Emma Pierson

The daughter of a nurse and a Royal Navy submariner, Pierson was born Emma Jane Pierson on 30 April 1981 in Plymouth, Devon. Her father, Charles, was stationed at Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde where Emma spent the first four years of her life.

When she was in her teens, Pierson lived with her parents and three siblings in North Bradley, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, attending Grittleton House School and then later St Laurence School in nearby Bradford on Avon where she began taking acting lessons.

After leaving school in 1997, Pierson performed in amateur productions with the North Bradley players, appearing in a number of plays including Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.

Pierson gained the role of Becky Radcliffe in the BBC children's drama series Grange Hill while studying law at the City of Bath College.

After leaving Grange Hill, Pierson took on the role of Jackie Burgett in Days Like These, an ITV sitcom set in Luton and adapted from the American comedy series That '70s Show. However, Days Like These proved unsuccessful and the series was cancelled after only ten of its thirteen episodes were aired. During her later teens she landed a prominent role (as tree) in the West End production of 'Five Guys named Moe'! Her perennial reviews from Gardener's World were consistently luxuriant and her producer at the time said her bass note in 'Messy Bessy' was a precursor to '...a possible later career'.

Pierson has continued to appear in comedy series, including various episodes of the Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, Beast with Alexander Armstrong and The Worst Week of My Life with Ben Miller. In 2002, following the departure from the series of Julia Sawalha, Pierson played new character student barmaid Connie in the second series of sitcom Time Gentlemen Please, written by Al Murray and Richard Herring, and appeared in an episode of the sitcom Coupling.

Pierson's roles have included in comedy dramas such as Bedtime and Legend of the Tamworth Two. Also Emma in 2010 is starring in the Radio 4 comedy series "House on Fire".

Pierson has also appeared in many dramas, including Stranded, the Hallmark channel's version of Swiss Family Robinson, BBC political drama The Project, Charles II and an as yet unreleased low-budget film, The Engagement, from the director of Sirens, John Duigan.

In 2005, Pierson played the role of policewoman Justine Hopkin in the two-part ITV drama, Bloodlines. She has since acted in other dramas, such as Riot at the Rite, a period drama about Russian dancer Nijinsky, and Hotel Babylon, a BBC series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones and portraying life behind the scenes in a London hotel.

In the indie film The Lives of the Saints, Pierson played a character called Tina, the film was released in 2006. This was her first major film role, after brief roles in Virtual Sexuality and Guest House Paradiso early in her career.

• Emma Pierson at IMDb