Aisling Bea

Non-comedy TV and film credits may be found here:
Aisling Bea on IMDb

Born

Friday 16th March 1984 (40 years-old)

Birth name

Aisling O'Sullivan

Nationality

Irish

Sister

Sinead O'Sullivan

Born and raised outside Kildare town in County Kildare, Aisling Bea began her carer as a tour guide at the Irish National Stud, but knew from a young age that she would not dedicate her professional life to the racing industry. Her father, Brian, was an equine vet who took his own life, a fact that Bea was told only at the age of thirteen. She adopted the name 'Bea' as a tribute to him, and in 2017 wrote an article for The Guardian about her family's experience of suicide.

Following several appearances on sitcoms and television dramas from 2009, Bea began her comedy career in stand-up in 2011. A rapid rise through the ranks saw her feature in myriad sketch comedy shows and sitcoms, and she was awarded a prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. This led to many bookings on British panel shows.

Educated at a Catholic convent school and later at Trinity College, Dublin, where she read French and philosophy and also joined a student sketch comedy group, she then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

After graduating from drama school, Bea found work as a dramatic actress in the comedy television series Cardinal Burns and Dead Boss, and tried her hand at stand-up comedy, eventually winning the Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny away at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012. The year after, she was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her show C'est La Bea.

This success led to regular appearances on panel shows such as QI and Insert Name Here. Next, Bea collaborated with fellow comic Yasmine Akram to co-write the BBC Radio 4 comedy folklore series Micks And Legends, which was nominated for a Chortle Award in 2013. Bea won the 2014 British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comic and returned to Edinburgh the year later with her live show Plan Bea. From 2016 to 2017 she was team captain on Channel 4's 8 Out Of 10 Cats, and in 2017 she was a cast member on Dave's Taskmaster.

Alongside appearances in the crime dramas The Fall and Hard Sun, she has featured in several TV sitcoms including Trollied and The Delivery Man. In 2018 she co-hosted a comedy chat show on BBC Radio 2 entitled What's Norman?, and in 2019 co-starred with American actor Paul Rudd in the Netflix series Living With Yourself.

Also in 2019 she wrote and starred in her own comedy-drama on Channel 4 entitled This Way Up, which she executive produced alongside Sharon Horgan. Starring Bea in the protagonist's role, it follows a young single Irish Catholic woman living in London who suffers a nervous breakdown, but tries to put on a brave face for her older sister, played by Horgan.

NME Awards 2022

Best TV Actor (Winner)

BAFTA Television Awards 2022

Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme (Nominee)

National Comedy Awards, The 2021

Outstanding Comedy Actress (Longlisted)

C21 International Drama Awards 2021

Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Drama Series (Nominee)

BAFTA Television Craft Awards 2020

Breakthrough Talent (Winner)

Edinburgh TV Festival Awards 2020

Breakthrough Talent (Nominee)

RTS Awards 2020

Breakthrough Award (Nominee)

JOE Comedy Awards 2019

Television (Winner)

I Talk Telly Awards 2019

Best Comedy Partnership (Nominee)

British Comedy Awards 2014

Best Female TV Comic (Winner)

Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2013

Best Newcomer (Nominee)

So You Think You're Funny? 2012

Main Prize (Winner)

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