Jennifer Brooke

Jennifer Brooke (born 1993/1994) is a British actress. From 2012 to 2015, she studied at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Acting. Whilst she was there she performed in various Italia Conti plays, including their adaptations of The Acid Test, Richard III and A View from the Bridge. In 2015, Brooke did a voice-over for the short film Two Sides, and that October she began airing as series regular Rachel Hardy on the British soap opera Hollyoaks. Brooke last appeared as Rachel in March 2016, when the character was killed-off. Brooke has also appeared in the films My Name Is Lenny (2017), Astral (2018) and The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021), in addition to short films and commercials. She also played the recurring role of Donna in White Gold and guest-starred in Call the Midwife, and portrayed Rebecca Harrison in the play "A Gym Thing" at The Pleasance theatre. In addition to acting, Brooke is an acting teacher for children and in 2020 she launched B.O.S.S Acting School with Samantha Shaw, which led to them being nominated for "Young Entrepreneur of the year" at 2021 the Club Hub Awards.

Brooke was born 1993 or 1994.^[1] Brooke enjoyed acting from a "young age" but explained that there were not many local performing schools for her to pursue her passion, as well as believing that she did not have the confidence to do so.^[2] At the age of 18, Brooke gained a place and began training at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in 2012, where she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Acting in 2015.^[2][3] From 2013 to 2015, she performed in various stage productions at the Italia Conti, including their adaptations of The Acid Test, Richard III, A View from the Bridge and Touched.^[3][4] Brook called her time at Italia Conti an "incredible experience".^[2] In 2015, Brooke did a voice-over in the short film Two Sides.^[4][5]

On 21 September 2015, it was announced that Brooke had joined the cast of Hollyoaks as a Rachel Hardy along with five other cast members as part of a new family unit, the Nightingales^[6][7] Hollyoaks executive producer Bryan Kirkwood explained that he had introduced the family to "create a sense of community" in the soap.^[8] The Nightingales were labelled as an "exciting" new family unit that would take over the running of the local pub The Dog in the Pond.^[6] Rachel was introduced as the fiancée of Nathan Nightingale (Jared Garfield) and the couple were characterised as being childhood sweethearts and the "perfect" match.^[6] Brooke made her first appearance as Rachel on 26 October 2015.^[9] Brooke described Rachel as "quite cool" and "free-spirited" and not caring about other people's opinions, which Brooke liked about her.^[10] The actress explained that Rachel fits in well with the Nightingale family and called Rachel and Nathan "a match made in Heaven" and "best friends" who "adore" each other.^[10] Brooke also teased that Rachel would get "itchy feet" and sees Hollyoaks as a waiting room before she goes to travel the world.^[10]

Brooke enjoyed the experience of being on set every day and seeing how the episodes were made behind the scenes.^[2] Many of Rachel's storylines revolved around their relationship which becomes strained at times, including when Nathan cheats on Rachel with Porsche McQueen (Twinnie-Lee Moore) and when Rachel hides Alfie Nightingale's (Richard Linnell) cancer returning from Nathan.^{[11][12][13][14]} Brooke last appeared as Rachel on 29 March 2016 after the character was killed-off in a car explosion.^[15] Brooke's departure was not announced beforehand and it was later revealed that Brooke had known from the beginning of her stint that the character would be departing the soap in order to shock the audience and create development for Nathan's character.^[15][16] Brooke and her colleagues had filmed the stunt and her death scenes from 4pm to 4am and had to deal with heavy rain from a storm.^[15]

Brooke portrayed Trixie Marks in the 2017 British drama film My Name Is Lenny.^[17][18] Filming for the film took place in London and began in August 2016.^[19] In 2018, Brooke returned to theatre and portrayed Rebecca Harrison in A Gym Thing, which was performed in The Pleasance theatre.^[3] Brooke also played the recurring role of Donna in the British sitcom White Gold over their two series, which aired in 2017 and 2019.^[2][20][21] Brooke also portrayed Karina Richardson in the 2018 British horror film Astral.^[22][4] Brooke portrayed a receptionist in the 2021 British romantic drama film The Last Letter from Your Lover.^[3] Brooke has also appeared in television commercials for Melectronics and Taco Bell.^[3] She also appeared in the short films A Pizza (2021) and Shut Eye (2023).^[3] In 2024, Brooke guest starred in the British television period drama Call the Midwife.^[4]

In addition to performing, Brooke teaches acting to young people between the ages of two and 16, which she enjoys as she likes to share her passion with the children and watching them grow as performers and putting on performances as a team.^[2] She added, "I find it so important for children to explore their own creative identity and have an outlet that allows them to express themselves - there's real power in that!" ^[2] Brooke, along with fellow Italia Conti graduate Samantha Shaw, is the co-director and a teacher of the B.O.S.S Acting School.^[2] Brooke and Shaw had launched the school in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which runs classes in various venues to teach children skills for stage and screen acting.^[1] For their successful approach, Brooke and Shaw were nominated for "Young Entrepreneur of the year" at 2021 the Club Hub Awards, which they were happily surprised by.^[1]

Brooke is from Roydon, Essex.^[10] Brooke is a vegan and has joked that she likes to tell people it "all the time".^[10]

• Jennifer Brooke at IMDb