Rachel Jackson (comedian)
Rachel Katherine Jackson (born 23 August 1987) is a Scottish actress and comedian who is best known for her roles as Donna in The Party's Just Beginning.[1][2], Wendy in Beats[3][4][5] and Cassandra in Bunny Boiler.[6]
Early life[edit]
She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to parents Donald and Helen (née Cunningham) Jackson. She has an older brother, Graeme, who was born in 1984. Jackson was educated at Juniper Green Primary School and Currie Community High School, both in Edinburgh.
At the age of 18 she moved to London to pursue a break into acting and did promotional work for companies before being headhunted to become a Business Development Manager for a soft drinks' company. With the desire for acting still in her blood, she decided to leave the job.
Having auditioned and performed in productions for the National Youth Theatre, she enrolled in its "Playing Up" course[7], which allowed six auditions to drama schools. Jackson successfully auditioned for the Rose Bruford Drama School to study in her native Edinburgh, starting there in 2012, and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama in 2015.
In her graduation year, the Drama School nominated Jackson for the prestigious Spotlight Prize[8], a competition comprising of each UK drama school nominating their one student seen to have the most potential.
Comedy career[edit]
After appearing in advertisements and smaller roles, Jackson took a one-woman show she had written, Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler, to the Camden Fringe Festival in 2014[9]. The following year she took the show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe[10] and was approached by BBC Three executives – after having seen the show – about developing the show and its character, Cassandra, for television[11]. The miniseries was recorded in October 2016 and televised in January following year.
In 2016 Jackson returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to perform Force of Nature at the then Sportsters Bar. She also performed as Suze With The News on Edinburgh Fest Live which was broadcast on the Showbiz TV channel[12] on the Sky TV framework.
In 2017 Jackson performed an extended version of Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler, shortened to Bunny Boiler, at the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival[13][14][15]. Despite it being her third show at the festival it was her first hour long performance, and it earned her a place on the Best Newcomer long list – despite her describing it in an unpublished interview as "one of the worst months of my life".
She returned to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019 as part of the Free Fringe at Sneaky Pete's when she had a week's run with Slutty Little Goldfish. It was nominated for the Sunday Herald Scottish Culture award and British Comedy Guide's Comedy Poster Awards[16].
Jackson was due to be part of the 2020 Edinburgh Fringe in a show with her friend Susan Riddell, at Monkey Barrel, but that was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic[17]. It is hoped it will transfer over to the 2021 festival where Jackson also intends to perform a stand-up show.
In August 2020 Jackson filmed an episode for the third series of ITV2's The Stand Up Sketch Show, which aired in February and March 2021.
Acting career[edit]
Jackson made her on-screen debut in 2008, appearing as Kirsty in Emo - which also starred Altered Images' singer Clare Grogan - as part of the sixth series of Channel 4's Coming Up.
She took on minor roles in programmes such as ITV's successful dramatisation of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and the short lived sitcom FM.
Following the success of Bunny Boiler Jackson joined the cast of BBC Scotland sketch show The State Of It as well as taking roles in the channel's successful sitcoms Still Game and Two Doors Down.
Her first major film role came in 2018's The Party's Just Beginning in which she played Donna and, a year later, playing Wendy in Beats[18].
Jackson played the role of Cherry in the short horror film The Mad Shagger. She also starred in the Interactive movie-game thriller I Saw Black Clouds, which was released on 30 March 2021[19]. Another film, Demon, in which she played Lena, was released on 20 March 2021 as part of Cinequest's virtual Cinejoy festival, with a UK-wide release scheduled for later in the year[20][21].
She has written a black comedy play, entitled, Meteroids for herself and friend Kate Dickie. She performed an excerpt from the play for The Scotsman Sessions in July 2020[22].
Personal life[edit]
Jackson is good friends with actress and director Karen Gillan after they met at the wrap party of the sixth series Channel 4's Coming Up series[23]
In 2011 she was the face of an Irn Bru advertising campaign, featuring on the bottles and buses[24].
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
| Year | Title | Genre | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Flyer | Short, Drama | Cath |
| 2012 | Sawney: The Flesh of Man[25] | Crime, Horror, Thriller | Clare |
| 2017 | The Last Photograph[26] | Drama | Newsreader |
| 2018 | The Party's Just Beginning[1] | Comedy, Drama | Donna |
| 2019 | Beats[3] | Comedy, Crime, Drama | Wendy |
| 2020 | The Mad Shagger | Short, Horror | Cherry |
| 2021 | Demon[27] | Drama, Comedy, Thriller | Lena |
| 2021 | I Saw Black Clouds[28] | Interactive Thriller Movie-Game | Charlotte |
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Series/Episode | Channel/Production Company | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Coming Up[29] | Series 6, Episode 3 "Emo" | Channel 4 | Kirsty |
| 2009 | FM[30] | Series 1, Episode 6 "Blinded By The Light" | ITV/Granada | Barwoman |
| 2010 | Secret Diary of a Call Girl[31] | Series 3, Episode 5 | ITV | Izzy (uncredited) |
| 2015 | Fog of Sex: Stories from the Frontline of Student Sex Work | Documentary | Swansea University | Holly |
| 2015 | Scot Squad | Series 2, Episode 4 | BBC Scotland | Bernie Cooper |
| 2016 | Edinburgh Fest Live[12] | Various episodes | Showbiz TV | Suze with the News |
| 2017 | Outlander[32][33] | Of Lost Things | Amazon Prime Video (UK), Starz (US) | Bar Patron |
| 2017 | Bunny Boiler[6] | All episodes | BBC Three | Cassandra |
| 2018 | Two Doors Down[34][35] | Series 3, Episode 4 "Fish Friday" | BBC Scotland | Waitress |
| 2018- | The State Of It[36] | Example | BBC Scotland | Various roles |
| 2019 | The Comedy Underground[37] | Series 1 Episode 4 | BBC Scotland | Herself |
| 2019 | Still Game[38] | Series 9, Episode 6 "Over The Hill" | BBC Scotland | Female Charity Worker |
| 2020 | Socially Distant With Susan Calman[39] | Series 1 Episode 6 | BBC Scotland | Herself |
| 2020 | Billy and Us[40] | Series 1 Episode 3 - Dirty Bits | BBC Scotland | Herself |
| 2021 | The Stand Up Sketch Show[41] | Series 3 - Various Episodes | ITV2 | Herself/Various Characters |
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Shows[edit]
| Year | Title | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler[10] | George Next Door |
| 2016 | Force of Nature[42] | Sportsters |
| 2017 | Bunny Boiler[13] | Pleasance Courtyard |
| 2019 | Slutty Little Goldfish[43] | Sneaky Pete's |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rachel Jackson interview at The Party Is Just Beginning premiere – Tribeca Film Festival". www.YouTube/The Upcoming.
- ↑ "The Party's Just Beginning review – Karen Gillan's dark days in the depths of grief". The Guardian.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Beats: Captures The Spirit of a Friendship and the State of a Nation" – via filminquiry.com.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson interview - why the Scottish stand-up and actor is on a roll" – via The Scotsman.
- ↑ "Beats star Rachel Jackson thinks big as she bulks up for movie tipped as 'next Trainspotting'". Daily Record.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Bunny Boiler's Dating Vlog: From Edinburgh Fringe to BBC Three" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "Playing Up | National Youth Theatre". www.nyt.org.uk.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson Spotlight Prize". YouTube.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson's Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler at the Camden Fringe".
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Guide, British Comedy. "Rachel Jackson - Edinburgh Fringe 2015". British Comedy Guide.
- ↑ "Bunny Boiler's Dating Vlog: From Edinburgh Fringe to BBC Three". 9 January 2017.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Edinburgh Fest Live programme 9 pt4". SBC Scottish Broadcasting Company on YouTube.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 New European, The. "Edinburgh Fringe 2017: Saturday comedy show review". The New European.
- ↑ Company, Scottish Broadcasting. "Top Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Shows 2017". Scottish Broadcasting Company.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson @ Pleasance Courtyard". The Skinny.
- ↑ "Comedy Poster Awards 2019". British Comedy Guide.
- ↑ "Edinburgh's August festivals will not take place in 2020". Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
- ↑ "Beats star Rachel Jackson thinks big as she bulks up for movie tipped as 'next Trainspotting'". Daily Record.
- ↑ "'I Saw Black Clouds' offers gamers new interactive thriller movie". NME.
- ↑ "First Look Trailer & Poster Drops For Mind-Bending British Film DEMON Ahead Of Cinequest 2021 World Premiere". Britflicks.
- ↑ "Cinejoy - Demon". Creatics Cinejoy.
- ↑ "The Scotsman Sessions #69: Rachel Jackson". The Scotsman.
- ↑ "I think everyone is a bunny boiler". The Herald.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson on CHUNKS & her Bunny Boiler vlogs". The Skinny.
- ↑ "Sawney: Flesh of Man (2012)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
- ↑ "The Last Photograph (2017)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
- ↑ "First Look Trailer & Poster Drops For Mind-Bending British Film DEMON Ahead Of Cinequest 2021 World Premiere" – via www.britflicks.com.
- ↑ "'I Saw Black Clouds' offers gamers new interactive thriller movie" – via www.nme.com.
- ↑ "Emo" – via www.curtisbrown.co.uk.
- ↑ "Blinded by the Light" – via www.comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ ""Secret Diary of a Call Girl" Episode #3.5 (TV Episode 2010) - IMDb" – via www.rottontomatoes.com.
- ↑ ""Outlander" Of Lost Things" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson at The Glee" – via The Glee Club.
- ↑ "Fish Friday" – via www.comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ "Rachel Jackson at The Glee" – via The Glee Club.
- ↑ "The State of It (TV Series 2018– )" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "Episode #1.4" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "Over the Hill" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "Socially Distant with Susan Calman" – via www.comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ "Billy and Us" – via www.comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ "The Stand up Sketch Show Series 3, Episode 8" – via www.comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "Rachel Jackson - Edinburgh Fringe 2016". British Comedy Guide.
- ↑ Edit, The. "Rachel Jackson - Slutty Little Goldfish". The Edit.
External links[edit]
- Rachel Jackson on Spotlight
- Rachel Jackson on IMDb
- Rachel Jackson 2019 Showreel on YouTube
- Rachel Jackson filmography on Amazon Prime Video (UK)
- Rachel Jackson filmography on Amazon Prime Video (US)
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