Amy Shindler
Description
Brought up between North London and California, Amy went on to Cambridge University to study History and gained a BA Honours with Exhibition. She later graduated from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Amy has appeared in numerous productions for television including How Mad Was King George?, Manchester United Ruined My Life, Sisters, Madson and Lovejoy for the BBC, Night and Day for ITV and The Baddiel Syndrome for Sky. She has also made a number of films; Breathtaking, The Truth Is, Virgin Birth, Buster and Mr Corbett's Ghost.
Amy has also played parts in many BBC Radio Dramas including Garbo and Gilbert in Love, Sampler T6, Raising the Sage and Singleheart which were produced in the same BBC Birmingham studios where The Archers is recorded.
With ties to the states, Amy often returns to California to see family or for work. As well as an actress and voiceover artist, Amy also writes comedy and is currently developing a sitcom series with BBC Radio 4 and with Sky Television. She has worked on the writing teams of Concrete Cow and the award-winning Sunday Format, both for Radio 4.
Archers highlight(s)
The Betty's death storyline. It may have been the most difficult piece of work I've had to do, because my own mother had died less than a year beforehand. I was also performing in a tricky three-hander play in the evenings, which was tiring. But Brenda's scenes were beautifully written, particularly around the resentment she felt towards Roy and her growing affection for Tom. If they hadn't felt real I wouldn't have been able to play them well, but there was nothing sentimental in the dialogue. It felt incredibly genuine and sad.
Other career highlights
Working on the Michael Winterbottom film, A Mighty Heart, with Angeline Jolie and Daniel Futterman, which came out last year.
Actor's view of their character
Brenda's made her mistakes in the past - both in the work and the man department - but she's bright, ambitious and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. She's assertive and likes to take chances, but there's a sense that she doesn't always know exactly how she's going to handle the situation once she's in it, which gives her an unpredictability that's fun to play.
Favourites
Actor
Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman because they're so versatile.
Book
Pride and Prejudice. Well, who can rival Elizabeth Bennett?
Film
Some Like It Hot. It still makes me laugh after the hundredth viewing
Unfulfilled ambition ("I'd still like to...")
Be five foot eight, learn Spanish and become an Olympic gymnast.
Amy Shindler
- New Family Trees
- Archers, Aldridges, Grundys and more. Interactive and informative
- The Actors A to Z
- More about the current cast
- Interactive Map
- Explore the locations of Ambridge and the Borsetshire countryside.
- The new Who's Who
- Essential – and fun – details of every current character.
- Timeline
- The key stories 1951 – 2006, plus photos and audio clips.
- Hill Climb Quiz
- Choose from tough or topical questions and help David feed his hungry sheep.