Louisa Connolly-Burnham

Louisa Sarah Anne Connolly-Burnham (born 23 June 1992) is an English actress, filmmaker, and musician. She gained prominence through her roles in the CBBC series Wolfblood (2012–2014) and the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis.

She made her directorial debut with the short film The Call Centre (2020). Connolly-Burnham and her partner James New form a music duo called Virens.

Early life Connolly-Burnham was born in Solihull, West Midlands and grew up in Buckinghamshire with her two brothers. She attended Wycombe High School. Her father enrolled her in Saturday classes at Jackie Palmer Stage School. She went on to train at Arts Educational School, Tring Park.

Career Connolly-Burnham made her debut with small roles in the 2007 TV movie Coming Down the Mountain and the crime drama series Midsomer Murders. In 2012, Connolly-Burnham got her breakthrough in the BAFTA nominated CBBC hit drama Wolfblood as Shannon Kelly in which she starred alongside Bobby Lockwood, Aimeé Kelly and Kedar Williams-Sterling. She left the show at the end of season three in 2014.

In 2013, Connolly-Burnham played Willow Jenks in the third and final season of the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis. In 2014, she starred in the short film Beneath Water in which she was subsequently nominated for Best Actress at the Queens World Film Festival in 2015. Since then, she has appeared as Avril Fox in the 2014 Christmas special of the BBC period drama Call the Midwife. She has also had roles in Holby City (2015), Death in Paradise (2016), Drifters (2016) and Casualty (2016).

Connolly-Burnham made her stage debut playing a leading role in the 2017 theatre production Tribes at the Crucible Theatre. She has also starred in the stage production Beirut in 2018 at The Park Theatre. In 2019, Connolly-Burnham founded her own production company Thimble Films, and made her directorial debut with the short film The Call Centre (2020), which amassed over 1.5 million views on YouTube and earned Connolly-Burnham a nomination for Best Producer at the Underwire Film Festival UK.

In 2022, Connolly-Burnham returned to television with a recurring role as Silver in the Peacock adaptation of Vampire Academy.

During lockdown, Connolly-Burnham met James New online, and they began making alternative folk music together under the name Virens. Their debut EP Chicken nuggets was released in 2023.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2007 Coming Down the Mountain School Girl Television film 2008 Midsomer Murders Young Lou Episode: "Left for Dead" 2011 Outnumbered Shoe Shop Girl Episode: "The Girls' Day Out" Little Crackers Susan Bulter Episode: "My First Brassiere" 2012–2014 Wolfblood Shannon Kelly Main role (series 1–3) 2013 House of Anubis Willow Jenks Main role (season 3)House of Anubis: The Touchstone of RaTV special Doctors Rose Morrison Episode: "A Curse Be Upon Her" 2014 Call the Midwife Avril Fox Episode: "Christmas Special" 2015 Holby City Rosie Greene Episode: "Homecoming" Suspicion Morgan Episode: "Edge of Insanity" 2016 Death in Paradise Kim Sweeney Episode: "Dishing Up Murder" Drifters Sienna Episode: "Big Break" Casualty Penny Levitt Episode: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" 2022 Vampire Academy Silver Recurring role

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2020 South of the Circle Peter

Stage Year Title Role Venue 2017 Tribes Ruth Crucible Theatre 2018 Beirut Blue The Park Theatre

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref 2015 Queens World Film Festival Best Actress Beneath Water 2019 Underwire Film Festival Best Producer The Call Centre