--- name: "Kierston Wareing" canonical: "https://film.one/person/kierston-wareing" fi1m_id: "kierston-wareing" imdb_id: "nm1663573" tmdb_id: 8309 wikidata_id: "Q275266" roles: ["Actor"] born: "7 January 1978" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-07T14:12:00.753057+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Kierston Wareing ## Identity Kierston Wareing - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kierston-wareing - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** kierston-wareing - **IMDb ID:** nm1663573 - **TMDB ID:** 8309 - **Wikidata ID:** Q275266 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kierston_Wareing, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275266, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663573/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8309 Actor. Born 7 January 1978 in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 7 January 1978, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK - **Active:** 2009–2017 - **Also known as:** Fay Wareing, Faye Kierston Wareing - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 85 (1), 2010s 76 (2) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 79 to 76 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Crime 2, Comedy 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $6m across 1 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kierston_Wareing, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275266, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1663573/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8309 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*Fish Tank*](https://film.one/film/fish-tank.md) (85) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Kierston Wareing > Kierston Wareing is persuasive when affection and hostility are hard to separate, as they are in *Fish Tank*. We rate that naturalism, and would welcome parts beyond the troubled women she is so often asked to play. In *Fish Tank* (2009), the family scenes make affection and hostility hard to separate. Kierston Wareing, as Joanne Williams, helps make those encounters uncomfortable without giving us a simple way to read them. We felt uneasy because the warmth was so difficult to trust. Andrea Arnold gives Katie Jarvis the central part of Mia, but Wareing helps ensure that the people around the teenager matter too. Her breakthrough had come in the lead, as Angie in Ken Loach’s *It’s a Free World...* (2007), before the supporting role for Arnold. Both directors favour naturalistic, improvisational work, and Wareing’s strength in realistic drama makes those collaborations understandable. Subsequent work has moved between independent films, crime series and soaps, including Kirsty Branning in *EastEnders* (2012–2014). That changes the kind of storytelling around an actor; we would not assume that the move into a soap diminished what she could do. Our enthusiasm for *Fish Tank* has a qualification: the writing sometimes makes Mia’s troubles too pointed. Jarvis’s unforced performance carries the film, while Michael Fassbender’s Connor O’Reily makes adult attention feel flattering before its dangers become clear. Wareing contributes to an ensemble in which the adults can be unsettling without every exchange announcing a warning. The distinction matters for an actor so often cast as troubled women. We want parts that allow her to complicate a family scene, rather than simply provide another difficulty for the central character. There is a risk that repeated casting becomes the whole account of an actor’s abilities. Wareing’s credits frequently place her among working-class women or people in precarious circumstances, but that does not establish the limits of what she can play. We would welcome material that asks something different of her, without treating naturalistic acting as a phase she ought to outgrow. Start with *Fish Tank*, and give the family exchanges as much attention as the more conspicuous tension around Fassbender. ## On Fi1m (3) - *The End of the F***ing World* (2017), Fi1m 80, as Debbie — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world.md) - *Luther* (2010), Fi1m 72, as Caroline Jones — [page](https://film.one/tv/luther.md) - *Fish Tank* (2009), Fi1m 85, as Joanne Williams — [page](https://film.one/film/fish-tank.md) ## Complete filmography (44) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Kit* (2026), as Nina - *Finding My Voice* (2026), as Catherine - *Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare* (2025), as Roxanne "Roxy" Hook - *Grey Matter* (2024), as Sandra - *Punch* (2023), as Julia - *I Love My Mum* (2019), as Olga - *Avengement* (2019), as Bez - *Lippy* (2018), as Margaret - *Trust* (2018), series, as Cockney Pauline - *Rise of the Footsoldier 3* (2017), as Kate Carter (archive footage) (uncredited) - *The End of the F***ing World* (2017), series, as Debbie — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world.md) - *Strike* (2017), series, as Leda Strike - *The Habit of Beauty* (2017), as Rita - *Cardboard Gangsters* (2017), as Kim Murphy - *100 Streets* (2016), as Kathy - *Hooten & The Lady* (2016), series, Actor - *Do Not Disturb* (2016), as Julie - *Boy* (2016), as Sam - *Glue* (2014), series, as Joyce Fallon - *The Double* (2014), as James' Funeral Date - *Let me survive* (2013), as Kate - *The Liability* (2012), as Nicky - *Love Bite* (2012), as Natalie - *Twenty8K* (2012), as Francesca - *The Fall of the Essex Boys* (2012), as Karen - *Inside Men* (2012), series, as Gina - *Four* (2011), as Wife - *The Holding* (2011), as Cassie Naylor - *The Shadow Line* (2011), series, as Lia Honey - *The Runaway* (2011), series, as Madge - *Bonded by Blood* (2010), as Kate Smith - *Basement* (2010), as Sarah - *Luther* (2010), series, as Caroline Jones — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/luther.md) - *Five Daughters* (2010), series, as Nina - *Fish Tank* (2009), as Joanne Williams — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/fish-tank.md) - *The Take* (2009), series, as Jackie - *The Case of Unfaithful Klara* (2009), as Nina - *Runaway* (2009), series, as Kelly - *Runaway* (2009), series, as Kelly Davies - *It's a Free World...* (2007), as Angie - *Rise of the Footsoldier* (2007), as Kate Carter - *The Worst Week of My Life* (2004), series, as Mrs Bowden - *Wire in the Blood* (2002), series, as Tina Adams - *Ghetto Heaven*, as Lucy Steadman --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kierston-wareing