She's the unknown who's upstaging Keira Knightley in The Children's Hour...but who is Bryony Hannah?
She's the co-star who's giving Keira Knightley a run for her money in The Children's Hour - but just who is Bryony Hannah?
10
View
comments
When Keira Knightley was being nominated for a best actress Oscar for her 2005 role in Pride and Prejudice, actress Bryony Hannah was working behind the bar of the Hampshire Bowman pub in Southampton.
Fast-forward six years and the tiny, previously unknown 26-year-old is stealing the spotlight from the actress, whom she stars alongside in West End play The Children's Hour.
Knightley - along with her co-star, Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss - might be the big name who is drawing the audiences, but it's Hannah, whose own acting career couldn't be more different from Knightley's - who is getting the critics worked up.
Scene stealer: Unknown actress Bryony Hannah has nabbed the lion's share of the good reviews in West End play The Children's Hour
The Children's Hour stars Keira and Elisabeth as Karen Wright and Martha Dobie - two schoolmistresses of an all-girls boarding school in the Thirties.
Their reputations and careers are thrown into chaos when disgruntled student Mary Tilford - played by Hannah - wrongly claims the two women are having a lesbian affair.
And although Knightley has received decent reviews for her performance Hannah has won raves for her portrayal of Mary, the twisted schoolgirl whose motive for spreading the rumours is merely a desire for revenge on her teachers.
Libby Purves in The Times described Hannah as 'a diminutive scowling unknown in a rumpled gymslip who acts the stars right off the stage' and added, 'the first act is hers and boy does she punch above her weight!'
Set for stardom: Hannah (left) has wowed both critics and audiences as manipulative schoolgirl Mary Tilford in the play
By contrast the review said that Knightley was 'competently schoolmarmish' in her role as Karen.
In the Express, Paul Callan said that Hannah's performance 'borders on the brilliant and is a characterisation that is often frightening'.
And Quentin Letts said in the Mail that 'the outwardly plain Miss Hannah, in a performance of darting, furtive, fiendish malevolence, is a fantastic find. She has that native fizz, that crackle every time she enters....That is the difference between a celluloid mannequin and a top-flight stage actress.'
There is already talk of the play transferring to Broadway with its original cast intact, which would give the actress - who stands just 5ft 1in tall - the chance to wow American audiences with her performance.
Main stars: Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss star as schoolmistresses in a 1930s New England boarding school in The Children's Hour
Although no deal has yet been confirmed there is a possibility of the play transferring later this year, with an executive close to the production telling the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye, ‘There’s an intent for them to go to New York.’
'It’s one step at a time. Will it click in London? We’ll have to see. Not all of the reviews are in yet, but I believe it has clicked with the public and they’re the ones who pay for their seats.'
At the moment though Hannah appears to be taking her new-found British fame in her stride, instead reserving her own praise for Knightley and Moss.
'They are tremendous, so hard-working, so humble. Their enthusiasm is infectious. They have taught me so much,' she told the Telegraph this week.
Well received: Elisabeth Moss and Keira Knightley also received decent reviews from the critics on press night
And she added that while she saw the part as an 'amazing opportunity', she was not seeking the same levels of stardom.
'Hopefully I can come out of this a better actor, and make people think, and enjoy their evening. But I'm not after recognition – not at all.'
Hannah - the daughter of a teacher and a retired Royal Navy lieutenant-commander, hails from Portsmouth, and after leaving school worked in Southampton's Hampshire Bowman pub - which she describes as 'wonderful', using her wages to fund trips to London to appear in fringe theatre.
'I was spending all my money on train fares to London,' she told the Telegraph. Sometimes I would finish in the pub, have a sandwich, pop off to London, and be back working in the pub the next day.'
Versatile: Hannah appeared in Breathing Irregular, a dance-based play inspired by 999 phone calls, at London's Gate Theatre in 2010
Eventually though she was accepted into the drama school RADA and since then has featured in National Theatre productions including War Horse and Earthquakes in London.
She also appeared in the dance-based play Irregular Breathing at London's Gate Theatre last year, and made her film debut with a small role as Louise in the Ricky Gervais-directed 70s comedy Cemetery Junction.
But despite all her new-found adulation Hannah admits she is not keen on following in the footsteps of Knightley - whose screen credits include the Pirates Of The Caribbean series - and breaking into big-budget blockbusters.
'I really enjoy stage work,' she told The Independent. 'I don't think anyone would pay to watch me in something like that.'
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKymqLWww8GisWiZoqm2pLjEZmhsbWVthnh7sqGcrGWlo7ivu9anZLCgn6h6trzSrZigoZ6ceoyxyKuYZoOenrSpwMuesGaMmJp6hLTIpZurnZ6oeom71KtkZnqirryvxYyBmKemkZ17qcDMpQ%3D%3D