Personal details
- Birth Date: 1969-03-15
- Height: 5′ 3½″ (1.61 m)
- Birth Location: Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
- Professions: Actress, Soundtrack
Monica, born March 1969, Irish roots, sibling named Gabrielle—just setting the scene here. She hit up Guildhall School in London for drama, graduated ’91, then basically catapulted herself onto TV. You look at her career and, honestly, you can’t pin her down to just one type—she’s a chameleon, but with a dark streak that’s kinda irresistible. She’s nailed creepy real-life roles, like Maria Marchese in U Be Dead (2009), which, let’s face it, not everyone could pull off without being totally typecast. Then there’s her turn as Miss Gilchrist in the Poirot episode After the Funeral (2006)—all buttoned-up and polite, but with this undercurrent of menace. And, wow, her Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult (2011)? Genuinely chilling. Not a shock she picked up a BAFTA with Dominic West for that one. Thing is, just when you think she’s always the villain, she flips it. Like in Midsomer Murders, The Great and the Good (2009), she’s not the killer for once. Throws you off, in a good way. She even doubled up as twins on Call the Midwife (2013)—one sweet, one a bit dodgy. On stage, she’s kept up the intensity, playing Regan in King Lear alongside Ian McKellen, and tackled a version of Macbeth set in Africa, with her as the only white Lady Macbeth. Lightened it up a bit in the sitcom W1A (2014), but then went full-on monstrous again as George Mackay’s bigoted mum in Pride (2014). She doesn’t really do boring, does she?
referencennShe’s basically theater royalty—seriously, people still talk about her Lady Macbeth like it was magic or something. Back in 2004, she took the stage with Out of Joint and just owned the role—like, spine-chillingly good. Critics went nuts; papers couldn’t shut up about her. She’s got this way of making Shakespeare feel raw and real, not all stiff and ancient. Every line she spits out hits you right in the gut. There was this rumor going around that people would buy tickets just to watch her lose it on stage during Lady Macbeth’s breakdown. Not even kidding, her performance kind of set the bar for everyone who came after. You walk out of that show and it sticks with you, you know? That’s not something you get every day. She’s the real deal, a total force in the theater world, and people who missed that run are still kicking themselves.
March 15, 1969
5′ 3½″ (1.61 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
56 years old