Ruby Victoria O'Donnell (born 26 October 2000) is an English actress. Since 2013, O'Donnell has portrayed the role of Peri Lomax in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. For her portrayal of Peri, she won the award for Best Young Actor at the 2016 British Soap Awards.
Ruby O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
 O'Donnell in 2023 | |
| Born | Ruby Victoria O'Donnell 26 October 2000 Warrington, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Television | Hollyoaks |
Early and personal life edit
O'Donnell was born in Warrington and grew up in Appleton. She has two brothers.[1] She attended Grappenhall Heys Primary School and then Bridgewater High School. She took acting classes at Little Stars Stage School.[2][3][4] From 2019 to 2023, O'Donnell was in a relationship with professional rugby player Sam Halsall.[5]
Career edit
In September 2013, it was announced that O'Donnell had been cast in Hollyoaks as Peri Lomax, the youngest child of the newly established Lomax family.[6] Of the family's arrival, executive producer Bryan Kirkwood commented: "I was conscious of the fact that Ste was languishing on his own with no family around him. I'm eager to bring in a strong female force."[7] On 23 November 2014, it was announced that O'Donnell's character would be involved in a teen pregnancy storyline alongside character Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins). The storyline was devised as an effort to promote safe sex.[8] On the storyline, O'Donnell said "Some of the scenes have been hard to tackle because I am still quite young and I've had to do a lot of research for them. I am younger than Peri, as she is just turning 15 and I’m only 14 myself. So I’ve done the research to help with my performances and to find out how teenagers actually do react in these situations." She also said, "When I was first told about the story, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, but then I had a lot of meetings about it with the show’s executive producer Bryan Kirkwood, the storyliners and the other producers. They explained it to me and made me feel a lot more comfortable about it. Now I’ve got into it, I’m very excited about the storyline and I’m really enjoying doing it."[9] For her role as Peri, O'Donnell has been nominated twice in the Inside Soap Awards in 2014 [10] and 2015.[11] In August 2017, O'Donnell was longlisted for Best Young Actor at the Inside Soap Awards[12] however she did not progress to the shortlist.[13] O'Donnell has also been nominated for Best-On Screen partnership with Ellis Hollins, and was also nominated for Best Young Performance in 2015 and Best Young Actress at The British Soap Awards in 2016.[14] O'Donnell's character has since developed a relationship with Juliet Nightingale (Niamh Blackshaw), for which the pair received a nomination for Best Soap Partnership at the I Talk Telly Awards.[15]
Awards and nominations edit
| Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Peri Lomax in Hollyoaks | Nominated |
| 2015 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| British Soap Awards | Best Young Performance | Nominated | ||
| British Soap Awards | Best On-Screen Partnership (with Ellis Hollins) |
Peri Lomax and Tom Cunningham in Hollyoaks | Nominated | |
| 2016 | British Soap Awards | Best Young Performer | Peri Lomax in Hollyoaks | Won |
| 2017 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| 2018 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| 2021 | I Talk Telly Awards | Best Soap Partnership (with Niamh Blackshaw) |
Peri Lomax and Juliet Nightingale in Hollyoaks | Nominated |
| 2023 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Partnership[16] (with Blackshaw) |
Nominated |
References edit
- ^ "Appleton youngster makes Hollyoaks debut". Warrington Guardian. Newsquest. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ "Hollyoaks star Ruby going back to roots in stage show". Warrington Guardian. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ "British Soap Awards success for Ruby!". Bridgewater High School. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ Morgan, David (1 June 2016). "Appleton's Ruby O'Donnell wins British Soap Award: 'She feels like the luckiest girl in the world'". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ Anderton, Joe. "Hollyoaks star Ruby O'Donnell confirms she's dating rugby league player Sam Halsall". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "'Hollyoaks': Ste's sisters revealed". Digital Spy. 17 September 2013.
- ^ "Hollyoaks - Articles - New Family to Join Hollyoaks - All 4". www.channel4.com.
- ^ "Hollyoaks to air baby storyline for Peri and Tom". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ "Hollyoaks actress Ruby O'Donnell daunted by pregnancy storyline". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ "More awards upset? Hollyoaks bags most Inside Soap Awards nominations". Daily Star. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "Revealed the shortlist for the Inside Soap Awards 2015". Inside Soap. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Harp, Justin (22 August 2017). "Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks all make the Inside Soap Awards longlist". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (31 October 2017). "Inside Soap Awards 2017 shortlist revealed – which Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars are up for prizes?". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "British Soap Awards 2015: Full list of nominations, where to watch and everything else you need to know". Evening Standard. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Gonzalez, Elliot (14 November 2021). "I TALK TELLY AWARDS 2021 Nominations". I Talk Telly. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "The Inside Soap Awards 2023 - cast your vote now!". Inside Soap. 4–10 July 2023.
