Saskia Reeves

Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is an English actress, known for her roles Eastenders (14 episodes, 1998-1999 ) films including Close My Eyes (1991) , I.D. (1995), and Our Kind of Traitor (2016), in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, and in TV series, including as a series regular in Luther (2010), Shetland (2016), and Slow Horses (2022–present).

Saskia Reeves was born on 16 August 1961^[1][2] of a Dutch mother and English father, and brought up in Twickenham and Paddington, London.^{[citation needed]} Reeves attended the Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton.^{[citation needed]}

According to Reeves, her father was an actor, writer and singer. As a teenager, while her parents did not encourage her, she and her sister attended weekend acting workshops "for a laugh". Reeves was faring poorly in high school, missing classes and not doing homework, and didn't take her university-qualifying A-level exams. She discovered "drama school" as an alternative to university that didn't require A-levels; it sounded like "brilliant fun" and would give her three years to figure out her future.^[3] She attended London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama.^[4] She then worked for a year and a half as a waitress before getting a "decent job in a theatre in Wales", followed by other jobs, until she concluded, "I could earn a living at this".^[3]

Early in her career Reeves performed in puppet shows^[5] and in satirical revues at the Covent Garden Community Theatre.^[6] Her stage work includes productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at London's Royal National Theatre.^[7] She was a member of the Cheek by Jowl international theatre company.^[6] In 2008, she starred in the English Touring Theatre revival of Athol Fugard's Hello and Goodbye at the Trafalgar Studios in London.^[8]

Reeves work in film includes: Close My Eyes (1991); I.D. (1995); Butterfly Kiss (1995) co-starring with Amanda Plummer – described in the New York Times as "a disturbing road movie that suggests a twisted British answer to 'Thelma and Louise' spiced with dashes of 'Heavenly Creatures' and 'Natural Born Killers'";^[9] and Our Kind of Traitor (2016).

Reeves' numerous television credits include Spooks, The Commander, and the Bodies finale. In 1997, Portlands, a six-part BBC One miniseries about the creation of the suburbs in the 1920s, was her first major TV series role.^[10] In 2010, she starred as Anne Darwin, the wife of John Darwin, in BBC Four's Canoe Man, a dramatization of the John Darwin disappearance case,^[11] and co-starred as DSU Rose Teller in the first season of the BBC One series Luther.^[12] In 2011, Reeves played the matriarch, Anna Brangwen, in the first part of William Ivory's two-part adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novels The Rainbow and Women in Love, first shown on BBC Four.^[13] She co-stars with Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas in the Apple TV series Slow Horses (2022–present).

Reeves has also done voice work, including commercials, narration, and book readings.^[14]

Reeves has two children.^[7]

• Saskia Reeves at IMDb