49 Facts About Suranne Jones

Sarah Anne Akers, known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer.

Suranne Jones rose to prominence as Karen McDonald in Coronation Street between 2000 and 2004.

Suranne Jones garnered further attention for her roles in Single Father, Five Days and The Crimson Field, as well as stage work, including productions of A Few Good Men, Blithe Spirit, Top Girls, Beautiful Thing and Orlando.

On television, Suranne Jones has starred in Save Me, Vigil and Gentleman Jack, the latter her fourth collaboration with Wainwright.

Suranne Jones was born Sarah Anne Suranne Jones in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, on 27 August 1978.

Jones was brought up as a Catholic; her priest suggested to her father she be christened Sarah Anne instead of Suranne, her great-grandmother's name, as Suranne was not "a proper name".

Suranne Jones grew up in a house on Foxdenton Lane, surrounded by two farms and their fields and commented that one of her earliest memories is of "cows looking in the window as we ate our tea".

Suranne Jones suffers from carpophobia, a fear of wrists, which she believes possibly developed from viewing imagery of Christ's crucifixion and stigmata as a child.

Suranne Jones was educated at Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton.

Suranne Jones later said that her first role was at the age of 8, in Wait Until Dark as Gloria.

Suranne Jones was then cast in a television advert for Maltesers, guest starred in episodes of series such as City Central and had a small role in My Wonderful Life.

Suranne Jones auditioned for the role of Charity Dingle on the soap opera Emmerdale, becoming one of the final four actresses considered for the part, though the role was eventually given to Emma Atkins.

In 2000, some weeks after her unsuccessful audition for Geena Gregory, Suranne Jones was contacted by Coronation Street bosses, who offered her a part of a new character.

In May 2004, it was announced that Suranne Jones was to leave Coronation Street after four years of playing Karen.

Suranne Jones described working on a soap opera as "exhausting", remarking, "I was living and breathing Karen McDonald".

Suranne Jones made her last appearance as Karen on Boxing Day 2004.

Suranne Jones stated that upon her departure from Coronation Street, that she received numerous offers to appear in reality TV programmes, which she declined, quipping: "lots of money to go off and eat a crocodile's knob, or whatever".

On New Year's Day 2007, Suranne Jones starred in a Yorkshire and London based black comedy, Dead Clever with Helen Baxendale and Dean Lennox Kelly on ITV1.

In January 2009, Suranne Jones appeared in Unforgiven, a three-part drama on ITV1, where she plays Ruth Slater, a woman released from prison after serving a 15-year prison sentence for the murder of two policemen.

Additionally, the character of Ruth wore no make-up throughout, with Suranne Jones stating she was left feeling "quite exposed", but nonetheless saying "Ruth wouldn't have worn any make-up, I don't think".

In December, Suranne Jones starred in the Manchester Royal Exchange's production of Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward, which ran until late January 2010.

Suranne Jones was nominated for the Times Breakthrough Award at the 2010 South Bank Show Awards, the last ever ceremony, but lost to David Blandy.

Suranne Jones was described by Andrew Billen of The Times as being in a category of "those brave, talented few who earn their wings on a soap and then fly gloriously beyond it".

In March 2010 Suranne Jones starred in Five Days, a non-connected sequel to the 2007 series of the same name, as the female lead DC Laurie Franklin.

In May 2011, Suranne Jones played the central character of Idris in the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife"; when the 'soul' of the Doctor's TARDIS is extracted from the ship, Idris becomes its new host, allowing the TARDIS to talk with the Doctor through Idris.

Suranne Jones was cast due to writer Neil Gaiman wanting an actress, in the words of Suranne Jones, who is "odd; beautiful but strange-looking, and quite funny" to play the role of Idris.

In July 2011, Suranne Jones starred as Marlene, a career-woman living in Thatcher's Britain, in the Minerva Theatre's production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill in Chichester.

Michael Billington, reviewer for The Guardian, remarked that "Suranne Jones captures excellently the hidden regrets of the go-getting Marlene".

Suranne Jones plays DC Anne Oldman, the "plucky, no-nonsense sidekick" of DCI Jack Cloth.

In March 2012, Suranne Jones began filming The Secret of Crickley Hall, a BBC1 dramatisation of the 2006 best selling novel by James Herbert.

Suranne Jones plays the lead role of Eve Caleigh, a woman who moves to Crickley Hall in an attempt to move on from the loss of her son, only to be haunted by supernatural occurrences.

In 2013 Suranne Jones starred as herself in Playhouse Presents: "Stage Door Johnnies", a comedy mockumentary about obsessive theatre fans airing on Sky Arts.

Later that year, Suranne Jones played a young judge "battling to keep her head above water in the murky depths of the justice system" in Lawless, a television pilot, broadcast on Sky1 as part of its Drama Matters strand.

The drama, which was broadcast in April 2014, marked Suranne Jones's first acting appearance in a period drama.

In February 2014, Suranne Jones starred in Sarah Ruhl's stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.

The play received generally positive reviews from critics, with Suranne Jones's performance being described as "superb" by Matt Trueman in The Guardian.

In September 2015, Suranne Jones starred as the title character in the BBC One thriller Doctor Foster, as a GP whose life begins to unravel when she suspects her husband of infidelity.

The programme earned widespread critical acclaim, with Radio Times noting that "a career-best Suranne Jones was unstoppably brilliant"; the magazine placed Doctor Foster second in a roundup of the Top 40 best television shows of 2015.

Suranne Jones served as associate producer for the programme's second series, which was filmed in autumn 2016.

In February 2018, Suranne Jones starred in the Sky Atlantic drama Save Me, playing the mother of a missing teen.

Suranne Jones's performance received positive reviews, with Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian writing: "you get the impression that Suranne Jones could act grief in her sleep, but she is impressively subtle here".

From February to May 2018, Suranne Jones returned to the West End in a revival of Bryony Lavery's stage play Frozen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Suranne Jones portrayed Nancy, the grieving mother of an abducted child opposite Jason Watkins.

Suranne Jones missed the last four performances of the show's three-month run due to illness, citing the play's "deeply affecting" subject matter as a contributing factor.

Suranne Jones had signed on in July 2017 to play the lead role of Anne Lister, a lesbian Yorkshire industrialist in the 1830s.

Suranne Jones gives us a dynamic woman living out gender fluidity and attractions to women at a time of ignorance and intolerance.

In July 2019, Suranne Jones received the script for the second series of Save Me, titled Save Me Too, with a 14-week shoot commencing the following month.

Suranne Jones provided uncredited vocals on the album's cover track "It Must Be Love".

On 5 August 2021, Suranne Jones appeared in the title role of "I Am Victoria", the first in a second series of one-off dramas created by BAFTA winner Dominic Savage, focussing on various women's issues, in this case mental health challenges.