Vinette Robinson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vinette Robinson
Vinette Robinson in 2021
Born	1981 (age 43–44) Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present

Vinette Robinson (born in 1981) is a British actress. She has Jamaican family roots. She won a special award called a British Independent Film Award for her role in the movie Boiling Point (2021). She later played the same character in the TV show that continued the story, Boiling Point.

On television, Vinette is well-known for her parts in the BBC One shows Waterloo Road (2009), Sherlock (2010–2014), and The A Word (2016–2017). She also appeared in an episode of Black Mirror (2015). A very special role was when she played the famous civil rights leader Rosa Parks in the Doctor Who episode "Rosa" (2018).

Early Life

Vinette Robinson was born in Bradford. Her father was Jamaican, and her mother was British. She grew up in Bradford and went to primary and secondary school there.

Later, she studied drama in sixth form at Intake High School in Leeds. She also took weekly classes at the Scala School of Performing Arts, a theatre school in Leeds.

Acting Career

Vinette started trying out for acting roles when she was thirteen. Her very first audition was for the part of Queen Amidala in the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. That role eventually went to Natalie Portman.

She made her first TV appearance in the show The Cops when she was 17. After that, she spent three years at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Here, she won a special award called a Laurence Olivier Bursary to help with her studies. She had a small part in the 2004 film Vera Drake. The director, Mike Leigh, even gave her character a full background story.

Her first role on stage was in the well-known play Measure for Measure at the National Theatre. In 2006, she played Eve in a praised show called Paradise Lost.

In 2009, she played Josie Porritt in the BBC show Hope Springs. She also appeared as Helen Hopewell, a new English teacher, in eight episodes of Waterloo Road. From 2009 to 2010, she starred as Florence in Darker Shores at the Hampstead Theatre. Critics praised her performance, saying she brought "warmth and emotional openness" to the role.

In 2010, Vinette began playing police sergeant Sally Donovan in the BBC series Sherlock. She continued this role in the second and third seasons, which aired in 2012 and 2013/2014.

In 2011, she appeared in a play called Tender Napalm. For this, she won a "Best Female at The Offie" award. She then played Ophelia in a production of Hamlet at The Young Vic theatre. This role earned her the Clarence Derwent Award. Her performance as Ophelia was even mentioned in a New York Times Magazine article about important stage actors.

In 2016, she was in "Hated in the Nation", an episode of the popular show Black Mirror.

A very notable role came in October 2018. Vinette played the civil rights hero Rosa Parks in the Doctor Who episode "Rosa". This was her second time on Doctor Who; she had played Abi Lerner in the 2007 episode "42".

In 2019, Vinette had a brief role as a pilot named Tyce in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. She also starred in the 2021 film Boiling Point. This movie was filmed in one continuous shot. Her performance received great praise, and she won the BIFA for Best Supporting Actress award. In the film, she plays a sous chef working with a difficult head chef during a very busy night at a restaurant.

Awards and Recognitions

Vinette Robinson has won several awards for her acting.

• In 2012, she won the Clarence Derwent Awards for Best Female in a Supporting Role for her part as Ophelia in the play Hamlet.
• In 2021, she won a BIFA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Carly in the movie Boiling Point.
• In 2023, she was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress - Television for her role as Michelle O'Neill in the show Six Four.