Ami Metcalf

Ami Louise Metcalf (born June 1994) is an English actress. She rose to prominence in 2010 after portraying Sapphire Cox in the BBC soap opera Doctors, for which she won the Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress. Following Doctors, she has appeared in various projects including the BBC drama series Upstairs Downstairs, the Channel 4 sitcom The Mimic and the BBC Radio 4 series Home Front. Since 2022, she has starred in the Britbox series Sister Boniface Mysteries as Peggy Button.

Life and career

Metcalf was born in June 1994 in Lewisham, London. She was raised there by her single mother who worked as a teaching assistant. In 2004, aged ten, Metcalf made her stage debut in a production of The Wind in the Willows at the Open Air Theatre, Barra Hall Park. In 2006, aged twelve, Metcalf made her screen debut in a voice role for two episodes of the children's series The Owl. Metcalf quit studying for her A-levels to focus on acting full-time.

In 2010, she was cast in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors as Sapphire Cox. Appearing in a recurring role for 15 episodes, she portrayed a teenager addicted to methadone who is taken in by established character Lily Hassan (Seeta Indrani). For her portrayal of Sapphire, Metcalf won the Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress at the 2010 British Soap Awards. Later in 2010, she portrayed a younger version of Kathy Burke in an episode of the Sky1 series Little Crackers. Impressed with her portrayal, producers cast Metcalf in a main role in a spin-off series for the programme, Walking and Talking, in 2012. Also in 2010, she starred in the BBC period drama Upstairs Downstairs as Eunice McCabe and appeared in the 2012 Christmas special of Call the Midwife.

From 2013 to 2014, she starred in the Channel 4 sitcom The Mimic as Helen Smith. Then in 2014, she began voicing Kitty Lumley in the BBC Radio 4 period drama series Home Front. She voiced Kitty until 2018, appearing on eleven series of the programme. Metcalf made her film debut in 2015 in the film Pan, playing Sister Thomas. In 2016, she appeared in two episodes of the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness as Lisa Wilson. In 2019, she returned to theatre, starring in a filmed production of Lady Windermere's Fan at the Vaudeville Theatre. A year later, she appeared in a National Theatre Live production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre.

2019 also saw Metcalf appear in an episode of the BBC period series Father Brown as Alice Bonham. A year later, she appeared in the 2020 Christmas special of Birds of a Feather. Then, in 2022, Metcalf returned to the Father Brown fictional universe when she was cast in the main role of Peggy Button in its spin-off series, Sister Boniface Mysteries.

Filmography

Stage

Awards and nominations