
Acting
Ashley Jensen
Born 1969-08-11 · Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK
Ashley Jensen (born August 11, 1969) is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in Extras (2005–2007, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), Christina McKinney in Ugly Betty (2006–2010), Agatha Raisin in Agatha Raisin (2014–present), and DI Ruth Calder in Shetland (2023–present). Jensen trained in Drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University. Her first significant television role was as Clare Donnelly, daughter of Glasgow criminal Jo-Jo Donnelly (played by Billy Connolly) in the 1993 BBC drama Down Among the Big Boys. In 1994, she played eccentric secretary Rosie McConnichy in the final series of BBC comedy May to December, as a replacement for the character of secretary Hilary (Rebecca Lacey), and Heather in Roughnecks, a BBC television series about workers on a North Sea oil platform. Jensen had a small role in a Dangerfield episode "Contact" as the mother of a young girl with meningitis. She then appeared as Fiona Morris in EastEnders. She also appeared in the 2003 BBC drama Two Thousand Acres of Sky. Jensen co-starred alongside Ricky Gervais in the BBC Two/HBO television programme Extras as the socially inept Maggie Jacobs. For her work on the first series, she received best television comedy actress and newcomer awards at the 2005 British Comedy Awards. In 2006, Jensen received two British Comedy Awards and a BAFTA nomination for her role in Extras. Her role in the 2007 Christmas Special earned her an Emmy Award nomination. In January 2006 she starred in the short-lived drama series Eleventh Hour on ITV. Later that year she played Steve Coogan's agent in A Cock and Bull Story. In 2007, she provided the narration for the film Taking Liberties. In 2014, she played the eponymous lead character in the television film adaptation of the M. C. Beaton novel Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death for Sky1. She also starred in the eight-part series that first aired on Sky1 on 7 June 2016. In 2017, she starred in a six-part TV series for BBC TV, Love, Lies & Records, depicting the gritty life and entwined storylines working in Leeds Registry Office. In March 2019, Jensen reunited with Gervais in the Netflix black comedy series After Life, a role she continued for all three series. In April 2019 she played Debbie Dorell in the second series of BBC TV drama Trust Me. When an injured soldier discovers patients in his hospital ward dying, he attempts to investigate the suspicious deaths. Also in 2019, she played the voice of Jacqueline in Lady and the Tramp.
Acting credits
7.9As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.
How to Train Your Dragon
2010
7.8As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless’ discovery of an untamed, elusive mate draws the Night Fury away. When danger mounts at home and Hiccup’s reign as village chief is tested, both dragon and rider must make impossible decisions to save their kind.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
2019
7.0In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into animals and sent off into The Woods.
The Lobster
2015
6.8For hundreds of years, the Claus family has delegated the title "Santa" to a chosen few of its members, which can be passed down upon retirement. Each Christmas, Santa and his vast army of highly trained elves produce gifts and distribute them around the world in a one-night high-tech operation. However, when one of 600 million children to receive a gift from Santa on Christmas Eve is missed, it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to all but one—Arthur Claus, the current Santa’s misfit son deemed ineligible for the title, who executes an unauthorised rookie mission to get the last present halfway around the globe before dawn on Christmas morning.
Arthur Christmas
2011
5.9A version of Shakespeare's play, set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes. Garden gnomes Gnomeo and Juliet have as many obstacles to overcome as their quasi namesakes when they are caught up in a feud between neighbors. But with plastic pink flamingos and lawnmower races in the mix, can this young couple find lasting happiness?
Gnomeo & Juliet
2011
6.5The enthusiastic Pirate Captain, along with his rag-tag crew, sets out to beat his bitter rivals. The chaotic adventure takes them from exotic shores to Victorian London, and from a haplessly smitten scientist to a diabolical queen.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
5.7Garden gnomes Gnomeo & Juliet recruit renown detective Sherlock Gnomes to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.
Sherlock Gnomes
2018
7.2The love story between a pampered Cocker Spaniel named Lady and a streetwise mongrel named Tramp. Lady finds herself out on the street after her owners have a baby and is saved from a pack by Tramp, who tries to show her to live her life footloose and collar-free.
Lady and the Tramp
2019
6.6For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in 1884, as a London heat wave cuts into the theater trade, their latest work, "Princess Ida", receives lukewarm press. In an effort to reconcile their creative differences and drawing inspiration from Japanese culture, they went on to create the hit opera "The Mikado", one of the duo's greatest successes.
Topsy-Turvy
1999
6.7Two doctors in Victorian England use manual stimulation of female genitalia to cure their patients' ills, leading to the invention of the vibrator.
Hysteria
2011
6.1Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer.
The Legend of Barney Thomson
2015
5.6Two kids look to throw an ambitious dance show in order to save their struggling youth center.
All Stars
2013
6.1Steve Coogan, an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life, is playing the eponymous role in an adaptation of "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" being filmed at a stately home. He constantly spars with actor Rob Brydon, who is playing Uncle Toby and believes his role to be of equal importance to Coogan's.
A Cock and Bull Story
2005
6.3Paul, charged with directing his school's Nativity play, falsely boasts that his ex-girlfriend plans to turn the production into a film.
Nativity!
2009
5.2After inheriting a farm at Christmas time, a widowed father makes a bumpy adjustment to village life — while his kids hatch a plan to stay there forever.
Christmas on Mistletoe Farm
2022
5.4Al Klein and his longtime friend, Ash Martini, own a used car lot and these two know every trick in the book when it comes to selling cars. Klein still pines for his ex-wife Barbara who left him years ago for a more successful man. After their son Freddy graduates from high school, he decides to forego college in favor of selling cars with his old man. But what’s good for Klein might not be the best thing for Freddy, as he quickly transforms from an innocent young man into a jaded car salesman, leaving Al with a tough decision to make.
Small Time
2014
NRThe NHS Hillcroft Medical Centre has a vacancy for a practise manager. The receptionist Beryl Oldham is the favourite for the job, but then pompous ex-Army officer Maurice Ribley arrives to vye for the position
Waiting
1995
NRA nostalgic look back at City Lights, the iconic Scottish sitcom that captured the spirit of 1980s Scotland, featuring the writer, cast and the famous faces it inspired
City Lights: Pure Dead Brilliant
2025
6.1Taking Liberties Since 1997is a documentary film about the erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom and increase of surveillance under the government of Tony Blair. It was released in the UK on 8th June 2007. The director, Chris Atkins, said on 1 May that he wanted to expose "the Orwellian state" that now threatened Britain as a result of Mr Blair's policies.
Taking Liberties
2007
The cast of Extras talking about corpsing on set.
The Art of Breaking Character
2007
8.0Set in Glasgow, Louie, the detective son of an upright police sergeant, is about to marry. His intended is the daughter of JoJo (Connolly), a wealthy and compulsive thief who attempts a spectacular robbery. Louie is put in charge of the investigation of JoJo's latest enterprise. JoJo learns of his peril and begins an exercise in risk management.
Down Among the Big Boys
1993
10.0Comedy following the lives of five people as they prepare to vie for the 2009 Cup O'Kindness, the trophy awarded to the champion in Robert Burns poetry recital. The film captures the ups and downs of each participant's progress as the pressure intensifies, the poems are recited and the champion is crowned. Held in Alloway, the birthplace of Burns himself, this prestigious competition is the centrepiece of the annual celebrations devoted to the Bard's immortal memory. And this year it may prove memorable for all the wrong reasons.
No Holds Bard
2009
NRAgatha's in need of a well-earned break and with Christmas just around the corner it looks like the perfect opportunity to relax. When she receives a letter from an old lady begging for protection, she can't help but spring into action.
Agatha Raisin: Kissing Christmas Goodbye
2021
NRWhat was once the domain of the rich and famous has become part of mainstream life… now a growing number of people are going under the knife – or the needle - to stay young and beautiful. Dr Darren McKeown, a leading figure in facial aesthetics in the UK, has one of the busiest cosmetic medicine clinics in Scotland. With exclusive access to Darren and his patients, Facelifts and Fillers explores what drives people to undergo these expensive and often extremely painful treatments.
Facelifts and Fillers
2016