Philippa "Pippa" Bennett-Warner is a RADA trained British actress.
Education
Bennett-Warner was brought up in Northamptonshire and was educated at Street Edward"s School in Oxford and afterwards attended Lucie Clayton. Once finished on the South Bank she starred as the lead role in Athol Fugard"s United Kingdom premiere of Victory for the Peter Hall Company and then went to RADA in September 2007. Bennett-Warner graduated from RADA in the summer of 2010, but left early to take on the role of Sophie in Lynn Nottage"s play Ruined at the Almeida Theatre.
Career
She started her acting career in 1999, beating over 3,000 other hopefuls to be cast as one of the original young Nala"s in Julie Taymor"s London production of The Lion King. In 2006 she got a place at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and also the role of Emmie Thibodeaux in the musical Caroline, or Change, for which she was nominated for the Whatsonstage.com Stuart Phillips London Newcomer of the Year award for 2007, alongside Andrew Garfield and Chris New. However, due to another job commitment she was unable to join the radio representative
After finishing Ruined she went on to star in a two-hander with Sinéad Cusack for Sky Arts.
Called Crocodile, the play was written by Frank McGuinness. During this time Bennett-Warner was cast in Michael Grandage"s award-winning King Lear as Cordelia, with Derek Jacobi in the title role.
Before rehearsals started for King Lear in October, she filmed small parts in Come Fly With Maine with David Walliams and Matt Lucas and also in Case Histories alongside Jason Isaacs. After having played Cordelia for almost eight months and receiving an Ian Charleson commendation, she starred in Doctorate. C. Moore"s new play The Swan — in a role that had been written for her — at the National Theatre.
She then played Queen Isabel in Michael Grandage"s swan song Richard II at the Donmar Warehouse with Eddie Redmayne in the title role and Andrew Buchan as Bolingbroke.
She received positive reviews from the critics, with Kate Bassett from The Independent saying: "Both of them (Redmayne and Buchan) are, in fact, outshone by Pippa Bennett-Warner in the cameo role of Isabel, Richard’s devoted, fiery queen." In 2012 she played the lead role in Vivienne Franzmann"s second play The Witness, at the Royal Court Theatre. Bennett-Warner was named as one of the 1000 Most Influential Londoners in 2012 in the category "Generation Next" by The Evening Standard. Theatre Radio 2010 "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Janie, British Broadcasting Corporation World Service Drama 2012 "The Great Gatsby", Daisy Buchanan, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 2013 "The Witness", Alex, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 3 2014 "Doctor Thorne", Mary Thorne, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 2014 "The Awakening", Edna Pontellier, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 2014 "Everyday Time Machines", Samantha, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 3 2014 "The Ice Wife", Kate, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 2014 "Paterson", Marie, British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 3.