Actress supports Acting students in their final year performances

James Bond actress and recent honorand Samantha Bond showed her support for the University of Northampton BA (Hons) Acting students as she was the VIP guest for the premier of A Clockwork Orange at the Royal & Derngate theatre last night.

A Clockwork Orange was one of three performances, along with Dying for It and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, which is part of the students’ final year assessments before they graduate in the summer.

Samantha was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Northampton at last year’s Summer Graduation Ceremonies. Coming from a theatrical family, she trained as an actress at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and went on to star as Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films. More recently she appeared as Auntie Angela in the BBC comedy Outnumbered and has made a number of guest appearances as Lady Rosamund Painswick in the ITV costume drama, Downton Abbey. She has also recently starred in the West End musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at London’s Savoy Theatre.

Dr Ross Prior, Subject Leader for Acting and Drama commented; “The graduating actors from the BA (Hons) Acting programme are all to be congratulated as it shows how their long hours of meticulous training over three years has paid off. We are delighted that Samantha Bond, an actress with such a significant international profile, is taking a keen interest in our Acting programme at the University of Northampton.”