Daniela Nardini (born 26 April 1968, Largs) is a Scottish actress who played Anna Forbes in the BBC Twotelevision series This Life. The role earned her a BAFTA Best Actress award in 1998 and also earned her a Scottish BAFTA. She won a second Scottish BAFTA in 2009 for her role in Annie Griffin's New Town.[1]
When she was 16, Nardini's elder brother was killed in a car accident.[3] She was on the point of giving up acting and training to become a drama teacher when she was offered the part of Anna in This Life.[4]
She played ruthless estate agent, Meredith McIlvanney, in the Annie Griffin comedy-drama New Town, shown on BBC Four in February 2009, for which she won a Scottish BAFTA.[5] Other television appearances include Reckless (1997); Big Women (1998); Undercover Heart (1998); Love in the 21st Century (1999); Tube Tales (1999); Rough Treatment (2000); Sirens (2002); Outside the Rules (2002) and Quite Ugly One Morning (2004).[citation needed]
She appeared as Lady Huntly in the four-hour BBC epic Gunpowder, Treason & Plot in 2004, and played a shopaholic in Shiny, Shiny Bright New Hole in My Heart, again for the BBC, in 2006. Also in 2006, she reprised the role of Anna Forbes for the 10th anniversary reunion episode of This Life (This Life +10), which was shown on BBC Two in January 2007, and in November 2007, she read a story for Junior JackanoryonCBeebies. She appeared in an episode of the Inspector Morse spin-off series Lewis in 2008.[6]
In 2007 Nardini played Servalan in B7 Productions Blake's 7 Audio adventures.[9]
In late November 2012, Nardini joined the cast of BBC One's drama Waterloo Road for the third instalment of its eighth series, filming on location in Greenock, Scotland. Her character, Esther Fairclough, is a passionate, driven but maverick science teacher who has an unconventional approach to inspiring her pupils. Nardini says: "Esther is mildly dangerous with the potential to get more so. She is passionate about her cause but unfortunately doesn't know how to encourage and promote her views without getting carried away."[10]
Nardini plays Chris Guthrie's mother in the 2015 film of Sunset Song.[11]