Sarah Solemani

Early life

Solemani was born in the London Borough of Camden and grew up in Crouch End. Her father, Akiva, is a retired mathematics lecturer of Iranian Jewish origins. Her mother Rachel, died from cancer when Sarah was 16. After passing her A levels at the Henrietta Barnett School, she took a gap year before reading Social and Political Sciences (now the Human, Social and Political Sciences Tripos) at New Hall, Cambridge and graduating MA (Cantab). At Cambridge, she joined the Footlights performance troupe, becoming social secretary during her first year and later vice president.

Career

Theatre

Solemani was a member of the National Youth Theatre during her gap year, during which time she appeared as Elaine in the West End theatre production of The Graduate and as Ayesha in the critically acclaimed National Theatre production of Sanctuary.

She was a member of the Young Writer's Group attached to the Royal Court Theatre, and a writer at the Young Vic Theatre. Two plays she wrote were produced at Soho Theatre.

In 2009, Solemani appeared in Simon Stephens' play Pornography at the Tricycle Theatre in London and, in 2012, as Maryam in The House of Bernarda Alba at the Almeida Theatre.

Television and film

Solemani's first film role was as a tableaux girl in Mrs Henderson Presents, which she performed during her third year of college.

From 2012 until 2014, Solemani starred as Rosie Gulliver in the BBC Three comedy, Bad Education, including its spin off movie The Bad Education Movie and a one-off special in 2022. In 2013, she featured in the BBC and Hulu's The Wrong Mans alongside James Corden. She reprised the role for the show's second series. She wrote and starred in an episode of the Sky TV series Love Matters, titled "Aphrodite Fry", that aired in 2013. In 2014, she wrote the television film The Secrets. It aired on BBC One to critical acclaim.

In Hollywood, Solemani was chosen by Bill Hader and Alec Berg to be part of their writing team on Hader's new HBO show Barry. While working in the United States, she has found the American television industry has a more positive attitude towards commissioning work by women and featuring female characters in their series.

In 2019 it was announced she would adapt Jo Bloom's novel Ridley Road into a television drama. Published in 2014, Bloom's book was the result of research into the anti-Nazi London 62 Group and events involving it in the summer of 1962, with the group's activities serving as a backdrop, the title coming from the street in the East End where fascists held meetings and around which battles took place. It was broadcast by BBC One in October 2021. In 2022 she co-wrote and co-starred with Steve Coogan in Chivalry, a six episode comedy-drama about "sexual politics in the wake of the #MeToo movement" for Channel 4.

Print

Solemani has contributed to the New Statesman, The Guardian, The Independent and Harper's Bazaar. She writes regularly for the publications Red and Glamour.

Awards and acclaim

Solemani was awarded third place in the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust/New Statesman Prize for New Political Writing on the subject: "Do women's rights remain the privilege of the developed world?" in 2005.

In 2011, Solemani won the Royal Television Society award for best Comedy Performance for her role in Him & Her along with her co-star Russell Tovey. In 2012, Solemani was named one of the year's Broadcast Hot Shots.

Activism

Solemani is against the criminalisation of sex work, and has been a champion for sex workers' rights since 2002. She was nominated by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) to represent them in Parliament in order to halt further efforts to criminalise clients. She was an active supporter of former shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in the 2015 Labour leadership contest. She has introduced Cooper at various Labour Party events and has contributed to her speeches.

Personal life

Solemani married Daniel E. Ingram, a sustainable investment expert specialising in climate change, in Petah Tikva, Israel, on 3 June 2012. Their daughter was born in December 2013 and their son was born in May 2018. Raised by an Orthodox Jewish father and a Plymouth Brethren evangelical mother, Solemani has formally converted to Judaism along with her husband.

Filmography

Film and television

Stage

References

References

1. "Sarah Solemani".
2. (10 September 2010). "Him & Her – Sarah Solemani plays Becky". BBC Press Office.
3. Hayes, Martha. (2016-09-24). "Sarah Solemani: 'I had to hide my pregnancy. I worked until I was due'". The Guardian.
4. stepheno. (2022-06-22). "Celebrities help Anne Frank Trust mark 75 years since diary publication".
5. Round, Simon. (11 September 2014). "{{as written".
6. Gilbert, Gerard. (21 January 2012). "Where are all the female comics?". The Independent.
7. (Summer 2007). "Alumnae Achievements". New Hall.
8. Simon Round. (16 September 2010). "Interview: Sarah Solemani". [[The Jewish Chronicle]].
9. (May 2022}} In 2011, she wrote ''The Baron'' which received the [[Old Vic]] New Voices 'Ignite' award.{{Cite web). "The Directors". Young Vic.
10. "Bad Education". BBC Three.
11. Ellen E Jones. (23 December 2014). "Our boys from Bracknell hit the ground running on a trip to the Texas badlands". The Independent.
12. (15 November 2012). "Sky Living to show 6 one-off comedies". Custard TV.
13. Solemani, Sarah. (20 October 2017). "'The TV and film industries are toxic – and it starts in the audition room'". The Guaradian.
14. (22 August 2019). "Gripping New Thriller Ridley Road Announced for BBC One".
15. Bloom, Jo. (2014). "Ridley Road". Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
16. Whiteside, Shirley. (29 November 2014). "Ridley Road by Jo Bloom, book review: An ambitious, but not wholly successful debut". The Independent.
17. Solemani, Sarah. (2 October 2021). "Ridley Road: how Britain's untold Nazi horrors inspired my TV thriller". [[The Guardian]].
18. Kanter, Jake. (13 January 2020). "Steve Coogan & Sarah Solemani Team For #MeToo Comedy 'Chivalry' For Britain's Channel 4".
19. Conlan, Tara. (13 January 2020). "Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani to explore #MeToo in comedy drama".
20. Warner, Sam. (13 January 2020). "Steve Coogan to explore #MeToo era in new Channel 4 comedy drama".
21. "Sarah Solemani".
22. "Sarah Solemani".
23. (2 June 2015). "Sarah Solemani and Alice Levine attend the Glamour Women of the Year".
24. "New Political Writing Prize 2005". Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust.
25. "RTS Announces Winners for the Programme Awards 2011". Royal Television Society.
26. (August 2012). "Broadcast Hot Shots 2012".
27. (2012-08-14). "Meet ... Daniel Ingram, Manager, BT Pension Scheme".
28. "Social & Personal". New London Synagogue.
29. Liat Elkayam. (29 June 2012). "Departures/Arrivals: Who took off from and landed at Ben Gurion Airport this week?". [[Haaretz]].
30. Lamont, Tom. (7 September 2014). "Sarah Solemani: 'Russell Tovey? He came to my hen do'". The Guardian.
31. Hayes, Martha. (24 September 2016). "Interview Sarah Solemani: 'I had to hide my pregnancy. I worked until I was due'".
32. ""Love Matters" Aphrodite Fry (TV Episode 2013) - IMDb".
33. Darren Dalglish. (23 October 2001). "The Graduate at Gielgud Theatre". LondonTheatre.co.uk.
34. (5 September 2007). "Darings Pairings at Hampstead".
35. Billington, Michael. (7 August 2009). "Pornography, Tricycle, London". [[The Guardian]].
36. Daisy Jestico. (30 January 2012). "Theatre Review: The House of Bernarda Alba at Almeida Theatre". [[Islington Gazette]].