Sally Phillips

Sally Phillips
Born	10 May 1970 Hong Kong
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Andrew Bermejo
Children	3
Parent(s)	Tim Phillips

Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her main role in Miranda as Tilly, Parents as Jenny Pope and Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015. Phillips also co-starred in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as Mrs Bennet, and reprised her role as Sharon in the 2016 film Bridget Jones's Baby, following Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Phillips has also worked on films such as Burn Burn Burn as Ingrid alongside Laura Carmichael. Since 2004, she has played the title role in the BBC Radio 4 comedy show Clare in the Community.

Career

Phillips appeared in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH which also starred Ed Smith. She performed at nine consecutive Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, appearing in shows including: Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet (as Ophelia) and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas, Julian Barratt and Lori Lixenburg. Her first television role was in Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun in 1994, shortly after followed by a cameo in Alas Smith and Jones with Mel Smith. In 1995, Phillips played the role of a reporter in the unbroadcast pilot of Chris Morris's spoof series Brass Eye which at that point was called Torque TV; however, she did not appear in the series itself. She had a role as a "Travel Tavern" receptionist in I'm Alan Partridge (1997).

Phillips had a starring role in the short-lived 1999 British comedy series Hippies (with Simon Pegg and Julian Rhind-Tutt), and also co-created and wrote Smack the Pony, a double Emmy Award-winning comedy show, for which she was nominated for best female newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards. Phillips also featured in Eddie Izzard's sitcom Cows.

In 2001, she took the starring role in the David Nicholl's series Rescue Me for BBC 1. She also played cameo roles in Mean Machine, Birthday Girl and Born Romantic and wrote episodes for the animation Bob and Margaret.

In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. She appeared in Bridget Jones's Diary as "Shazza", previously auditioning for Bridget; the character was based upon the film's director, Sharon Maguire.

In 2004, she took the title role in the still-running BBC radio sitcom Clare in the Community. In August 2005, she returned to the stage after a long absence, in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Oxford Playhouse. In 2006, she appeared in the Australian comedy feature BoyTown; whilst on television, she appeared as Clare Winchester in the BBC2 science fiction comedy Hyperdrive.

Between 2006 and 2009, she had recurring roles in the BBC's comedies Jam & Jerusalem as a scatterbrained New Ager Natasha "Tash" Vine and in 2009 and 2012 she appeared in Miranda as Miranda Hart's character's irritating upper class friend, Tilly. She also had a guest star part in E4's Skins, series 3 playing Pandora's mother.

In 2009, Phillips won a British Film Council screenwriting competition for her film Fag Mountain. Her first feature film script, The Decoy Bride, started production in spring 2010. Phillips appeared in a supporting role in the film, playing Emma, a Hollywood assistant. The film was released in February 2012, premièring first on cable television and as a digital download, and then had a limited theatrical release.

In December 2010, she appeared in the BBC1 drama Accidental Farmer.

In 2012, she played the lead role in the Sky 1 comedy Parents and also appeared in the CBeebies television series Justin's House. She made two episodes of series 3 of the Dave maths and comedy series, Dara O Briain: School of Hard Sums in 2014 in which she was set various maths-based physical challenges. In America, Phillips has made three appearances in the HBO comedy series Veep as Minna Häkkinen, a fictional Finnish prime minister.

In 2014, she narrated the first series of The Supervet on Channel 4.

During 2015 Phillips appeared in several TV shows, notably House of Fools and Death in Paradise. Phillips has also appeared in the comedy Burn Burn Burn as Ingrid a main character and also the TV movie Distingushed Ladies in which she plays the lead role of Bianca.

Phillips appeared in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) as Mrs Bennet, and as Shazza in Bridget Jones's Baby.

In 2016, she presented the one-off BBC documentary A World Without Down's Syndrome?, which examined the potential impact of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT).

Personal life

Phillips was born in Hong Kong, the daughter of Tim Phillips, the chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.^[1] She was educated at Wycombe Abbey School and New College, Oxford graduating with a first class degree in modern languages. She is married with three sons, one with Down's Syndrome.^[2]

Select filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Notting Hill	Caroline	Uncredited
2001	Birthday Girl	Karen
	Bridget Jones's Diary	Sharon "Shazza"
2004	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason	Sharon "Shazza"
2011	The Decoy Bride	Emma	Also writer
2015	Set the Thames on Fire	Colette
2016	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies	Mrs. Bennet
2016	Bridget Jones's Baby	Sharon "Shazza"
2016	The Rizen	The Suited Woman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	I'm Alan Partridge	Sophie
1999	Hippies	Jill Sprint
1999–2003	Smack the Pony	Various characters	Also writer
2000	The Junkies	Sal	Short
2002	Rescue Me	Katie Nash
2006-2009	Jam and Jerusalem	Natasha "Tash" Vine	All three series
2009–2015	Miranda	Matilda "Tilly"	Main character (14 episodes)
2009	Skins	Angela Moon	Episode: "Pandora"
2012	Parents	Jenny Pope	Main character (6 episodes)
2013–2014, 2016	Veep	Minna Häkkinen	3 episodes
2016	Galavant	Ivanna	Episode: "Bewitched, Bothered, Belittled"

References

1. Kelso, Paul (5 July 2007). "More screens to entertain drenched punters". The Guardian. London.
2. Gilbert, Gerard (19 January 2013). "Always the best friend: Sally Phillips on Christianity, comedians and the class system". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2016.

External links

• Sally Phillips at the Internet Movie Database