• Orla Brady is an Irish actress who was born in Dublin in 196•
• She has close to 70 credits to her name, including lead roles in TV series such as “Family Law” and “Out of the Blue”.
• She has received nominations for 7 Irish Film and Television Awards and a Saturn Award.
• She is married to British photographer Nick Brandt, and they live in the mountains of Southern California.
• She is 60 years old, 5ft 7ins tall, and has an estimated net worth of over $2 million.
Contents
Who is Orla Brady?
Orla Brady was born in Dublin, Ireland on 28 March 1961 – her zodiac sign is Aries, and she holds Irish nationality. She’s an actress with close to 70 credits to her name, while she’s perhaps still known best for her portrayal of Taryn, in the 2012 action fantasy adventure movie “Sinbad”. It starred Elliot Knight, Marama Corlett and Elliot Cowan, and follows a Persian prisoner who is travelling in search of his brother, and his friends who are helping him. The film was nominated for four awards.
Early life, family and education
Orla was raised alongside her three siblings in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, by their mother Catherine ‘Kitty’, and their father Patrick who owned a pub. The family moved to Dublin when she was four years old.
Orla was raised by highly religious parents, and studied at a Loreto Convent. Upon matriculating in 1979, she enrolled at an Ursuline Convent in Dublin, from which she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 1983. It was while at college that she became interested in acting, and began appearing in plays performed at college, and at a local theatre. Following graduation, Orla spent a couple of years appearing in theatre plays, then when she turned 25, she moved to Paris in France to attend L’Ecole Philippe Gaulier, followed by her enrollment at Marcel Marceau’s Ecole Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris.
Roles in TV series
After close to a decade of appearing solely in theatre plays, in 1991 aged 30, Orla made her debut TV series appearance, in the episode “South of the Border” of the comedy “So You Think You’ve Got Troubles”.
The rest of the ‘90s saw her appear in an episode or two of various series, such as the drama “Casualty”, the crime comedy “Minder” and the crime drama “Dangerfield”, while her most notable performances were a lead role in the crime drama “Out of the Blue”, and in the drama “Noah’s Ark”.
Between 2000 and 2002, Orla starred as Naoise O’Neill in the romantic crime drama “Family Law”, created by Anne Kenney, and which also starred Kathleen Quinlan and Christopher McDonald. It follows the lives of lawyers working at a renowned law firm, which focuses on family law; the series won seven of the 15 awards for which it was nominated, including a Primetime Emmy nomination. The rest of the 2000s saw Orla play supporting characters in a couple of series, such as the drama mini-series “Servants”, the drama “Proof”, and the mystery fantasy drama “Revelations”.
In 2012, she was cast to play Mrs. Sheringham in the fantasy drama “Eternal Law”, created by Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, and in which she starred alongside Samuel West and Ukweli Roach. It follows angels who are guiding people in the English town of York.
Three of Orla’s most recent roles in TV series have been in four episodes of the horror thriller drama “American Horror Story” in 2019, three episodes of the action adventure drama “Star Trek: Picard” in 2020, and six episodes of the drama “The South Westerlies” also in 2020.
Roles in movies
Orla made her debut film appearance in the 1991 short drama “I Dreamt I Woke Up”, and a couple of her following roles were in the 1994 drama “Words Upon the Window Pane”, the 1997 drama “The Heart Surgeon” and the 1998 romantic drama “Wuthering Heights”.
Orla gained recognition in 2000, with her portrayal of the supporting character Anna, in the romantic drama “The Luzhin Defence”, written by Peter Berry based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, and directed by Marleen Gorris. It starred John Turturro, Emily Watson and Geraldine James, and follows a genius who falls in love with a beautiful young girl – the film won three of the five awards for which it was nominated. The early 2000s saw her play lead roles in a couple of movies, such as the thriller drama “Fogbound”, the crime thriller “The Debt” and the crime thriller drama “Lawless”, then in 2007, Orla starred alongside Joss Ackland and Hayley Atwell, in the comedy drama “How About You”. It follows a British woman who’s spending Christmas taking care of the residents of a retirement home.
Orla was mostly focused on appearing in TV series in the following years, and a couple of her most recent movie roles have been in the 2017 action thriller “The Foreigner”, the 2019 drama “A Girl from Mogadishu” and the 2019 drama “Rose Plays Julie”.
She’s currently shooting for two upcoming movies: the thriller “Black Medicine”, and the mystery “The Other Me”, scheduled for release in 2022.
Other credits
In 2009, she voiced Maggie O’Malley in the video game “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings”.
Orla has been featured in many TV specials, including the 2007 “4th Irish Film and Television Awards”, and the 2010 “7th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards”.
She made a guest appearance in an episode of the talk-show “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross”.
Awards and nominations
Orla has been nominated for seven Irish Film and Television Awards, and a 2012 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award. Most of these were for her performance in the mini-series “Servants”, and the series’ “Mistresses” and “Sinbad”.
Love life and husband Nick Brandt
Orla moved to Los Angeles, California in 2001, and not long afterwards met Nick Brandt, a popular British photographer, who’s mostly focused on taking pictures of disappearing nature and the environment. The two spent just over a year together, and then married in a private ceremony held in the mountain range Chyulu Hills in Kenya, in December 2002, attended by their closest friends and family members.
A couple of years into the marriage, the two moved to Southern California, and are today living in the mountains.
They don’t have children, and it’s widely believed that they have chosen not to, because they both want to focus on their careers. However, there are also those who claim that perhaps one of them is infertile, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
As of June 2021, Orla’s married to Nick Brandt, and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Orla doesn’t believe in God, identifying as an atheist.
She likes all kinds of art, especially photography and painting, and Orla has been to numerous museums and galleries around Europe, as well as to a couple in California.
She likes to travel, and her acting career has taken her to many European countries, various US states, as well as to a couple of Asian countries.
Orla’s dream travel destination is Miami in Florida.
She’s a lover of animals, and has volunteered at a local animal shelter in Los Angeles a couple of times.
Orla’s taking good care of her mental health, and practices yoga on a daily basis.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are the late Marlon Brando, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett, while a couple of her favorite movies are “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Apocalypse Now” and “Leon: The Professional”.
Age, height and net worth
Orla’s age is 60. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 7ins (1.71m) and she weighs around 132lbs (60kgs).
As of June 2021, her net worth has been estimated at over $2 million.
