Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), known as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She currently plays Clara Oswald in the British television series Doctor Who and has played Jasmine Thomas in the British soap opera Emmerdale.

Coleman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, and began her acting career at an early age as a member of a theatre company called In Yer Space. While auditioning for drama schools in 2005, she was chosen to play Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale. She received critical acclaim for her performance and was nominated for the Most Popular Newcomer award at the 2006 National Television Awards.

Coleman went on to play "hard girl" Lindsay James in the BBC school-based drama series Waterloo Road, Susan Brown in a BBC Four television adaptation of the John Braine novel Room at the Top, Annie Desmond in Julian Fellowes' four part mini-series Titanic, and Rosie in Stephen Poliakoff's original drama series Dancing on the Edge. She made her feature film debut in 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Since 2012, Coleman has portrayed Clara Oswald, companion to the eleventh and twelfth incarnations of the Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who. She appeared as Lydia Wickham in the BBC drama Death Comes to Pemberley.

Biography

She has been in a relationship with Richard Madden since at least early 2012.

Coleman has been involved with charity work in South Africa raising awareness of HIV with One To One Children's Fund, of whom she is the ambassador.