Childhood & Early Life
Amelia Mary Bullmore was born on January 31, 1964, in Chelsea, London, to Jeremy and Pamela Bullmore. She was the youngest child in the family and grew up with her two older brothers. One of her brothers, Adam Bullmore, happens to be a well-known documentary filmmaker.
Amelia had a comfortable childhood, with both her parents working. Her mother worked as a gardening writer, while her father was an advertising executive.
She developed an interest in becoming an actor during her teenage years. Following her high-school graduation from London, she moved to Manchester for higher studies. There, she joined ‘Manchester University’ and learned drama.
She stayed back in Manchester even after she finished her graduation, living there for the next 10 years. Back then, she had joined a cabaret group named ‘Red Stocking.’ She worked in the cabaret group with popular playwright and screenwriter Helen Edmundson and performed for shows such as ‘Breaking Rank: Oh Yes We Can’ and ‘Ladies in the Lift.’
During this time, she also appeared in many theatrical plays, such as ‘The Red Balloon’ and ‘Be Bop a Lula.’
While performing on stage, she was spotted by a casting agent, who asked her to audition for a role in the long-running British soap opera ‘Coronation Street.’ She cleared the audition and was selected. She thus began her screen acting career in the early 1990s.
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Career
In 1990, she made her acting debut with a supporting role (as ‘Steph Barnes’) in the long-running British soap opera titled ‘Coronation Street.’ She appeared on the show until 1992 and returned for a few episodes in 1995. By the end of the stint, he appeared in 130 episodes of the soap opera.
In 1993, she appeared in a single episode of the show ‘Comedy Playhouse.’ Around the same time, she was also quite active in the theatrical circle, appearing in plays such as ‘The Threepenny Opera’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet.’
Throughout the 1990s, she continued to play significant roles in plays such as ‘Sweet Bird of Youth,’ ‘All My Sons,’ and ‘The Queen and I.’
She appeared in the TV series ‘Cracker,’ playing ‘Catriona’ in two episodes in 1993.
In 1994, she appeared in a main role in the political thriller miniseries ‘Faith.’ She appeared in four episodes of the series, playing ‘Ros.’ However, only the first two episodes of the series were ever telecast.
She was next seen playing ‘Caroline Poole,’ a supporting role in the crime-drama series ‘Frontiers.’ However, the series failed miserably and went off-air after just six episodes.
In the next few years, due to lack of good screen roles, she mostly appeared in guest roles in series such as ‘The Bill,’ ‘Insiders,’ and ‘Turning World.’
In 1997, she made her film debut with the supporting role of ‘Rezia Warren Smith’ in the drama film titled ‘Mrs Dalloway.’ The period film set in the England of the 1920s received immense critical acclaim.
In the late 1990s, she turned to comedy and appeared in shows such as ‘Brass Eye’ and ‘Big Train.’ She then had a stint in the horror sketch-comedy show titled ‘Jam,’ appearing in six episodes.
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In the early 2000s, apart from appearing in the TV film ‘The Gist,’ she appeared in guest roles in series such as ‘Attachments’ and ‘Linda Green.’
In 2002, she appeared in a supporting role in the sitcom titled ‘I’m Alan Partridge.’ Although the series ran for only two seasons, it received widespread critical and commercial acclaim, winning two ‘BAFTA’ awards and two ‘British Comedy’ awards.
She was seen playing ‘Helen Prenger,’ a supporting role, in the drama miniseries titled ‘State of Play.’ The ‘BBC’ series was a huge success, both critically and commercially, and ran for a season (six episodes).
In 2005, she appeared in a supporting role in the black comedy ‘Festival’ and followed it up with yet another supporting role, in the independent film titled ‘The Truth.’
In 2006, she earned the first main lead role of her career when she appeared as ‘Joyce Hazeldine’ in the satirical black-comedy series ‘Suburban Shootout.’ The series was a moderate commercial and critical success and was later taken up for an American remake.
In 2008, she appeared in a supporting role in the series titled ‘Ashes to Ashes.’ The British crime drama was critically and commercially acclaimed and ran for three seasons.
She had been an aspiring writer for many years. Thus, when her acting career seemed to be dwindling, she turned to writing. In 2005, she wrote her first play, ‘Mammals,’ which was played at the ‘Bush Theatre.’ Following critical and commercial acclaim, the show was performed at many venues across the U.K.
She then wrote the play titled ‘Ghosts,’ which was played at the ‘Gate Theatre’ in Dublin.
Around the same time, she also began writing for radio. She wrote shows such as ‘Down the Line,’ ‘The Middle,’ and ‘Craven.’ All of her radio shows were with ‘BBC Radio 4.’
She had also been writing for TV since the late 1990s. She wrote a few episodes for shows such as ‘Jam’ and ‘Big Train.’ She won a ‘Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Award’ for writing the series ‘This Life.’
Her major writing breakthrough came in 2012, when she was hired to write seven episodes of the drama series titled ‘Scott & Bailey.’ The episodes written by her were telecast in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In addition to writing for the series, she also played ‘DCI Gill Murray,’ a supporting role in the series.
In 2011, she appeared in a main role in the comedy series titled ‘Twenty Twelve.’ The series received widespread critical and commercial acclaim and ran for two seasons (13 episodes).
She then appeared in a string of supporting roles, in series such as ‘Happy Valley,’ ‘Power Monkeys,’ and ‘Gentleman Jack.’
