Anna Skellern

Anna Skellern (born 27 April 1985) is a United Kingdom-based Australian actress, best known as the first female member of The Chaser's television programme CNNNN. In the first season of The Chaser's CNNNN, an Australian television show satirising American news channels CNN and Fox News, she played her namesake Anna Skellern, a no-nonsense war correspondent noted for the frequent loss of her cameramen and dubbed 'the perfumed abattoir'. In 2004, CNNNN shared the Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Comedy' with Kath & Kim.

After relocating to London, in July 2007 Skellern graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. That same month she made her professional stage debut in the successful West End production The Vegemite Tales, playing the role of Maddie.

Skellern was cast as the new Sapphire in the Big Finish Productions radio show Sapphire and Steel – beginning with "Second Sight".

Skellern was cast in the sequel to Neil Marshall's critically acclaimed horror film The Descent, The Descent Part 2, which was released in late 2009. The script sees a survivor from The Descent forced back into the system of caves she battled her way out of in the first film, in a bid to locate the rest of her group. Skellern played one of the members of the new search team that accompanies the survivor back into the caves.

In 2009, Skellern filmed Agatha Christie's Poirot: "The Clocks". She also filmed the new role of restaurant worker, babysitter, and Jake's crush, Kelly, for BBC1's award-winning, partly improvised comedy Outnumbered.

In 2010, Skellern spent time in Africa filming the lead role in the thriller Siren. She also played Jo in the British miniseries, A Passionate Woman.

She played the role of Lexy Price in series 2 of Lip Service broadcast on BBC Three in April 2012. In October 2012 Skellern played Elaine White in series 2 episode 2 of the Sky 1 comedy drama series Spy.

Filmography

Year Title Character Production Notes 2002–2003 CNNNN Anna 2009 The Bill Stephanie Lewis ITV 2009 The Descent: Part 2 Cath 2009 Agatha Christie's Poirot Fiona Hanbury ITV 2010 A Passionate Woman Jo 2010 Outnumbered Kelly BBC 2010 Half Hearted Svetlana 2010 Siren Rachel 2011 Camelot Arwen Starz 2011 A Night in the Woods Kerry Hastings 2011 W.E. Daphne 2011 The Incident Lynn 2011 Fingers Carrie 2011 7lives Felicity 2012 Lip Service Lexy Price BBC Three 2012 Parade's End Bobbie Pelham BBC Two 2012 Spy Elaine Sky1 2012 Gambit Secretary Fiona 2013 I Give It a Year Claudia 2013 Jo Vanessa Serfaty TF1 2013 Heading Out Sophie BBC Two 2013 Plebs Irina ITV2 Season 1, Episode 5: "Bananae" 2013 Drifters Ellie E4 2014 The Musketeers Maria Bonnaire Episode 3: "Commodities" 2014 Blood MoonMarie 2015 The Interceptor Kim 2016 Humans Emma 2018 Origin Jennifer Moore Episode: "Bright Star"

Personal life In 2007, Skellern was at the centre of a public spat between two of her former boyfriends, singer-songwriter Tim Freedman and comedian Chris Taylor. On 7 October 2007, Freedman posted a message on the official website of his band The Whitlams, citing a parody of him that was written by Taylor, and was broadcast on the 3 October 2007 episode of The Chaser's War on Everything. The song was performed by fellow Chaser Andrew Hansen, and the lyrics implied that Freedman was obsessed with the Sydney suburb of Newtown, and that he continually referred to the area of Newtown in his own songs. In his message, Freedman alluded that the lyrics were indeed written by Taylor, and that the parody had been motivated by jealousy over Skellern.

Taylor denied this, and said that the song had nothing to do with Skellern. "He [Freedman] was speculating that the song was written out of some sort of jealous rage or payback which isn't the case at all," he said. "My relationship with Anna didn't end badly... we're still good friends and see each other quite a bit."