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).

Early life and education

Saskia Reeves was born on 16 August 1961 of a Dutch mother and English father, and brought up in Twickenham and Paddington, London. Reeves attended the Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton. 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. She attended London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 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".

Career

Early in her career Reeves performed in puppet shows and in satirical revues at the Covent Garden Community Theatre. Her stage work includes productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at London's Royal National Theatre. She was a member of the Cheek by Jowl international theatre company. In 2008, she starred in the English Touring Theatre revival of Athol Fugard's Hello and Goodbye at the Trafalgar Studios in London. 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'"; 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. 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, and co-starred as DSU Rose Teller in the first season of the BBC One series Luther. 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. 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.

Personal life

Reeves has two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Shorts

Stage

Audio