|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
| She was born in Gorleston in Norfolk, the youngest of three children. At the age of 3 she modelled in a Mothercare catalogue. When she was 12 she landed a part in the Great Yarmouth Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society's production of Annie. Thereafter she successfully auditioned for the National Youth Music Theatre, and became part of the company. While with the NYMT she met future S Club member and boyfriend Paul Cattermole, as well her friend and future actress, Sheridan Smith. She appeared in the NYMT's productions, of Pendragon (1994-1995) — performing in New York and Hong Kong, Tin Pan Ali (1996), and the West End musical Bugsy Malone (1997) — she was a member of the original cast. In 1998 she got a part in the television film The Cater Street Hangman, playing the part of a maid who gets murdered. She had also made appearances on the National Lottery Show and Blue Peter. While Hannah was studying mathematics, performing arts and media studies at college in Great Yarmouth, she auditioned for S Club 7 after seeing an advert in a magazine - it was a life changing decision. She has a sister, Tanya Spearritt, who has won various modelling awards. As a member of S Club 7 (1998-2003) Spearritt became known to and loved by a large number of people. Spearritt quickly became one of the groups most popular members — her impish and hyper personality, as well as her trademark smile appealed to a wide audience. The group had four UK number one hit singles, one UK number one album and one US top ten hit. She co-starred in the groups own TV series - Miami 7 (1999), LA 7 (2000), Hollywood 7 (2001) and Viva S Club (2002). She took part in three UK tours, won two prestigious Brit Awards and numerous other awards. Along with Rachel Stevens, Hannah was a regular pin-up in dozens of magazines and was a regular in the FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women polls between 2000 and 2004. Perhaps more importantly Hannah gained the chance to act in a movie, when S Club released their movie Seeing Double in early 2003. Most famously, in October 2001, amid a blaze of publicity, she revealed that she had been in a secret relationship with fellow band member Paul Cattermole for the previous six months. Paul Cattermole was the first to quit the group in 2002, and thereafter S Club 7 became simply S Club and ultimately split in May 2003. In the last week of S Club’s existence, Spearritt was officially at home in bed with the flu. However, she was in Los Angeles to audition for a role in the film Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, a fact that Hannah revealed at the UK premiere of the film on the 24th March 2004 in London. She got the role and three days after leaving the band she began filming - technically a breach of her contract with 19 Management. Spearritt received much critical acclaim for her performance in the film and was instantly earmarked as one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses. In March 2004 she successfully auditioned for a minor role in the horror Seed of Chucky - a move which was seen by many as a deliberate attempt to distance herself from her squeaky clean S Club image. However, in reality her role was only a bit part and she received little publicity for it. After Seed of Chucky, Spearritt vanished from public view, working behind the scenes to improve her overall acting abilities. She briefly popped up at a charity auction in her hometown of Gorleston in early 2005 and made a brief appearance on ITV's Hells Kitchen along with ex-S Club 7 member Jon Lee and boyfriend Paul Cattermole. In early November 2005 she made her acting comeback in the BBC's Blessed, an eight part sitcom. In Blessed she played a minor role, appearing as a member of a fake girl band, in two episodes. She most recently appeared in the unsuccessful West End musical, Snow!, at London's Sound Theatre. The musical was cancelled just three weeks into its run because of poor ticket sales (one show managed to attract an audience of only two people). In February 2006 it was revealed that Hannah had landed a lead role in a brand new ITV series called Primaeval[1]. The new series will be ITVs answer to the BBCs Doctor Who. Hannah will play the role of Abby Lister, the assistant to the time travelling Professor Nick Cutter (played by Douglas Henshall). Filming will begin in March 2006 and the series is expected to be screened at the end of the year. |
|
|