Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is a British actress. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show Smack the Pony. She is also known for her roles in Jam & Jerusalem as Natasha "Tash" Vine, Miranda as Tilly, I'm Alan Partridge as Sophie, Parents as Jenny Pope, Set the Thames on Fire as Colette in 2015, Zapped as Slasher Morgan, and her guest appearances as the fictional Prime Minister of Finland, Minna Häkkinen, in the US TV series Veep. Phillips also co-starred in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as Mrs Bennet and in the role of Shazzer in all four films of the Bridget Jones franchise.
From 2004 to 2019, Phillips played the title role in the BBC Radio 4 comedy show Clare in the Community. In 2018 she was curator for series 12 of The Museum of Curiosity on BBC Radio 4.
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Early life and education
Sally Elizabeth Phillips was born on 10 May 1970 in Hong Kong, which at the time was under British rule. Her father Tim, later chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, was an executive with British Airways. With the family following her father's job, she grew up in the Far East, the Middle East, Italy, and Australia. At the age of 13 she was sent to board at Wycombe Abbey School, where she studied her O-Levels and A-Levels.
Phillips read Italian and linguistics at New College, Oxford, where she joined the Oxford Revue, playing mostly male parts, alongside contemporaries including Stewart Lee and Richard Herring (who went on to have their own television show, Fist of Fun, in which Phillips appeared as "the girl who smells of Spam"). She then co-wrote and performed the one-woman show Benadetta, the Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, based on a true story. She appeared in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH, which also starred Ed Smith.
Phillips gained a first-class honours degree, and applied to write a PhD on the Spaghetti Western. However, she changed her mind, and instead studied clown and drama under Philippe Gaulier at École Philippe Gaulier and Théâtre de Complicité.
Career
Phillips performed at nine consecutive Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, appearing in shows including Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet (as Ophelia) and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas, Julian Barratt and Lori Lixenburg. Her first television role was in Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun in 1994, followed shortly after by a cameo in Alas Smith and Jones with Mel Smith. In 1995, Phillips played the role of a reporter in the unbroadcast pilot of Chris Morris's spoof series Brass Eye. In Six Pairs Of Pants, six actors produced a number of regular sketches, which developed as the series progressed. The show was written in part by Phillips. Phillips had a role as Sophie, a "Travel Tavern" receptionist in I'm Alan Partridge (1997),
and as Laura in Holding the Baby.
She played radio DJ Gemma White in the TV series In the Red.
In 1997, Phillips had a starring role in the short-lived 1999 British comedy series Hippies with Simon Pegg and Julian Rhind-Tutt. Phillips garnered a nomination for best female newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards as she, along with Fiona Allen and Doon Mackichan, co-created, wrote, and performed in Smack the Pony.
In 2001, she took the starring role in the David Nicholls series Rescue Me for BBC1. She also wrote episodes for the animation Bob and Margaret.
In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
She appeared in Bridget Jones's Diary as Shazza, having previously auditioned for Bridget; the character was based upon the film's director, Sharon Maguire.
In 2004, she took the title role in the BBC radio sitcom Clare in the Community which ended after 74 episodes in 2019. In August 2005, she returned to the stage after a long absence, in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Oxford Playhouse. In 2006, she appeared in the Australian comedy feature BoyTown; on television, she appeared as Clare Winchester in the BBC2 science fiction comedy Hyperdrive.
Personal life
In 2002, Phillips was hospitalised with salmonellosis during a charity trip to Mexico. She said the illness led to a brain infection that made her body become a "microbrewery", causing neurological symptoms. Her recovery took months.
She was married to Andrew Bermejo for 14 years and has three sons from their marriage, one with Down syndrome. As a consequence, she made a documentary about the ethics of medical screening. In 2017, the couple divorced.
Phillips is a Christian. She is a patron of Blue Apple Theatre (Hampshire, UK) which specialises in creating performance work for adults with a learning disability.
