Joanna Christie

Joanna Lauren Christie (born 10 April 1982) is an English actress and singer. She is noted for her work in the play Equus (2007) alongside Daniel Radcliffe but is best known for her role as "Girl" in the Broadway musical Once. Christie played Connie Murphy, one of the lead female characters, in the hit Netflix television series Narcos. Early life Christie was born and raised, in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire until the age of thirteen, when she was awarded a music scholarship to study flute, piano, and voice[3] at Oundle School in Northamptonshire. Five years later, she moved to London to attend drama school at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. She joined the National Youth Theatre aged seventeen, where she made her breakthrough stage role in Immaculate Conceit, a play about a stripper who is pregnant with the next messiah.[1][4] She then found small roles in television, before joining Kevin Spacey's "Old Vic, New Voices" collective for a year in 2005. She was delighted to be part of the collective of actors taking part in the 24-hour plays at The Old Vic. The group received its name because Kevin Spacey, who selected the actors, believed them to be the best new actors around. After a five-month tour of India performing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in Jaipur in 2006, she returned to Britain, but endured a lean year and nearly gave up acting altogether when she landed the role of Jill Mason in her West End debut in Equus at the Gielgud Theatre. She beat over 300 other actresses to the role opposite Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in Thea Sharrock's high-profile revival of Peter Shaffer's award-winning play. Personal life Christie lives in New York and her hobbies include yoga, running, kickboxing & scuba diving. She used to be part of her brother's band called Luke J Christie & The Held Breath until she moved to New York City to star as "Girl" in the Broadway musical Once. Road to Broadway Christie said that being on Broadway is "every dream [she's] ever had come true." However, right before she landed the role of Girl in Once, she was about to give up. "I felt like I was at my lowest, and I decided to go back to university to do anthropology," she said in an interview with broadway.com. Her audition process was rather strenuous, having to learn two full songs on the piano as well as three scenes in a Czech accent in a mere 24 hours. Music projects Christie recorded a song called "This Gift" with Glen Hansard, who composed many of the songs in Once. The song was released on his solo album, "Rhythm and Repose". She says that it is "one of the biggest honours of my life so far...I still can't quite believe it!" Inspired by her move to Broadway last year, she is scheduled to release an album entitled The Year of Joy & Tears set for release later this year. On 20 April 2014, she collaborated with her Once cast members and contributed her piano and vocal talents for a live album recording of the Adam Brown and Friends performance at the Bowery Poetry Club.