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Valene Kane

Valene Kane
Kane at the press conference of Profile, the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival
Born	30 January 1987 (1987-01-30) (age 37) Newry, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present

Valene Kane is a Northern Irish actress. On television, she gained prominence through her role as Rose Stagg in the BBC Two series The Fall (2013–2016).^[1] She has since appeared in the BBC dramas Blue Lights (2023–24) and Thirteen (2016), the Stan series The Other Guy (2017–2019), the Sky Atlantic series Gangs of London (2020–2022) and the ITVX series The Winter King (2023). Her films include The Fading Light (2010), Nowhere Special (2021), Rogue One (2016) and Profile (2018).

Kane was born and raised in Newry, County Down. She is the daughter of former Gaelic footballer and coach Val Kane.^[2] From the age of 15, she was part of the National Youth Theatre, most notably starring in their production of 20 Cigarettes. She left Northern Ireland for London at 18 and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.^[3]

Kane was cast in The Fading Light by the director Ivan Kavanagh after he spotted her in a short film, July, that was posted on YouTube.^[4] She was chosen partly for her successful experience with improvisation in the short film.^[5]

Another film work, Still Early, premiered at the Galway Film Festival.

2013 saw Kane play Rose Stagg in BBC's The Fall,^[3] and Dara in the comic Irish thriller Jump. That year, she also played the title role in Strindberg's Miss Julie at the newly founded Reading Rep.^[6]

Kane's further work for the BBC included taking the lead in BBC Three drama Thirteen, the second and third series of The Fall, Murder and, most recently, 2023's hugely popular Blue Lights.^[3]

On the big screen, Kane played Lyra Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.^[7][3]

Stage work has included Nance, in the Finborough Theatre's production of Autumn Fire,^[8] The Love in Punchdrunk's production The Black Diamond,^[9] which sold out "in mere minutes"^[10] and Lady Lydia Languish in The Rivals.^[11]

She also played Girleen in Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West,^[3] in which one reviewer said: "Kane gives Girleen a schoolgirl reality, her confident swagger and challenge covering the only genuine feelings for anyone else that the play possesses".^[12]

In 2018, Valene Kane played journalist Amy Whittaker who investigates the recruitment of young European women by ISIS in the 2018 thriller film ProfilebyTimur Bekmambetov. The film takes place entirely on computer screens. It premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Panorama Audience Award.^[13]

2019 saw Kane in Anne Sewitsky's Sonja: The White Swan which premiered at Sundance Film Festival^[14] and in BBC TV Movie Counsel, in which she played "an alpha female barrister [who] complicates her professional and personal life when she takes on a young client"^[15]

Kane could also be heard on the Monobox Speech Share podcast reading from Marina Carr's "Portia Coughlan".^[16]

Kane's radio drama work for the BBC includes The Demon Brother and Stroma Sessions for which she won Best Supporting Performer.^[3]

In 2023, Kane starred as Lady Macbeth in a "subtly mercurial performance"^[17] on the Royal Shakespeare Company main stage in Stratford, England^[18] in a production that was "saved by its dark atmosphere and Valene Kane’s turn as Lady Macbeth"^[17] She also played Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister in The Winter King, which premiered on MGM+ in the United States and on ITVX in the UK.

The Independent described her performance in The Fall as "the standout performance" of Series 2; "harrowing to watch and completely convincing"^[20]

InBBC Three's kidnap drama Thirteen, she starred opposite Jodie Comer as Detective Lisa Merchant in a performance described as "superb" by the Radio Times: "The former star of The Fall's scenes [...] are among the show's most intriguing, simmering with sexual tension and professional frustration."^[21]

Kane recently won 'Best Actress in a Lead Role' at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2019 for her performance as "a mother [who] refuses to bend to society's mores even in the face of unspeakable tragedy" in First Person: A Film About Love.^[22] and won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Supporting Performer for her role in The Stroma Sessions.

The film Profile, in which she played a struggling undercover journalist who connects with a Jihadi through Facebook, won the Panorama Audience Award at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.^[13]

• Valene KaneatIMDb
• The Fading Light official website
• Culture Northern Ireland
• Best Irish Film 2010 award
• Review of The Fading Light - 'Irish Times'
• Review of Autumn fire - 'The Guardian'
• Independent Article 2021