Sheila Atim facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sheila Atim MBE
Atim in 2014
Born	1991 (age 33–34) Uganda
Education	King's College London (Biomedical science)
Occupation	Actress, singer, playwright, composer
Years active	2014–present

Sheila Atim is a talented actress, singer, and writer from Uganda and Britain. She was born around 1991. Sheila is known for her amazing performances on stage and in movies and TV shows. She has even won special awards for her acting, like the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.

Sheila started her acting journey in 2014 at Shakespeare's Globe in a musical called The Lightning Child. She has also written songs for plays and created her own play, Anguis. You might have seen her in TV series like The Pale Horse and The Underground Railroad, or in movies like Bruised.

Early Life and Beginnings

Sheila Atim was born in Uganda around 1991. When she was just five months old, she moved to the United Kingdom with her mother. She grew up in Rainham, a part of London.

As a teenager, Sheila sometimes did modelling. This happened after she shaved the side of her head for a school dance! She even appeared in a special fashion event in 2009 that showed clothes for "real women." Sheila later shared that modelling wasn't a big part of her life because her look was unique.

Sheila's Career Journey

Starting in Theatre

Sheila Atim studied biomedical science at King's College London. But she also trained to be an actor at the Weekend Arts Centre in London. She joined a workshop for a new play, The Lightning Child. This led to her first professional acting role at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013.

Sheila has said that her science background helps her acting. She feels a strong connection between science and art. She even uses ideas from science when she's rehearsing for a play.

The Lightning Child was a musical and the first of its kind at Shakespeare's Globe. It ran for several weeks. After this, Sheila played Keira in Ghost Town at the York Theatre Royal in 2014. People praised her strong presence on stage. She then appeared in Klook's Last Stand and was noted for her energetic performance.

Later in 2014, Sheila acted in Rachel and joined a touring play called Hopelessly Devoted. She also took on three different roles in plays by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Sheila even composed songs for a play called The Etienne Sisters.

Sheila Atim (right) with Damson Idris in Ghost Town (2014).

Big Roles on Stage

Sheila's first major stage role was in Les Blancs at the National Theatre in 2016. She played a silent character called The Woman. Critics said her performance was "mesmerising" and very powerful.

In 2016, Sheila earned a lot of praise for her roles in the Donmar Warehouse's all-female Shakespeare Trilogy. These plays were set in a women's prison. She played Ferdinand in The Tempest, Gadshill and Lady Percy in Henry IV, and Lucius in Julius Caesar. People loved her performances, especially as Ferdinand and Lady Percy. For these roles, she won a Clarence Derwent Award in 2018.

She then played Marianne Laine in the musical Girl from the North Country. This show was first at The Old Vic in London in 2017. It was so popular that it moved to the Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End. The story is set during the Great Depression. Sheila's character, Marianne, is a Black woman who is pregnant and adopted. The musical features songs by Bob Dylan. ..... One newspaper even said she sang Dylan's songs better than he did! For this role, she won the 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

In 2018, Sheila played Emilia in Othello at Shakespeare's Globe. She acted alongside Mark Rylance. Her performance was so strong that one reviewer said she "blew the greatest actor of his generation off the stage."

In 2019, Sheila presented her first play as a writer, called Anguis, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play features Cleopatra being interviewed by a scientist and singing songs that Sheila also composed. Critics thought it was an "intriguing look at female power" and marked Sheila as a playwright to watch.

In 2021, Sheila starred in the play Constellations at the Vaudeville Theatre. Her performance earned her another Laurence Olivier Award, this time for Best Actress.

Television, Film, and Music

Sheila Atim has also appeared in many films and TV shows. She played Viola and Sebastian in a film version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. For this, she won the Screen Nation 2019 Best Female Performance film award. .....

Sheila is also a musician! She plays piano, violin, bass, and drums. She composed the music for the play Time Is Love in 2019. That same year, she was cast in a prequel series to Game of Thrones called Bloodmoon, but the show was later cancelled.

In 2020, she appeared as a character believed to be a witch in the BBC show The Pale Horse. In 2021, she was in the TV series The Underground Railroad and The Irregulars. She also starred in the movie Bruised.

In June 2019, Sheila Atim was given a special honor: she was named a MBE for her contributions to drama. She also helps guide The Old Vic Theatre Trust as a member of its Board of Trustees.

Acting Roles

Theatre Performances

Television Roles

Film Roles

Radio Roles

Awards and Nominations

Sheila Atim has won several important awards for her acting:

See also

In Spanish: Sheila Atim para niños