Nell Barlow

Despite a love for acting at school, it wasn’t until university that the bug really took hold in North Londoner Nell. In her second year, she landed a part in Julian Fellowes adaptation of Doctor Thorne (2016) and she’s not looked back since. Roles in Married to a Paedophile (2018) and Behind Her Eyes (2021) followed, then the lead in coming-of-age feature film Sweetheart (2021) and a voiceover for the animated Where is Anne Frank (2021).

In her own words:

“I really loved drama at school, it was perhaps the only subject that gave me confidence. I did like other subjects, but when I was in plays I felt most like myself and good about myself…

“I love independent film and I love theatre. I haven’t done much television and would love to do more. There’s so many different things that I see that I want to do. In terms of what interests me, it’s all about the story, the content and the quality and less about what media it is…

“I’d like to emulate Jodie Comer, her career is amazing. In the next five years, I’d like to have a similar body of work that I can be really proud of. What’s really great about the world of film and theatre is you get to explore worlds you don’t normally see and personalities you haven’t been introduced to before. So, to make some really worthy, exciting and thought-provoking stuff would be a dream come true.

“One of the things that was quite comforting about [BAFTA Breakthrough] was that they help construct a future plan for you… It’s nice to have some help working out a structure and make informed choices about what you want to get out of the next five years. I think that’s a very powerful partner to have.”

Nell’s Breakthrough credit is the film Sweetheart