Kelly Thornton

Kelly Thornton (born 13 April 1997) is an Irish actress who began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her roles as Corrina Mallon in the 2015 RTÉ drama Clean Break and Emma in the film Life's a Breeze (2013), which earned her an IFTA nomination for best actress.[1]

This article is about the Irish actress Kelly Thornton. For the Canadian theatre director Kelly Thornton, see Kelly Thornton (director).
Kelly Thornton
Thornton at the 2016 Dublin International Film Festival
Born (1997-04-13) 13 April 1997
Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present
Notable workLife's a Breeze (2013)
Clean Break (2015)
Height5 ft 4 in (163cm)
AwardsBingham Ray New Talent Award (2013)

Early life and education

Thornton is from Terenure, a suburb in South Dublin and attended St Louis High School, Rathmines. She has a younger sister Robyn. She was discovered when she was 14 whilst shopping on Grafton Street with her friends by a casting director who invited her to audition.[2][3]

Career

Thornton made her screen debut in the 2013 Irish comedy film Life's a Breeze. She played the role of Emma, the main protagonist, alongside fellow Irish actors Pat Shortt and Fionnula Flanagan. The film was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] Thornton earned an IFTA nomination for her role, as well as receiving the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at the 2013 Galway Film Fleadh.[5]

In late 2013, Thornton made her Irish television debut, featuring in the fourth series of the popular RTÉ Television drama Love/Hate, playing the part of Kellie in a single episode appearance. Her sister Robyn had a guest role in the drama. In 2015, Thornton got her biggest role to date, starring as Corrina Mallon in the four part RTÉ drama Clean Break. The series, directed by Gillies MacKinnon and Damien O’Donnell, told the story of Frank Mallon, Corrina's father and a car dealer. Struggling to make ends meet, Frank kidnaps the family of his local bank manager and consequently finds himself involved with some notorious local criminals. A second series of the show has yet to be announced by RTÉ.

The same year, Thornton played the lead role of Molly in the Irish short film Battle. The film was written and directed by Megan K. Fox and told the story of a "teenager finding strength and happiness in music in the face of her battle with depression".[6] This film would later be the focus of an episode of Beyond the Lens in 2016.[7]

Thornton gained further recognition for her part in the 2016 film Sing Street, playing the role of Ann Lawlor, older sister of the main protagonist Conor. Set in mid-1980s inner-city Dublin, Sing Street follows the story of Conor "Cosmo" Lawlor, a teenager who is forced to move schools, from a private fee-paying school to the non-fee-paying Synge Street CBS.

In October 2016, Thornton featured in the music video for Don't Mind Me by Irish alternative rock band Walking on Cars.[8]

Thornton has since starred in three short films: Inside I'm Racing in 2017, Jack Reynor's Bainne opposite Will Poulter and Ciarán Dooley's Twin, both in 2019.

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Life's a BreezeEmma
2015BattleMollyShort film
2016Sing StreetAnn Lawlor
2017Inside I'm RacingKatieShort film
2019BainneShort film
2019TwinAvaShort film
2023Flora and Son Feature film

Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Love/HateKellie1 episode
2015Clean BreakCorrina MallonMain cast, miniseries
2016Beyond The LensMolly1 episode

Music videos
YearTitleArtistRole
2016"Don't Mind Me"Walking on CarsGirl
2021Fall Into MeForest BlakkLove Interest

Awards and nominations
AwardYearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
Galway Film Fleadh2013Bingham Ray New Talent AwardLife's a BreezeWon[5]
Irish Film & Television Awards2014Best Lead Actress - FilmNominated

References
  1. "IFTA nominated 'Life's A Breeze' on Netflix". FilmIreland.net. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  2. Butler, Laura (7 October 2013). "Young siblings bring real-life sister act to new 'Love/Hate'". Independent.ie. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  3. "Life's a breeze for teen Kelly". Independent.ie. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  4. Debruge, Peter (15 September 2013). "Toronto Film Review: 'Life's a Breeze'". Variety.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. Caldecott, Glenn. "25th Galway Film Fleadh Awards – All the Winners". Film Ireland. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  6. Horan, Niamh (27 December 2014). "Film-maker Megan tells of her 'Battle' with depression". Independent.ie. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  7. "Beyond the Lens - Episode 9" at IMDb
  8. Thornton, Kelly (26 February 2017). "Kelly Thornton, Actor". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 25 February 2020 – via PressReader.com.
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