munchkin Mrs. Jones Short
2011 Back of the Net! Carys Short
2012 The Facility Katie
2013 Mr Torquay's Holiday Sister (voice) Short
2015 Bridgend Thomas' Mother
2015 Just Jim Mum
2015 Under Milk Wood Myfanwy Price
2018 Last Summer Sandra Davies
2019 The Return of the Yuletide Kid Philipa

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 The Farm Menna TV film
1987 I Fro Breuddwydion Jenny TV film
1996–97 Y Palamant Aur Martha Jenkins TV series
1999 Sunburn Tina Episode: "1.3"
2000 Border Café Naomi TV miniseries
2001 Score Suzie TV film
2001 Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible Rowan Latimer Episode: "Curse of the Blood of the Lizard of Doom"
2002 Outside the Rules Carol Dysart TV film
2002 The Bill Sarah Jones Episode: "027: Old Tricks"
2003 Casualty Lizzie Peters Episode: "The Point of No Return"
2003 The Welsh in Shakespeare Various TV film
2004–05 Holby City Susan Curtis Guest role (series 6–7)
2007 Y Pris Kirsti O'Shea Main role
2008 Midsomer Murders Stacey Purdy Episode: "Left for Dead"
2009 Hotel Babylon Precious Episode: "4.7"
2009 Collision Linda Canwell Episode: "1.4"
2009 Crash Mary Finch Episode: "1.6"
2010 Holby City Jamie McPherson Episode: "For the Greater Good"
2010 Doctor Who Ambrose Northover Episodes: "The Hungry Earth", "Cold Blood"
2010 Pen Talar Judith Episodes: "1.7", "1.8"
2012 Pianissimo Mam TV film
2013 Playhouse Presents Eleanor Episode: "Gifted"
2013 Hinterland Gwen Thomas Episode: "1.4"
2014 Under Milk Wood Rosie Probert TV film
2015 35 Diwrnod Claire TV series
2016 Doctors Abigail Price Episode: "Eidolon"
2016 Rillington Place Violet Episode: "Tim"
2017 The White Princess Kate Woodville Episode: "Traitors"
2017–2020 Bang Linda Murray Main role
2017 Keeping Faith Saran James Episodes: "1.2", "1.4"
2018–2021 Hidden Elin Jones TV miniseries
2018 To Provide All People Midwife TV film
2019 The Crown Silvia Millward Episode: "Tywysog Cymru"
2023 Steeltown Murders Karina Bethell TV series
2023 Y Pren Ar Y Bryn Margaret[5] TV series
2021 Yr Amgueddfa Della Howells TV series
2024 Tree on a Hill Hidden[6] TV series

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2022 Elden Ring Dominula dancers Voice[7]

References

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  1. ^ Official site
  2. ^ "New Welsh drama to Crash onto our screens". Wales on Sunday. 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  3. ^ "Trailer: New Found Footage Film, "Guinea Pigs"". 16 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  4. ^ Simpson, Rin (19 July 2009). "Having children doesn't stop you doing things". Wales Online. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  5. ^ Morris, Steven (9 November 2023). "Beer, chips and camaraderie: Welsh TV drama has world premiere in miners' hall". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  6. ^ "New offbeat crime drama series Tree on a Hill starts this April on BBC One Wales and BBC iPlayer". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Elden Ring (Video Game 2022)". IMDb. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
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