Charlene McKenna

Acting

Charlene McKenna

Born 1984-03-26 · Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland

Charlene Lee McKenna (Irish: Searlaoin Nic Chionaoith; born March 26, 1984) is an Irish actress. She became a household name in Ireland after starring as Jennifer Jackson in the miniseries Pure Mule (2005). She appeared on Irish television in Single-Handed 2 (2008), Whistleblower (2008), and Raw (2008–2013). For Raw, she won Best Actress (Television) at the Irish Film & Television Awards, and for Whistleblower, she won Outstanding Actress in a Mini-Series at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Acting credits

Breakfast on Pluto poster
7.2

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

Breakfast on Pluto

2005

Dorothy Mills poster
6.0

When a gloomy, God-fearing island community is rocked by the assault of an infant, a psychiatrist is called in to examine Dorothy Mills, the teenager accused of the crime. Despite the villagers' hostility to her inquiry, she soon comes to suspect that Dorothy suffers from multiple personality disorder...

Dorothy Mills

2008

The Old Curiosity Shop poster
5.0

A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.

The Old Curiosity Shop

2007

Jump poster
5.9

The lives of four twenty-somethings collide one fateful New Year's Eve in this twisty, blackly comic crime thriller set amidst the ancient walls of Derry, Northern Ireland, in a night of fast talk, accidents and intrigue. Johnny, a small-time crook, and Marie, a dissatisfied shop assistant, are both looking for a fresh start. Greta is on the verge of taking her own life and Pearse has a bounty on his head for asking difficult questions about his missing brother Eddie Kelly. As the clock ticks down to midnight and the night's events expertly fall into place, Jump weaves an existential portrait of the characters' lives as their hopes, fears and secrets are revealed

Jump

2012

A Greyhound of a Girl poster
6.7

Mary is a 12-year-old girl with a passion for cooking, absorbing information from her grandmother, who is a wonderful cook. However, Mary and her family must come to terms with her grandmother's illness.

A Greyhound of a Girl

2023

Skins: Pure poster
NR

Formerly a daydreaming party girl with a number of mental problems, Cassie has put many of her problems behind her, and waitresses at a café in London after having spent several years travelling around America with Sid Jenkins. Cassie forms an odd friendship with her stalker and tries to support her younger brother, Reuben, as their father, Marcus, fails to cope with the death of their mother.

Skins: Pure

2013

Middletown poster
4.8

Having spent most of his life in religious instruction, Gabriel returns to his hometown as its new preacher. The town is full of drinkers and gamblers, including Jim and Caroline, his younger brother and sister-in-law. Gabriel believes he must save the townspeople, especially Jim and Caroline and their unborn child. In the battle to save their souls, some amazing revelations take place.

Middletown

2007

No artwork available
NR

A group of women are brought together by the death of their childhood friend. When they discover that she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption at the age of 15, the group embark on a journey in search of the child, with a donkey called Thatcher in tow.

West the Road

Small Engine Repair poster
6.4

Doug, an aspiring country singer, has spent his life as a loser in a non-descript small town with nobody believing in his heartbreaking voice and talent as a musician. His wife has left him and only his best friend believes in him. But he has one last chance to make it.

Small Engine Repair

2006

Ghosts poster
3.0

Helene Alving leads an outwardly contented life. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of her husband's death, she is about to open an orphanage as a memorial to him. To mark this occasion, her bohemian painter son Oswald has returned from Paris. Helene plans to take the opportunity to tell Oswald the truth about his father. But ghosts of the past erupt during an eventful evening, bringing the facade of civilised family life crashing down.

Ghosts

2014

Boogaloo and Graham poster
6.4

In 1970s Belfast two young boys discover the facts of life, aided by the help of their pet chickens.

Boogaloo and Graham

2014

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Inn Mates

2010

Kitchen poster
3.3

Tensions rise in a Glasgow kitchen as the cooks deal with the pressures of the job. When an ex-criminal gets a job at the best kitchen in Glasgow, he has to fight to prove himself in the harsh culinary world.

Kitchen

2007