Hannah Stanbridge
Actress
Born of mixed parentage – an English-Scottish father and a Filipino mother - Hanna Stanbridge grew up in small town Penicuik just outside of Edinburgh. Hanna only took acting classes as a child to get over her shyness. This soon developed into a passion for the performing arts. As her love for acting grew, she was lucky enough to have gained a place at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, where she graduated with a BA in Acting and Performance.
Hanna’s first real taste in performing was during her 2nd year of Drama School, when herself and 7 other students put together and performed a Murder Mystery Farce “The Butler Done It!?” where she played the Fifi, the French femme fatale, at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival – a venture which, much to their pleasant surprise (the young students used their own money for the production, costumes, stage fees, etc) became a triumph as it was sold out for the 28-day duration of the whole festival in 2006.
After graduating Hanna’s first big break was in feature film, “Outcast” (Scottish-Irish collaboration, in 2010). Her ethnic vibe helped her score the young female lead role of “Petronella”, a feisty Romanian girl. For this role she won Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Trailblazer Award (2010), the Grimm Up North Best Actress Award (2010), and BAFTA Scotland’s New Emerging Talent Award (2011).
Since then, Hanna has been lucky enough to work in more TV, theatre and film, most notably as “Hayley”, in the first series of BBC’s “Lip Service”; working Alison Peebles (Actor, Writer/Director) and Belgian Director Lies Pauwels to create “My Shrinking Life” for National Theatre of Scotland – an honest and frank look at Alison’s real-life struggle with MS; here Hanna was also fortunate enough to showcase her dancing/movement skills – a love she has had since she danced as a Scottish Ballet Junior Associate many moons ago.
Even though Hanna now lives in London she has always been keen to work in Scotland, championing what we create here north of the border. She was back up just recently, working for the Scottish institution that is Oran Mor’s “A Play, A Pie and a Pint” season in Morag Fullerton’s great comedy, “Save the Lap Dance for Me”, as Jean Balfour (aka Destiny Honeybaps!) - don’t worry the show was on lunch-time slots, which meant it was “all very PG”.
Hanna is currently back in Edinburgh for this year’s EIFF with her new film, “Let Us Prey”, (directed by Brian O’Malley), where she played PC Jennifer Mundie, a kick-ass cop with a lot to hide. The film already won the prestigious “Melies d’ Argent Award” – Best European Fantastic Film 20014 at the Brussels International Film Festival; already receiving rave reviews, including Starburst (10 out of 10).
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