Childhood & Early Life
Roxanne was born on August 10, 1980, in Canada. She has a brother. Roxanne graduated with a bachelor's degree in social policy and political studies from 'Royal Holloway,' the 'University of London,' in 2005.
While in school, Roxanne did a variety of jobs, including working as a waitress and a recruitment consultant.
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Career
Roxanne had a grand debut in 2005, with the 'Channel 4' British soap opera 'Hollyoaks.' In 2004, she participated in 'Hollyoaks: On the Pull,' a grand audition special for the show, in which she auditioned for the role of ‘Louise Summers.’ Roxanne competed with over 35,000 applicants in the audition and finally bagged the part.
Roxanne's 'Hollyoaks' character first appeared in February 2005, in the spin-off 'Hollyoaks: No Going Back.' She played the high-spirited and glamorous girlfriend of ‘Darren Osborne,’ played by Ashley Taylor Dawson. After playing the character for over 250 episodes, Roxanne decided to quit the show to focus on theater.
In 2008, Roxanne hinted at her possible exit from 'Hollyoaks.' Her contract with the channel ended in October that year, and she finally confirmed the exit. Her character was shown lying lifeless on her wedding day in the end. However, it left the audience wondering whether Roxanne's character was actually dead or not.
Several months after Roxanne's exit from 'Hollyoaks,' it was speculated that the character might return along with the character ‘Warren Fox’ (Jamie Lomas), Louise's fiancé, who was charged with her murder. She even claimed to have filmed an extra scene showing Louise still alive. In an interview with 'Digital Spy,' Roxanne revealed that she had initially wanted her character to exit by committing suicide. Nevertheless, she was thrilled to get an even better plot.
Through 'Hollyoaks,' Roxanne became the nation's sexiest soap star for 2 years. She won the 'Sexiest Female' award at the 'Inside Soap Awards' and at the 'The British Soap Awards' in 2007 and 2008. She was nominated for the latter in 2006 and 2009.
Roxanne was at the 91st position on the 'FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World' list in 2006. She moved up to the 42nd position the following year. In 2008, Roxanne was featured in the music video for Taio Cruz's single 'She's Like a Star.’ In July 2009, Roxanne became the face of the consumer exhibition brand 'Clothes Show Live.'
Roxanne made her film debut with the 2010 British horror 'F’ ('The Expelled'), as ‘Nicky Wright.’ She also appeared in two episodes of the 'BBC Two' sitcom 'The Persuasionists.'
In 2010, Roxanne played a bisexual named ‘Pippa ‘in an episode of the 'BBC' soap opera spin-off 'EastEnders: E20.' The same year, she played ‘Lou Foster,’ a TV personality in a secret lesbian relationship with one of the lead characters, in four episodes of the British drama 'Lip Service.'
Roxanne had starring roles as ‘Lita’ in the 2012 horror flick 'Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines' (also 'Wrong Turn 5') and as ‘Morgan’ in the 2013 action movie 'Vendetta.' In 2012, she featured in a 'Smirnoff' commercial.
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From 2011, Roxanne began playing the recurring role (11 episodes) of ‘Doreah’ in the debut season of the 'HBO' fantasy–drama series 'Game of Thrones.’ She continued till the second season. Following this, she made an appearance in an episode of the 'ITV' detective drama 'Lewis.'
Roxanne portrayed the Greek mythological figure ‘Queen Alcmene,’ the mother of thunder god ‘Zeus's son ‘Heracles,’ in the 2014 3D action–fantasy film 'The Legend of Hercules.' She was seen as ‘Blanche de Vesci’ in the epic war film 'Ironclad: Battle for Blood.'
Following her portrayal of ‘Suzy’ in the 2014 TV movie 'Alt,' Roxanne was seen in the apocalyptic fantasy series 'Dominion,' which was the continuation of the 2010 film 'Legion.' She was cast in the main role of ‘Lady Claire Riesen,’ a teacher at an orphanage and a believer of Saviorism, who later became the ruler (Lady of the City) of the fortified city of Vega.
In 2016, Roxanne was seen in the thriller TV movie 'Killer Obsession' (‘Crossfire'), as ‘Samantha Harrison,’ a character who had served in the ‘National Guard’ in Iraq. The following year, she joined the sixth season of the 10-part British–American action–drama project 'Strike Back: Retribution,' as one of the main characters, a ‘British Army’ (former ‘Special Reconnaissance Regiment’) personnel named ‘Captain Natalie Reynolds.’
Roxanne has been cast as ‘Moneypenny’ in the next movie of the ‘James Bond’ franchise, which is scheduled to release in 2020.
Family & Personal Life
Roxanne dated actor and singer-songwriter Richard Fleeshman from 2001 until their break-up in 2007. Following this, she began a relationship with professional footballer Danny Simpson in 2008. This lasted a few months.
She met and began dating Greg Burn in 2014, after her sudden break-up with Harry Neale. Unfortunately, her relationship with Greg, too, ended abruptly for reasons still unknown. All the while, Roxanne was in a steady relationship with entrepreneur Gary Sewell, whom she began dating in 2009. She and Gary broke up in 2012.
Roxanne has reportedly been in a relationship with 'Strictly Come Dancing' star Simon Webbe. They have been together since 2015 and are often seen together in public. Roxanne was photographed kissing him in Manchester in February 2015.
In an interview, Roxanne revealed how her professional commitments had hampered her previous relationships. She added that one of her former boyfriends once visited her in South Africa, where she was filming. Unfortunately, they could not spend enough time with each other and eventually broke up.
On March 27, 2018, Roxanne posted an 'Instagram' picture of her locking lips with someone, with the caption “Monday's bite.” However, she did not mention or tag the person in the frame. As of 2019, Roxanne is possibly single.
Roxanne's character and steamy scenes in the lesbian drama 'Lip Service' created an impression of her being a lesbian in real life, too.
