Jayd Johnson (born 18 December 1990) is a Scottish actress best known for her portrayal of Nicki Cullen in River City and her BAFTA-winning role as Paddy Meehan in The Field of Blood.
Career
Johnson began attending drama classes aged eight and landed her first professional acting job at 11 in the film Dear Frankie, starring Emily Mortimer and Gerard Butler. From the age of 13, Johnson played Nicki Cullen in the Glasgow-set soap opera River City. She left in 2009, after six years, to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York before returning to Scotland after being hand-picked for the lead role of Paddy Meehan in BBC Scotland's adaptation of The Field of Blood for which she won the 2011 BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Television Actor/Actress ahead of co-stars Peter Capaldi and Ford Kiernan. Johnson reprised the role of Paddy Meehan for The Field of Blood: The Dead Hour which began filming in Glasgow in November 2012 and was broadcast on BBC One in August 2013.
Personal life
The youngest of three children, Johnson grew up in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire and was educated at the local Stonelaw High School.
Her parents Connie and Johnny own and run a café in the Forge Market in the east end of Glasgow. She has a sister and brother. She is married and lives in British Columbia, Canada.
Theatre
Other theatre credits include This Wide Night and Cooking with Elvis (Tron Theatre, Glasgow).
Filmography
2004 Dear Frankie as Catriona
2004-2009 River City (TV series) as Nicki Cullen
2011- The Field of Blood as Paddy Meehan
References
Paddy Meehan (Jayd Johnson)
I play Paddy Meehan and she’s a young newspaper copy boy – as they called them in the Eighties – in the Daily News office. All she wants more than anything is to be a journalist. She wants to make a difference, to show the real side of things. She knows what she wants, she’s very independent, and she won’t take rubbish from anyone.
I didn’t know anything about the 80s as I was born in the 90s - so I Googled a lot about that period.
Jayd
What interested you in Field of Blood?
I was actually studying at drama school in New York when I first heard about it. When I talked to my teachers they didn’t want me to take any time away from my studies. I knew I couldn’t do it so I asked the casting director not to put me up for it and not to send me anything about it.
But there was something nagging away inside me. I kept thinking, ‘I could be doing that now’. Luckily they came back and said they really wanted to see me. I think that was a bit of a sign, this part just wouldn’t leave me alone. I found out later that the director, David Kane, had said they should send me the script because he knew once I had read it I would want to audition. He was right. Paddy is a great character and the way she is written is so unusual.
The story takes place before you were born. What sort of research did you do?
I didn’t know anything about the 80s as I was born in the 90s - so I Googled a lot about that period. My dad also told me loads of stories about the 80s - how the cars were so different, about going to work - everything just sounded weird.
Music is a big thing for me to get into a character. I did a lot of music research to see what bands Paddy might be into and made a play list on my iPod. I also researched the styles of that era and made a folder full of pictures. When I went to work I would have my script, the folder and the iPod with all different bands. I am now a fan of 80s bands and love Depeche Mode, The Clash and The Cure.
Jayd Johnson
Jayd Johnson (born 18 December 1990) is a Scottish actress best known for her portrayal of Nicki Cullen in River City and her BAFTA-winning role as Paddy Meehan in The Field of Blood.
Biography
Prior to Doctor Who
Johnson began attending drama classes aged eight and landed her first professional acting job at 11 in the film Dear Frankie, starring Emily Mortimer and Gerard Butler. From the age of 13, Johnson played Nicki Cullen in the Glasgow-set soap opera River City. She left in 2009, after six years, to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York before returning to Scotland after being hand-picked for the lead role of Paddy Meehan in BBC Scotland's adaptation of The Field of Blood for which she won the 2011 BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Television Actor/Actress ahead of co-stars Peter Capaldi and Ford Kiernan. Johnson reprised the role of Paddy Meehan for The Field of Blood: The Dead Hour which began filming in Glasgow in November 2012 and was broadcast on BBC One in August2013.
Work on Doctor Who
In 2019, Johnson was cast as Chrissie Finch, the new companion for the Sixteenth Doctor. She made her first appearance as Chrissie in The Screams of Terror, the opening story for Season 54.