Ashley Jensen


Ashley Jensen is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series Extras, in which she appeared from 2005 to 2007. She was also a cast member of the ABC series Ugly Betty and the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose. She also plays the main character in the comedy-drama detective television series Agatha Raisin.

Career

Jensen's first significant television role was as Clare Donnelly, daughter of Glasgow criminal Jo-Jo Donnelly in the 1993 BBC drama Down Among the Big Boys. In 1994, she played eccentric secretary Rosie McConnichy in the final series of BBC comedy May to December, as a replacement for the character of secretary Hilary, and Heather in Roughnecks, a BBC television series about workers on a North Sea oil platform. Jensen had a small role in a Dangerfield episode "Contact" as the mother of a young girl with meningitis. She then appeared as Fiona Morris in EastEnders. She also appeared in the 2003 BBC drama Two Thousand Acres of Sky.
Jensen co-starred alongside Ricky Gervais in the BBC Two/HBO television programme Extras as the socially inept Maggie Jacobs. For her work on the first series, she received best television comedy actress and newcomer awards at the 2005 British Comedy Awards. In 2006, Jensen received two British Comedy Awards and a BAFTA nomination for her role in Extras. Her role in the 2007 Christmas Special earned her an Emmy Award nomination. In January 2006 she starred in the short-lived drama series Eleventh Hour on ITV. Later that year she played Steve Coogan's agent in A Cock and Bull Story. In 2007, she provided the narration for the film Taking Liberties.
In September 2006, Jensen's first major role on American television came when she took the role of regular character Christina McKinney on the ABC series Ugly Betty. Her character was originally an American, but when she met with the show's producers they liked Jensen's accent and changed the nationality of the character, keeping McKinney Scottish. Production of Ugly Betty moved to New York from Los Angeles in mid-2008, causing a conflict for Jensen, who was unable to relocate from Los Angeles and left the show in 2009 near the end of the third season but made a return guest appearance in 2010 during the fourth season.
In January 2009, Jensen starred in No Holds Bard, a BBC Scotland one-off special comedy shown on Burns Night as part of a line-up of special programming to mark the 250th birthday of Robert Burns. She is the narrator of Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses and Embarrassing Bodies. She also narrated an advertising campaign for Bank of Scotland and Persil detergent adverts for both television and radio. From September 2009 to May 2010, she appeared in the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose as Olivia. Jensen starred in the 2009 BBC comedy Nativity! as Jennifer Lore, a Hollywood producer's secretary and the love interest of Paul Maddens, played by Martin Freeman.
On 21 December 2010, she starred in the one-off/pilot BBC comedy drama Accidental Farmer, playing a London executive who buys a derelict farm with her philandering boyfriend's credit card. In 2011, she voiced Nanette the frog in the animated production Gnomeo & Juliet. She starred in the ITV drama The Reckoning in April of that year. In October 2012, she appeared as a guest on the BBC cookery programme Saturday Kitchen.
In 2014, she played the eponymous lead character in the television film adaptation of the M. C. Beaton novel Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death for Sky1. She also starred in the eight-part series that first aired on Sky1 on 7 June 2016.
In 2015, Jensen acted in Catastrophe, a six-part comedy series for Channel 4, and with Susan Calman in Calman's BBC Radio 4 comedy series Sisters.
In 2017, she starred in a six-part TV series for BBC TV, Love, Lies & Records, depicting the gritty life and entwined storylines working in Leeds Registry Office. In March 2019, Jensen reunited with Gervais in the Netflix black comedy series After Life. In April 2019 she played Debbie Dorell in the second series of BBC TV drama Trust Me. When an injured soldier discovers patients in his hospital ward start dying, he attempts to investigate the suspicious deaths.

Personal life

Jensen has one son, Francis Jonathan Beesley, from her marriage to actor Terence Beesley, whom she met in 1999 while working on a stage production of King Lear. Her husband died in November 2017.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990City Lights1 episode
1992, 1993Rab C. Nesbitt2nd Girl / Sheena2 episodes
1993Screen OneClaire Donnelly1 episode
1994May to DecemberRosie / Rosie McConnachy6 episodes
1994The Tales of Para HandyCatriona MacLean1 episode
1994Takin' Over the AsylumKathleen1 episode
1994–1995RoughnecksHeather13 episodes
1994, 1997The BillDiane Wyre / Kate Selby2 episodes
1995The Baldy ManHairdresser1 episode
1995WaitingAmanda Cookson
1995TempEileenTV film
1995Capital LivesEileen1 episode
1996The Big PicnicNessieTV film
1996Bad BoysMorag6 episodes
1996–2004CasualtyStella / Jess3 episodes
1997DangerfieldMichelle Thomson1 episode
1998–2000City CentralPC Sue Chappell31 episodes
1998Mortimer's LawNaomi Childs1 episode
2000EastEndersFiona Morris2 episodes
2001RebusMhairi Henderson1 episode
2001–2003Clocking OffBabs Leach / Babs Fisher5 episodes
2002Outside the RulesDawn DeaconTV film
2002Breeze Block5 episodes
2003Coming UpRachel1 episode
2003Silent WitnessDI Becky Metcalf"Fatal Error" 2 episodes
2003Sweet MedicineFaye Brooks5 episodes
2003The OfficeInterviewer2 episodes
2005Meet the MagoonsPolicewoman No.11 episode
2005TaggartAgatha Ferry1 episode
2005–2007ExtrasMaggie Jacobs13 episodes
British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer
British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated – Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress
Nominated – British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress
Nominated – Rose d'Or Award for Best Sitcom Performance
2006Eleventh HourRachel Young4 episodes
2006–2010Ugly BettyChristina McKinney66 episodes
Nominated – BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Acting Performance in Television
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2007–2015Embarrassing BodiesNarratorDocumentary
2009No Holds BardIsobelTV film
2009–2010Accidentally on PurposeOlivia18 episodes
2010Accidental FarmerErin TaylorTV film
2011The Reckoning
2013All Stars
2013Love and MarriageSarah
2013The Escape ArtistKate Burton
2014–presentAgatha RaisinAgatha RaisinTV series
2015–2019CatastropheFran
2017Love, Lies & RecordsKate Dickenson6 episodes BBC
2018DucktalesDowny McDuckVoice, 1 episode
2019–presentAfter LifeNurse Emma
2019Trust MeDebbie Dorrell