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.
9
9
3
Set in Glasgow, Louie, the detective son of an upright police sergeant, is about to marry. His inten...
More info9
9
4
9
9
5
9
9
6
9
9
7
9
9
8
9
9
9
For nearly a decade, Gilbert and Sullivan’s collaborations have delighted the English people. But in...
More info0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
3
0
0
4
0
0
5
Steve Coogan, an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life, is playing the epo...
More info0
0
6
0
0
7
0
0
8
0
0
9
0
1
0
As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite...
More info0
1
1
For hundreds of years, the Claus family has delegated the title "Santa" to a chosen few of its membe...
More info
A version of Shakespeare's play, set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes. Garden gnome...
More info0
1
2
The enthusiastic Pirate Captain, along with his rag-tag crew, sets out to beat his bitter rivals. Th...
More info0
1
3
0
1
4
A public-relations agent leaves London for a seemingly idyllic village in the Cotswolds, and soon fi...
More info
Al Klein and his longtime friend, Ash Martini, own a used car lot and these two know every trick in ...
More info0
1
5
In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel...
More info
Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uni...
More info0
1
6
0
1
7
0
1
8
Garden gnomes Gnomeo & Juliet recruit renown detective Sherlock Gnomes to investigate the mysterious...
More info0
1
9
As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless’ discovery of an untame...
More info
The love story between a pampered Cocker Spaniel named Lady and a streetwise mongrel named Tramp. La...
More info0
2
0
0
2
1
Agatha's in need of a well-earned break and with Christmas just around the corner it looks like the ...
More info0
2
2
After inheriting a farm at Christmas time, a widowed father makes a bumpy adjustment to village life...
More infoRecent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christmas on Mistletoe Farm (2022) | Ms Fletcher | 5.5 | |
| 2 | Agatha Raisin: Kissing Christmas Goodbye (2021) | Agatha Raisin | 8 | |
| 3 | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) | Phlegma (voice) | 7.7 | |
| 4 | Lady and the Tramp (2019) | Jock (voice) | 6.7 | |
| 5 | Sherlock Gnomes (2018) | Nanette (voice) | 6.4 | |
| 6 | The Lobster (2015) | Biscuit Woman | 6.8 | |
| 7 | The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015) | Detective Inspector June Robertson | 5.7 | |
| 8 | Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (2014) | Agatha Raisin | 7 | |
| 9 | Small Time (2014) | Gail | 6.5 | |
| 10 | All Stars (2013) | Gina | 5 | |
| 11 | The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012) Oscars 2013 | The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate (voice) | 6.7 | |
| 12 | Arthur Christmas (2011) | Bryony (voice) | 7.1 | |
| 13 | Hysteria (2011) | Fanny | 6.6 | |
| 14 | Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) | Nanette (voice) | 6.3 | |
| 15 | How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Top 100 by FilmGator | Phlegma the Fierce (Voice) | 8.1 | |
| 16 | Nativity! (2009) | Jennifer Lore | 5.6 | |
| 17 | A Cock and Bull Story (2005) | Lindsey | 3.7 | |
| 18 | Topsy-Turvy (1999) Oscars 2000 | Miss Tringham | - | - |
| 19 | Down Among the Big Boys (1993) | Claire Donnelly | - | - |

