Aisling Bea

Early life and education

Bea was born Aisling Cliodhnadh O'Sullivan in Kildare, Ireland. Her father, Brian, was a horse veterinarian who died by suicide when Bea was three years old; she was not told how he had died until she was 13. She adopted the stage surname "Bea" as a tribute to her father, taking it from a short form of his first name. Bea and her younger sister, Sinéad, were raised by their mother, Helen (née Moloney), a secondary school teacher who had previously trained jockeys at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education and was herself a professional jockey. Her family was "obsessed" with horses and race meetings.

In her youth, Bea worked as a tour guide at the Irish National Stud. However, she knew from a young age that she was not interested in the horse racing industry; instead, she had a passion for performing. Her great-aunt was playwright Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin, and musician Liam O'Flynn was a family friend.

Bea was educated at Presentation Secondary School, Kildare Town, a Catholic school, and studied French and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. While there, she was part of a student sketch comedy group. She then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Career

After graduating from drama school, Bea spent two years trying to get work in theatre as a dramatic actress. Instead, she was cast mainly in comedic television series including Cardinal Burns and Dead Boss (both 2012). While filming Dead Boss in 2011, Bea decided to try stand-up comedy. In 2012, she won the Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and, in 2013, was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her show C'est La Bea.

The exposure brought by these awards and festival appearances marked a "turning point" in Bea's career and she began to appear as a regular guest on panel shows including QI and Insert Name Here. Bea and Yasmine Akram co-wrote and co-hosted the BBC Radio 4 comedy folklore series Micks and Legends (2012, 2015); it was nominated for a Chortle Award in 2013. Bea won the 2014 British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comic, and returned to Edinburgh in 2015 with the live show Plan Bea. In 2016, she became a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats and was a cast member on Taskmaster in 2017.

Bea has continued to act in television sitcoms including Trollied (2014–2015), The Delivery Man (2015), and Amy Huberman's Irish television series Finding Joy (2018). Additionally, she has acted in the crime dramas The Fall (2016) and Hard Sun (2018). In 2018, she and Sara Pascoe began to co-host the BBC Radio 2 comedy chat show What's Normal? She recorded a 15-minute stand-up special that was released on Netflix in late 2018.

She stars in the Netflix comedy-drama series Living with Yourself (2019), and is the star and head writer of the Channel 4 comedy series This Way Up (2019–2021). She also appeared in the ITV drama series Quiz (2020).

For her writing on This Way Up, Bea won the BAFTA 2020 British Academy Television Craft Award for Breakthrough Talent. Followed by a nomination for British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2022.

She appeared as Sarah in the 2022 Doctor Who New Year's special "Eve of the Daleks".

In January 2024, she was one of 10 comedians in Amazon Prime Video's LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland.

Personal life

In June 2024, Bea announced that she was expecting her first child, with her partner Jack Freeman. Their daughter was born in late August 2024.

Bea has ADHD.

In May 2025, Bea appeared on Who Do You Think You Are and found out that her great-great-grandmother, Áine O’Donoghue, was the first teacher on the Blasket Islands.

Activism

Bea was a vocal supporter of the Repeal the 8th campaign in the successful 2018 Irish referendum to introduce legal abortion in the Republic of Ireland; she contributed an essay to Una Mullally's Repeal the 8th a month before the vote. She previously campaigned for same-sex marriage legislation in the successful 2015 Irish referendum.

She frequently shares posts about the humanitarian situation in Palestine. In 2024, Bea participated in the Cinema for Gaza auction, and was a signatory calling for the end of arms sales to Israel. In September 2025, she signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."

Filmography

Acting

Stand-up comedy

Panel show appearances

From 2016 to 2017, Bea was a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats, having previously been a guest on the show in 2013 and 2014. Her guest appearances on other panel shows include:

• Have You Been Paying Attention? (2024)
• RuPaul's Drag Race UK (Series 4 in 2022, Series 5 in 2023)
• I Literally Just Told You (2021)
• Sunday Brunch (2021)
• Have I Got News for You (2021)
• QI (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Richard Osman's House of Games (2020)
• Insert Name Here (2016, 2018)
• Taskmaster (2017)
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2016, 2017)
• @midnight (2016, 2017)
• The Last Leg (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023)
• Word of the Year 2017 (2017)
• 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019)
• A League of Their Own (2015, 2016)
• Room 101 (2016)
• The Unbelievable Truth (2016)
• It's Not What You Know (2016)
• Very British Problems (2015, 2016)
• Duck Quacks Don't Echo (2015)
• Jack Dee's HelpDesk (2015)
• Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (2015)
• Listomania (2015)
• Would I Lie to You? (2015)
• Channel 4's Alternative Election Night (2015)
• Celebrity Squares (2014, 2015)
• This Week (2014)
• Don't Make Me Laugh (2014)
• Virtually Famous (2014)
• Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2014)
• Don't Sit In The Front Row (2013)
• The Guessing Game (2013)
• Bad Language (2013)
• Sweat the Small Stuff (2013)

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (26 August 2024). "Aisling Bea welcomes first child after giving pregnancy a 'one star' review".
2. (July 9, 2021). ["This Way Up: Aisling Bea's Bittersweet, Life-affirming Tragicomedy"](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/this-way-up-aisling-bea-tv-interview#:~:text=If%20you%20enjoy%20Catastrophe%20(Sharon,by%20and%20starring%20Aisling%20Bea.). [[W (magazine).
3. (July 17, 2020). "Aisling Bea - Breakthrough Talent".
4. (August 24, 2012). "Aisling Bea wins So You Think You're Funny?".
5. Humprheys, Georgia. (30 July 2019). "Life's on the up for Aisling Bea ahead of new TV comedy". [[Irish Examiner]].
6. Coates, Laura. (8 March 2017). "10 awesome Kildare women making waves in the world". [[Leinster Leader]].
7. "Five Essentials: Actor". IdeasMag.
8. (30 December 2017). "100 funny jokes by 100 comedians". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
9. Nolan, Larissa. (24 July 2016). "In another life: Aisling Bea". [[The Times]].
10. Bea, Aisling. (4 November 2017). "My father's death has given me a love of men, of their vulnerability and tenderness". [[The Guardian]].
11. (18 July 2014). "Funny woman, Aisling Bea, is of good stock". [[Irish Examiner]].
12. (12 August 2015). "Aisling Bea interview: The prize-winning comedian with the CV of a veteran on bringing her second stand-up show to the Fringe". [[The Independent]].
13. (2012-08-15). "Aisling Bea". Edinburgh Festivals Magazine.
14. Whelan, Doug. (4 November 2014). "Insider Interrogation: writer and actor Aisling Bea". [[Irish Independent]].
15. Andrews, Kernan. (10 October 2013). "From horses to hilarity". [[Galway Advertiser]].
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18. Jarlath Regan. (19 September 2015). "Aisling Bea". [[SoundCloud]].
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21. (12 August 2015). "Prize-winning comedian Aisling Bea on making the leap into stand-up". [[The Independent]].
22. "Biography.... Who Is This Broad?".
23. (24 August 2012). "Aisling Bea wins So You Think You're Funny". BBC News.
24. Duffy, Claire. "Aisling Bea is nominated for Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Award".
25. (18 September 2016). "Aisling Bea: 'I am making no money in LA, but creatively it is rewarding'". The Guardian.
26. Dessau, Bruce. (19 April 2015). "Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Aisling Bea". Beyond The Joke.
27. (21 January 2015). "Comedy Irish Micks and Legends back on BBC Radio 4". RTE.ie.
28. "Irish Micks And Legends".
29. (2014-12-17). "Aisling crowned Queen Bea at British Comedy Awards". Herald.ie.
30. Logan, Brian. (13 August 2015). "Aisling Bea: Edinburgh festival review – peppy set from standup with star quality". [[The Guardian]].
31. (7 March 2019). "8 Out Of 10 Cats returns to E4". British Comedy Guide.
32. (11 April 2018). "Sara Pascoe and Aisling Bea pilot Radio 2 chat show".
33. Petski, Denise. (August 10, 2018). "Paul Rudd To Topline Netflix Comedy Series 'Living With Yourself' From Timothy Greenberg". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
34. Tartaglione, Nancy. (August 28, 2018). "Aisling Bea Joins Netflix's 'Living With Yourself' Opposite Paul Rudd". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
35. Nelson, Samantha. (October 18, 2019). "Netflix's Living With Yourself fuses sitcom humor with high-tech anxiety". [[The Verge]].
36. (4 June 2020). "Aisling Bea – Breakthrough Talent".
37. Bryant, Aoibhin. (18 July 2020). "Aisling Bea dedicates BAFT to win to late father in hilarious acceptance speed speech".
38. (8 May 2022). "Bafta TV Awards 2022: The winners and nominees". bbc.co.uk.
39. Kelly, Stephen. (1 January 2022). "Doctor Who, Eve of the Daleks, BBC1, review: Back at its best, with a sensational performance from Aisling Bea".
40. "Cast for Graham Norton's Prime series LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland announced".
41. "Comedian Aisling Bea expecting first child - and announces with help from Paul Rudd and Travis Kelce".
42. Barter, Pavel. (2025-01-05). "Aisling Bea: I've had a baby, now I'm getting lots of 'mom' parts".
43. (24 June 2023). "Aisling Bea: 'I rebuilt my bathroom around my Bafta'".
44. "Who do You Think You Are? - Series 22: 5. Aisling Bea".
45. "Standup for Choice - Repeal Eight". Repeal Eight.
46. Evans, Martina. (7 April 2018). "Autonomy edited by Kathy D'Arcy, Repeal the 8th edited by Una Mullally review". [[The Irish Times]].
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49. Newsdesk, The Hot Press. "Aisling Bea and Alison Oliver among stars involved in Cinema For Gaza auction".
50. (2024-06-02). "Leading Artists to Keir Starmer: Commit to Stopping Arms Sales to Israel".
51. "Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity".
52. Ravindra, Manori. (August 9, 2023). "Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson Lead Offbeat Channel 4 Romance 'Alice & Jack,' Directed by 'Compartment Number 6' Helmer (Exclusive)".
53. Ntim, Zac. (November 6, 2023). "'Svalta:' XYZ & Wayward Wrap Production On Horror Pic With Nick Frost And Aisling Bea".
54. "Aisling Bea". comedy.co.uk.
55. "I Literally Just Told You".
56. "Aisling Bea Awards".
57. (17 July 2020). "BAFTA TV Craft Awards 2020".
58. (23 March 2020). "RTS Programme Awards 2020 Live stream".
59. Erica Campbell. (2 March 2022). "Aisling Bea wins Best TV Actor at the BandLab NME Awards 2022". nme.com.