Roxanne Carrion

Roxanne Carrion (née Pallett) is an English actress, best known and loved for playing Jo Stiles (Sugden) in ITV's 'Emmerdale' (2005-2008). With mocha brown skin and almond eyes from her Persian and Italian descent, she is an exotic mix of ethnicity which sets her apart from other actresses in the UK. Born and raised in the north of England with her mother and grandmother, she still maintains a very humble nature and credits her working class background for strengthening her in preparation for success. She grabbed the nation's attention in her soap opera screen debut and later broke millions of hearts as the victim of 2010's biggest domestic abuse storyline on screen. The dramatic performances earned the actress 6 nominations and huge critical acclaim for her emotional portrayal as the vulnerable Jo. Carrion chose to leave the show in 2009 to "earn her stripes and find new characters". She immediately starred in ITV's 'Dancing On Ice' Season 4, wowing audiences with her impressive daredevil moves such as the 'head-banger'. Carrion then treaded the boards in three lead consecutive theatre roles, 1950's musical 'Rock Around The Clock', Eve Ensler's UK tour 'The Vagina Monologues' and the two-hander play "Satin 'n' Steel", winning as much credibility and popularity on stage as she previously did on screen. She then surprised the nation by playing 17 year old troubled school girl Shelby Dixon in BBC's Waterloo Road, a role that was ten years younger than the actress herself in real life. 2012 was a huge year for Carrion when she was cast as the lead role of Sarah McColl in British film 'Devil's Tower' when she originally walked in to audition for a smaller part as the friend. After shooting the intense horror film, Carrion then began filming an urban comedy for Kaleidoscope Pictures, 'It's A Lot' playing the quirky college misfit Louise. In 2013 Carrion beat a whole host of musical theatre talent to the lead role of Janet Weiss in the 40th anniversary UK tour of 'The Rocky Horror Show' which saw her transform yet again, this time into a 1950's blonde All-American sweetheart. Carrion then went straight into her next stage role as Shelley for The Royal Court in 'Ladies Day'. The play proved to be her biggest on stage challenge to date, due to the role being Scouse and Carrion being the only non Liverpudlian actor in the cast. She won rave reviews for her comedic timing and flawless Scouse accent. The actress began shooting British film 'The Violators' in 2014 and then flew straight out to shoot for 20th Century Fox in American horror film 'Wrong Turn 6' in the spring of 2014. Despite already having a successful career on both stage and screen, Carrion embarked on a summer training course at RADA during her summer, majoring in Contemporary Drama at the prestigious Royal Academy. She has been working with the BAFTA acclaimed playwright John Godber on his play 'On The Piste' which toured theatres in the UK and once again, in her lead role of Bev, she won rave reviews for her comedic performance. Carrion began shooting British indie film 'Habit' early 2016, a thriller based on the novel by Stephen McGeagh set in Manchester. She then soon began a lead stage role at the highly acclaimed Park Theatre in London for the Tony Award winning play 'Some Girls', a dark comedy written by Neil LaBute. Roxanne then won rave reviews for her lead stage role as wild child New Jersey girl Holly in 'The Wedding Singer' UK Tour 2017, an eighties musical based on the cult classic Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore movie, originally produced for Broadway.