[citation needed] She moved to the UK when she was four years old, and attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
[citation needed] Funnell started taking on comedy parts with an appearance in the comedy/drama Boon (ITV 1989), and a role in the television movie Norbert Smith: A Life.
[citation needed] Between 1992 and 2005, Funnell appeared in 58 episodes of the BBC sitcom As Time Goes By, in the role of 'Sandy' alongside Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.
Funnell was part of the original West-End cast of Michael Grandage's Hamlet, which starred Jude Law in the titular role.
It then went to Denmark, performing in the gothic setting of Kronborg Castle, Shakespeare's inspiration for his fictionalised Elsinore, before finally transferring to the Broadhurst Theatre, on Broadway, in August 2009.