Jennifer Ann Kirby (born 18 August 1988)[1] is an English television and stage actress.
[6] She read English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, graduating in 2010,[7] before spending two years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
[2] Kirby's first major role was as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London, for which she was nominated for Outstanding Newcomer at the 2013 Evening Standard Theatre Awards[2] and was longlisted for London Newcomer of the Year at the 2014 WhatsOnStage Awards.
She received a Commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for her 2014 role as Lady Percy in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 at the Royal Shakespeare Company,[4] and for the RSC she was also Katherine in Henry V.[9] She made her television debut in an episode of the long-running BBC One medical drama Holby City in 2015, before being cast as ex-Army nurse Valerie Dyer in series six of Call the Midwife, debuting in 2017.
[11] In summer 2023 Kirby will perform in Kimber Lee's untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and Young Vic in London.