Pippa Bennett Warner

Biography

Bennett-Warner was brought up in Buckinghamshire and was educated at St Edward's School in Oxford and Lucie Clayton. She started her acting career in Julie Taymor's1999 London production of The Lion King, as one of the original young Nalas .

In 2006 she got a place at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and also the role of Emmie Thibodeaux in the musical Caroline, or Change, for which she was nominated for the Whatsonstage.com Stuart Phillips London Newcomer of the Year award 2007, alongside Andrew Garfield. She went on to star in the lead role in Athol Fugard's UK premiere of Victory for the Peter Hall Company and then went to RADA in September 2007.

Bennett-Warner graduated from RADA in 2010, but left early to take on the role of Sophie in Lynn Nottage's Ruined at the Almeida Theatre. Before completing the course she was awarded the prestigious Carleton Hobbs Radio Award. However, due to another job commitment she was unable to join the radio rep.

After finishing Ruined a two-hander (Crocodile, written by Frank McGuinness) with Sinéad Cusack for Sky Arts followed. During this time Bennett-Warner was cast in Michael Grandage's award-winning King Lear as Cordelia, with Derek Jacobi in the title role. Before rehearsals started for King Lear in October, she filmed small parts in Come Fly With Me with David Walliams and Matt Lucas and also in Case Histories alongside Jason Isaacs.

Pippa received an Ian Charleson commendation for King Lear. She then took the role of Denise in D. C. Moore's new play The Swan — in a role that had been written for her — at the National Theatre and then Queen Isabel in Michael Grandage's swan song Richard II at the Donmar Warehouse with Eddie Redmayne in the title role and Andrew Buchan as Bolingbroke. She received positive reviews from the critics, with Kate Bassett from The Independent saying: "Both of them (Redmayne and Buchan) are, in fact, outshone by Pippa Bennett-Warner in the cameo role of Isabel, Richard’s devoted, fiery queen."

In 2012 she played the lead role in Vivienne Franzmann's second play The Witness, at the Royal Court Theatre. She received rave reviews with Susannah Clapp from The Observer stating" Always thought Pippa Bennett-Warner had big future. Now she is having it in ‘The Witness’ at Royal Court...There are actresses (even actors) who are more flashy, who more obviously inflect every detail of a speech. PBW is completely natural. Audiences of course admire her: but they do something else, which is not always the same thing: they believe her”. Pippa went on to secure a nomination for Best Actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2012, alongside Cate Blanchett and Dame Eileen Atkins and was named as one of the 1000 Most Influential Londoners in 2012 in the category "Generation Next" by The Evening Standard.

In 2012 the Radio Times named Pippa as one of their Rising Stars.

In 2013 she joined the main cast of Sky 1's The Smoke alongside Jamie Bamber and Jodie Whittaker.

In 2014 she played the female lead opposite Ashley Walters in an episode of Dominic Savage's TV mini series The Secrets. She followed this by playing Saibra in Doctor Who opposite Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Jonathan Bailey. She also played Mary Thorne in the BBC radio 4 production of Dr Thorne alongside Iain Glen and Douglas Booth.

In 2015 she filmed Patient Zero with Matt Smith and Natalie Dormer starred in The Trials of Jimmy Rose with Ray Winstone and River opposite Stellan Skarsgård. She then played Dorinda in The Beaux' Stratagem at the National Theatre and then filmed Wakefield alongside Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner.

In 2015 she narrated Helana and the Beast an original Doctor Who audiobook.

In 2016 she filmed The Foreigner with Jackie Chan, Sick Note alongside Rupert Grint, Nick Frost and Don Johnson and Harlots with Samantha Morton and Lesley Manville.

In 2016 she narrated Zadie Smith's new book Swing Time.

Theatre

Radio