Aimee-Ffion Edwards

Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 21 November 1987) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for her television roles as Sketch in Skins, Esme Shelby in Peaky Blinders, Sophie in Detectorists, Abi in Loaded, and Shirley Dander in Slow Horses. Her video game voice roles include Rachel Baker in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Mio in the English dub of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Ranni the Witch in Elden Ring.

Aimee-Ffion Edwards was born in Newport on 21 November 1987.^[1] She is fluent in English and Welsh, having attended the Welsh-speaking schools Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd (Newport Welsh Medium Primary School) and Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw (Torfaen Welsh Medium High School). She played for a local youth rugby team, the only girl on the boys' team, until she was 14. She would often go from her ballet lessons to rugby matches. She studied A-level drama and later joined the National Youth Theatre of Wales.^[2]

Edwards appeared in the 2002 short film Dŵr Dwfn.^[3] She was training to be a classical singer when she appeared on the Pop Idol-type Welsh language TV show Wawffactor in 2006, finishing as runner-up.^[2] She made her television debut as the character Sketch in the E4 series Skins in 2008.^[2] In 2009, she appeared in the Casualty episode "Stand By Me" as a teenager who finds a replacement speed date in the wards of Holby City Hospital, and ends up involved in a serious gun-related incident. In the first episode of Casualty 1909, she played a young prostitute who was being abused by her father.

In 2010, Edwards appeared in an episode of the supernatural BBC drama series Being Human as a theatre usher who is also a ghost. In 2011, she appeared in series 2 of the BBC drama series Luther as Jenny Jones.^[2] In 2012, she appeared in Sky Atlantic's four-part series Walking And Talking, a spin-off from an episode of Sky One's Christmas series of shorts Little Crackers. In 2013, 2014, and 2021, she appeared as Esme Shelby in the BBC series Peaky Blinders. In 2014, she appeared in two BBC Cymru Wales television productions celebrating the centenary of Dylan Thomas: as part of an all-Welsh cast in a television adaptation of Thomas' radio drama Under Milk Wood, playing the Laugharne Voice,^[4] and as Marianne in A Poet in New York, Andrew Davies' dramatisation of Thomas' last days.^[5]

In 2014, Edwards appeared as Katy in the Inside No. 9 episode "The Harrowing".^[1] From 2014 to 2015, she played Sophie in the BBC Four comedy series Detectorists.^[6][7][8] In 2016, she appeared in Death in Paradise as Sian. In 2017, she appeared in the Channel 4 comedy series Loaded. In 2019, she played Miss Aitken in BBC Three's comedy series Man Like Mobeen. In 2022, she joined the cast of Slow Horses during its second season as Shirley Dander.

Edwards made her stage debut in 2008 in SH*T-M*X at the Trafalgar Theatre in London.^[9] In 2009, she performed in Jerusalem at the Royal Court Theatre.^[1][2] In 2011, she made her Broadway debut when she reprised her role in Jerusalem at New York's Music Box Theatre.^[1] She appeared in the London revival of Jerusalem later that year. In 2012, she appeared in The Recruiting Officer at the Donmar Warehouse,^[1] and in Marius von Mayenburg's Fireface at the Young Vic.^[10] In 2013, she appeared as Avonia Bunn in Trelawny of the Wells at the Donmar Warehouse.^[11] In 2017, she played Marcella in B, a new play by Guillermo Calderón which had a limited run at the Royal Court Theatre.

In 2015, Edwards voiced Rachel Baker in the video game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. In 2022, she voiced Ranni the Witch, a major non-playable character in Elden Ring and Mio in the English dub of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

• Aimee-Ffion Edwards at IMDb