Biography

In 1994, Justine Waddell (born 1976, Johannesburg) read Social and Political Science at Cambridge and quickly became known as one of the best student actresses. She played Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet' and, at the end of her first year, Joan of Arc in Jean Anouilh's 'The Lark'—the production visited the 1995 Edinburgh Festival where agents and producers took note. She took time off from her studies to play a small role in Anna Karenina (1997), and to join the Almeida company to appear opposite Ralph Fiennes in Ivanov (Moscow, 1997). Major television work followed. Her sabbatical from Cambridge lasted for over a year while she cornered the market in literary heroines, returning to complete the degree in 1998. During the same period she was seen in supporting roles in the films The Misadventures of Margaret (1998), Mansfield Park (1999), and The Duchess of Malfi (1999). During the winter of 1999/2000, at the RSC, she played a proud, cruelly beautiful Nina in Adrian Noble's production of The Seagull. The costume—red cardigan, denim-blue skirt—placed her both in and out of period. She has since worked in Hollywood in Dracula 2000 and The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004). She boldly tackled Russian in order to be in the film Mishen (2011) and in doing so, watched many Russian films. This sparked a passion for seeing Russian films restored and spread to a wider audience. She is now a director of Kino Klassika, an organization dedicated to this purpose:
http://www.kinoklassikafoundation.org/

She has also been doing some work in the department of directing and screenwriting:
http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/professionals/persons/justine-waddell/

EXPERIENCE

Screenwriter for Piccadilly Pictures (January 2014 - present)

Director at Kino Klassika (January 2013 - present)


AWARDS

2000 Won Broadcasting Press Guild Award Best Actress
for: "Wives and Daughters" (1999)

2005 Won Prism Award Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries
for: The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004) (TV)


TRIVIA (IMDb)

Featured on Magazine Cover Photo:
"Gossip" (Greece) 8 October 2005, Iss. 28
"Harpers & Queen" (UK) April 2000
"Harper's Teen" (United Kingdom) April 2000

Moved to Scotland from South Africa at the age of ten. First, she was a South African child, then a Scottish adolescent, and finally an English teenager after her family planted itself in London.

Has three sisters and a brother.

Wanted to be a documentary filmmaker.

While at school in Cambridge, Justine played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Diaphanta in The Changeling, The Duchess in The Malcontent, Joan of Arc in The Lark, and Desdemona in Othello.