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Kiruna Stamell

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Kiruna Stamell
Stamell in 2023
Born (1981-03-13) 13 March 1981 (age 43)
Sydney, Australia
Citizenship
  • Australian
  • British
Education
OccupationActress
Height1.06 m (3 ft 6 in)[1]
Spouse
Gareth Berliner
​
(m. 2012)​
Websitewww.kirunastamell.net

Kiruna Stamell (born 13 March 1981) is an Australian-British actress. After appearing in various series and films including Moulin Rouge! (2001), All the Small Things (2009) and Cast Offs (2009), she presented the Australian children's educational series Play School from 2018 to 2020. Since 2023, she has portrayed the role of Kirsty Millar on the British soap opera Doctors.

Early and personal life

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Stamell was born in Sydney as the eldest of three children to George and Kerry, both teachers who became information technology professionals. She was named after the Swedish city of Kiruna, where her parents had travelled to see the Northern Lights.[2][3] She has dwarfism caused by the rare genetic condition Acromesomelic dysplasia, resulting in a height of 1.06 metres (3 ft 6 in); her younger identical twin sisters also have dwarfism due to the same condition. She first learnt to dance at the age of three, when she learned ballet, contemporary dance and tap. Stamell said it took her until the age of eight to find a teacher who treated her properly as a dancer, rather than as someone with dwarfism.[2][4][1] At the age of 14, she won the South Pacific Silver Star Tap Dancing Championships, and in 2000, she tap danced at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.[3]

Whilst growing up, Stamell believed that she could not have a normal relationship due to her dwarfism. She told off the first boy to try to kiss her as she thought there was a rule that he could not date her; she believed he would be teased. Stamell began a relationship with stand-up comedian Gareth Berliner after meeting him at a comedy club.[5] They were married in 2012.[3] In 2014, Stamell won a disability discrimination case against the post office on the grounds that its chip and pin machines were too difficult to reach for people with dwarfism and people in wheelchairs.[6]

Stamell is involved in the disability arts movement and was an original co-founder of Atypical Theatre Company in Australia.[7] She was also the co-director of A Little Commitment Ltd, a production company run in conjunction with husband Berliner.[3] Stamell remains based in England and is a British citizen.[3][8]

Career

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While studying dance, theatre and film at the University of New South Wales, Stamell developed a passion for theatre and acting. She acted in a number of short plays at the university. In the summer holiday of her first year, she got her first major role when she submitted herself for extra work in the film Moulin Rouge!. Her initial casting as an extra led to the part of La Petite Princess being created especially for her.[8] She then auditioned for Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), but was rejected because the institution felt there were not enough roles for people with short stature. As a consequence, she then went to England to study Shakespearean and Jacobean plays during a summer course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[2][5][9] Following this, she performed with some of Australia's leading theatre companies, including her role as King Duncan in Macbeth for the Sydney Theatre Company and Cordelia in King Lear for Round Earth. She also appeared in the Australian short film Love Hurts as Cupid. She graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2003.[10]

In 2005, Stamell returned to England after receiving funding from the Australia Council for a three-month secondment with the Graeae Theatre Company.[11] While there, Stamell obtained a number of professional stage roles in the UK, performing with the Quarantine Theatre Company and Graeae Theatre Company and she renewed her interest in dance with a secondment to CandoCo. She was generally well reviewed for her work in Graeae Theatre Company's production of Whiter Than Snow playing a young actress who wanted to break with stereotype and play the role of Snow White.[8] Although otherwise filing a mixed review, Lyn Gardner of The Guardian wrote: "...the show raises interesting questions about humans' constant attempts to improve on nature, and as the diminutive heroine, Frieda, who longs to be Snow White but is always cast as a dwarf, Kiruna Stamell is outstanding."[12] Stamell also toured extensively throughout Europe with Campo, formerly known as Victoria, with their production of For All The Wrong Reasons.

In the late 2000s, Stamell was a frequent guest presenter on the BBC's Ouch! podcast.[13] Stamell debuted on British television in 2009 when she appeared as Phoebe Tunstall in the six-part BBC drama series All the Small Things,[14] and has made appearances on EastEnders as Sandra Fielding,[15] starred in Cast Offs for Channel 4,[16] and in 2011 as Amy in Life's Too Short for BBC 2. In 2012, she auditioned for the Sky 1 series Got to Dance. She was unanimously voted through the first round, but got no further. In 2013, she appeared in Giuseppe Tornatore's film, The Best Offer, and a year later, starred in a production of Great Britain for the National Theatre.[17]

In 2022, she starred in the Starz series The Serpent Queen.[18] In January 2023, Stamell began appearing as receptionist Kirsty Millar in the BBC soap opera Doctors.[19] Alongside co-stars Richard Atwill and Isaac Benn, Stamell was nominated for the Best Family accolade at the 2023 British Soap Awards.[20]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes[17]
2001 Moulin Rouge! La Petite Princess Film
2001 Life Support PA 1 episode
2005 Love Hurts Cupid Short film
2009 All The Small Things Phoebe Main role
2008–2009 EastEnders Sandra Fielding Guest role
2009 Cast Offs Carrie Main role
2011, 2013 Life's Too Short Amy Recurring role
2013 The Best Offer Girl in the Bar Film
2014 Holby City Leonie Somers Episode: "Estel"
2015 Father Brown Enid Flay Episode: "The Invisible Man"
2018–2020 Play School Herself Presenter
2019 Judy & Punch Mavis Film
2019–2020 The New Pope Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Therese Recurring role
2020 Wuthering Heights Isabella Linton Guest role
2021 Brassic June 1 episode
2022 The Serpent Queen Mathilde Main role
2023 Best Interests Jane 1 episode
2023–2024 Doctors Kirsty Millar Regular role

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue[17]
2002 Macbeth King Duncan Sydney Theatre Company
2003 Preserving the Apple Rai Drill Hall
2005 Grace Deviser/Performer Quarantine
2006 The Maids Claire Atypical Theatre Company
2007, 2009 Whiter Than Snow Frieda Tour
2007 King Lear Cordelia Round Earth
2008 For All the Wrong Reasons Femme Fatal Contact Theatre
2009 The Ugly Spirit Contact Theatre
2010 A Midsummer Night's Dream Starveling Octagon Theatre
2011 Peeling Beaty Forest Forge
2011 The Lost Happy Endings Sparrow/Witch Midlands Arts Centre and Red Earth
2014 Parrot and Pirate Cutlass Kate A Little Commitment and Red Earth
2014 Great Britain Wendy Klinkard Lyttelton Theatre and West End
2015 An Oak Tree Father National Theatre
2015 Everyman Discrection National Theatre
2016 The Government Inspector Anna Birmingham Repertory Theatre
2016 Sleeping Beauty Good Fairy Hackney Empire
2018 Jane Eyre Bessie Lee/Teacher/Maria Temple Octagon Theatre
2018 Hamlet Guildenstern Octagon Theatre
2019 Them! Host National Theatre of Scotland
2020 Cyrano de Bergerac Marie-Louise ATG and Playhouse Theatre
2022 The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs Fi Soho Theatre

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kiruna Stimell". Spotlight. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "All the World's a Stage". Australian Story. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 October 2017. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Brown, Jenny (1 January 2019). "Kiruna Stamell: 'Not everyone is kind'". Australian Women's Weekly. pp. 76–79.
  4. ^ "Patrons". Skeletal Dysplasia Group. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Meakin, Nione (9 June 2012). "'I told off the first boy who kissed me'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Post Office settles disability discrimination case". BBC News. 13 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Show and Tell: Kiruna Stamell and Emma J Cooper". ABC TV – Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. 1 August 2005. Archived from the original on 5 April 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  8. ^ a b c "BBC – Ouch! (disability) – Interviews – The Ouch Assessment: Kiruna Stamell". BBC. 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Biography". Kiruna Stamell's official website. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Kiruna Stamell". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. ^ "2004–05 Annual Report" (PDF). Australia Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ^ Lyn Gardner "Whiter Than Snow" Archived 3 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 28 March 2007
  13. ^ "BBC – Ouch! (disability) – Podcast". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  14. ^ "BBC – Press Office – All The Small Things press pack: cast list" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  15. ^ Eleftheriou-Smith, Louella-Mae (13 December 2014). "EastEnders actress Kiruna Stamell's discrimination case sees Post Office pledge to change 11,000 branches across UK". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Ouch Talk Show No. 39 – May 2009 (transcript)" (Rich Text Format). BBC. May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  17. ^ a b c "Kiruna Stamell". Spotlight. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  18. ^ Boone, Keyaira (11 September 2022). "What the cast of 'The Serpent Queen' looks like in real life". Insider. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  19. ^ Timblick, Simon. "Doctors spoilers: Meet Kirsty Millar the NEW surgery receptionist!". What to Watch. (Future plc). Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  20. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (2 May 2023). "British Soap Awards 2023 announces full shortlist and broadcast change". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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