Acting
Jamie Lee O'Donnell
Born 1987-03-04 · Derry, Northern Ireland, UK
Jamie-Lee O'Donnell is an actress known for her role as Michelle Mallon in Channel 4’s comedy series, Derry Girls. O’Donnell was born on 4 March 1987 in Derry, Northern Ireland. She attended St Anne's Primary School, St Cecilia's College, and North West Regional College. She began acting at a young age in school plays. Upon graduation, she decided to pursue it professionally despite not being able to afford drama school. She instead studied performing arts at the De Montfort University campus in Bedfordshire, but did not complete the course. She began auditioning and dividing her time between England and home, taking part in theatrical productions and working as a dancer for promotions and pantomimes. She moved around in search of employment, also working as a barista and at one point taking on a corner shop, which failed as a business. Between 2012 and 2015, O'Donnell played her first significant role as Eva Maguire, one of the main characters of the BBC2 NI series 6Degrees, after the end of which she took part in the film Urban & the Shed Crew, by Candida Brady. In 2018, she starred in a theatre production I Told My Mum I Was Going on an RE Trip, by Julia Samuels, playing an underage girl who decides to undergo an abortion. The following year, she joined the cast of Girls and Dolls, a play by the Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee,[8] and acted in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Gaiety Theatre. O'Donnell landed the role of Michelle Mallon in Derry Girls, a sitcom by Channel 4, which gained international fame. Of her role as Michelle, she says, "Michelle really thinks she's maybe just a bit too big for the place she was born in and she's ready to take on the world one swearword at a time. She's really feisty, really ballsy, doesn't really care about authority, just sort of up for anything and up for a laugh." O'Donnell and her fellow Derry Girls co-stars participated in the RTÉ fundraising special RTÉ Does Comic Relief, performing a sketch alongside Saoirse Ronan. All proceeds from the night went towards those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a patron of the Liverpool-based youth theatre company 20 Stories High.
Acting credits
7.9A young couple's relationship clashes with the harsh realities of the California Gold Rush of 1850. Angel, experiencing love for the first time and facing demons unsurmountable, runs from the new life she doesn't believe she deserves. When Michael sets out to find her, Angel discovers that she indeed has the power to choose the life she wants.
Redeeming Love
2022
5.8Londoners Maya and Jamie escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent, murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden. When heavily pregnant Maya’s relationship with a local family turns sour, who – or what – will come to her rescue and to what extremes will she go to protect her unborn child?
Unwelcome
2023
NR1994. As Northern Ireland takes its first steps towards peace, best friends Vinny and Jonty are about to jump start their futures with the most reckless trip of their lives.
Skintown
2026
5.0A young Romanian woman is snatched in broad daylight from a London street, trafficked to Ireland and used as a sex slave in a series of pop-up brothels. Her shocking true story offers a tense and thought-provoking thriller exposing how, in modern Britain, slavery can hide in plain sight.
Doing Money
2019
7.5A hard living, disillusioned, ex social worker becomes the unlikely savior to an anarchic gang of joy-riding, drug taking, thieving, out of control, care home runaway kids.
I Am Urban
2018
NRWith 1 in 3 women having had an abortion "I told my Mum I was going on an R.E. trip…" explores what seems to be one of society's last taboos using verbatim voices, music, beats and rhyme.
I Told My Mum I Was Going On An RE Trip
2018
A pop diva, kicked out of her own group's reunion tour and slapped with a community service court order, seizes the chance to stage a comeback by coaching a group of misfit teen girls for a major record label audition, only to push them too far, forcing her to confront her toxic industry — and her own streak of self-destruction.
Girl Group
2026
5.0Hope has a life-changing piano audition coming up — nerve-wracking at the best of times. Unfortunately, as a sufferer of social anxiety, it's going to take extraordinary courage to seek the help needed to pursue her dream.
The Fruit Fix
2020
2.0After traveling to the UK for an abortion, three Irish women spend the night together in London.
A Secret Journey
2019
NRWith warmth, wit and honesty, Derry Girls' Jamie-Lee O'Donnell reflects on her childhood experiences and discovers what life's like for young people growing up in Derry today.
The Real Derry: Jamie-Lee O'Donnell
2022