Sophie Ward

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Sophie Anna Ward (born 30 December 1964)<ref>"Sophie Ward". BFI. Retrieved 30 December 2022.</ref> is a British stage and screen actress, and a writer of non-fiction and fiction from London. As an actress, she played Jocelyn Sheffield in The Nanny; she also played Elizabeth Hardy, the female lead in Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), and in other feature film roles including in Cary Joji Fukunaga's period drama Jane Eyre (2011), and Jane Sanger's horror feature Swiperight (2020). In 1982 she had a role in the Academy Award-winning short film A Shocking Accident. On television she played Dr Helen Trent in the ITV police period drama series Heartbeat from 2004 to 2006, Sophia Byrne in the series Holby City from 2008 to 2010, Lady Ellen Hoxley in the series Land Girls from 2009 to 2011, and Lady Verinder in the mini-series The Moonstone (2016). She has had a variety of other roles on stage and in short and feature films.

Ward returned to higher education, earning a PhD degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2019, in English and Comparative Literature, focusing on the intersection between literature and philosophy, including the use of narrative and thought experiments in philosophy, the philosophy of mind in particular. She has written for The Guardian, The Times and The Spectator, won the 2018 Royal Academy Pin Drop Award for her short story "Sunbed", and had her first novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments (2020), longlisted for both the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Booker Prize in its publication year. She and her wife, Korean-American poet and writer Rena Brannan, divide their time between the United Kingdom and the United States.<ref name=ScottTheTimes20161016>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life and education

Sophie Anna Ward was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1964,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the eldest of the three daughters of Alexandra (née Malcolm) and actor Simon Ward,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> one of whom, Kitty, went on to marry comedian Michael McIntyre.<ref name=BBC_20120722>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In childhood, Sophia Ward trained at the Anna Scher Theatre.<ref name=WardAutobioPersonal>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Third-party inline She earned a BA honours degree in English with Philosophy from the Open University.Template:WhenTemplate:Citation needed

She returned to higher education, earning a PhD in English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2019, where, according to Ward, her research focused on "thought experiments in philosophy of mind and the use of narrative in philosophy, looking at issues of consciousness and AI, and the meeting between literature and philosophy."<ref name=WardAutobioConversation/><ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Acting career

Ward started work as an actress when she was aged 10,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and has worked in film, television and theatre.<ref name=bfi/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She trained as a dancer under ballerina Merle Park. She had an early film role in Full Circle (1977). In 1983, she had a brief, non-speaking role at the very end of the Tony Scott vampire movie The Hunger; in the credits, her character is listed as "Girl In London House".<ref name=bfi/> Another early film role was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), directed by Barry Levinson.<ref name=bfi/> Other films included Return to Oz (1985) playing Princess Mombi II, Little Dorrit (1987) and A Summer Story (1988), and she also portrayed a dancer in Roxy Music's 1982 music video "Avalon".<ref name=allmovie/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

She has appeared in several Glasgow Citizens' Theatre productions including Private Lives (as Amanda), Don Carlos (as Queen Elizabeth) and in Hamlet (as Ophelia).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her later films include Out of Bounds (2003), in which she co-starred with Sophia Myles and Celia Imrie, and Book of Blood (2008), co-starring Jonas Armstrong and Reg Fuller.<ref name=allmovie>"Sophie Ward" at AllMovie.</ref> She also appeared in Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre (2011).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She has worked with Susan Sarandon in The Hunger directed by Tony Scott, Liv Ullmann in Template:Interlanguage link, directed by Mauro Bolognini, and Elizabeth Taylor in Young Toscanini (1988), directed by Franco Zeffirelli.<ref name=bfi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her television work includes the mini-series A Dark-Adapted Eye with Helena Bonham Carter, and the fantasy Dinotopia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 2004 until 2006, Ward had the recurring role of Dr Helen Trent in long-running ITV drama Heartbeat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2008, Ward joined the cast of Holby City in a recurring role as Sophia Byrne.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=chichester>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She appeared in the BBC series Land Girls from 2009 to 2011.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Ward was considered a "Face of the 1980s" as a Vogue model.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>

Acting awards and recognition

Template:Expand section Ward acted in the 1982 Academy Award-winning short film A Shocking Accident.<ref name="oscar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> Her role in the first (2009) series of Land Girls earned her a regional (Midlands) RTS Television Award for best acting performance (by a female) in that year.<ref name="rts 2010"/>

Writing

Especially since beginning her advanced academic work, Ward has been writing professionally, including for newspapers The Guardian, The Times and The Spectator, and the online journalism network The Conversation.<ref name=WardAutobioPersonal/>Template:Third-party inline While undertaking her post-graduate study, Ward wrote a short work, "Sunbed", which won the 2018 Royal Academy Pin Drop Award for new writers, in the short story category.<ref name=WardAutobioConversation/>

Ward's debut novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments,<ref name="love">Template:Cite book</ref> was published in 2020 by Corsair, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was longlisted for both the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Booker Prize in its publication year.<ref name=WardAutobioConversation>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ward's second novel, The Schoolhouse, was published in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Activism

Ward has become known as an LGBT activist,<ref name=chichester/> and her 2014 long-form essay, a strong statement regarding equality of marriage rights, was published by Guardian Shorts, The Guardian's e-book publishing house. It later appeared in serialised form in issues of the newspaper.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ward has hosted several of the annual European Diversity Awards, including in 2016, 2019, and 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Ward married veterinary surgeon Paul Hobson in 1988, and the couple have two sons, born in 1989 and 1993.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After Ward became involved with Korean-American poet and writer Rena Brannan<ref name=ScottTheTimes20161016/> and came out as a lesbian in 1996, Hobson and Ward divorced.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ward and Brannan had a civil partnership ceremony in 2005, followed by marriage after it was legalised in 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ScottTheTimes20161016/>

Ward and Brannan divide their time between Britain and the United States.<ref name=ScottTheTimes20161016/>

Ward's brother-in-law is comedian Michael McIntyre.Template:Cn

Written works

Filmography

Film

Television

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Guest appearances

Short films

  • "Avalon" – 1982, music video for Roxy Music
  • A Shocking Accident – 1982 (Academy Award-winner for best short film)<ref name="oscar"/>
  • Rock-a-bye Baby – 1983
  • A Prayer for the Dying – 1984
  • The Malady – 1985
  • Chinese Whispers – 1998
  • Bubblegum – 2004
  • Missing Link – 2009
  • David Rose – 2011

Child performances

References

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