Jenna Coleman

Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), since 2013 credited as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for playing Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera Emmerdale, Clara Oswald in the science-fiction series Doctor Who, Queen Victoria in the period drama Victoria, Joanna Lindsay in the crime miniseries The Cry, and Marie-Andrée Leclerc in the crime miniseries The Serpent.

Jenna-Louise Coleman[1] was born in Blackpool on 27 April 1986,[2][3] the daughter of Karen and Keith Coleman. Her father is a joiner and fitter of bar and restaurant interiors.[4][5] She has an older brother named Ben, a joiner.[4][6] Her grandmother named her after the character of Jenna Wade from the American TV series Dallas.[7] She attended Arnold School in Blackpool, where she was head girl.[8] While at school, she was a member of the theatre company In Yer Space,[9] with whom she performed in the play Crystal Clear at the Edinburgh Festival. She won an award for her performance, and the play was also received favourably.[10] She was offered a place to study English at the University of York, but turned it down in order to accept the role of Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera Emmerdale.