Orla Hill
Orla Maureen Fitzsimons Hill is an English actress. She began her career as a child actor in the films Song for Marion and Swallows and Amazons and the CBBC series Hetty Feather. More recently, she is known for her role in the UKTV series Outrageous.
Early life
Hill was born at Homerton Hospital, East London to parents Dave Hill, a London journalist, and Sheila Fitzsimons, who worked as a journalist and the Director of Transformation at The Guardian, and grew up in the Lower Clapton area with her two sisters and three brothers. Her maternal grandparents are Irish; her grandmother was born in Cootehill, County Cavan before moving to Glasgow and then London.From the age of 8, Hill took classes at the Anna Fiorentini Theatre and Film School. She attended Millfields Community Primary School and then Mossbourne Community Academy. In 2025, she will graduate from Emmanuel College, Cambridge with a Master of Engineering. She is a researcher at Cambridge's Centre for Climate Repair.
Career
Hill began her career as a child actress, making her feature film debut at age 10 as Jennifer in the 2012 comedy-drama Song for Marion. This was followed by a role as Susan Walker in the 2016 family adventure film Swallows and Amazons. The next year, Hill made her television debut when she joined the cast of the CBBC adaptation of Hetty Feather for its third series as Emily Calendar. She would reprise her role as Emily in Hetty Feather's fourth series. She also played Jennifer in the 2019 ITV true crime miniseries A Confession.In 2023, Hill appeared in the ITVX 3-part miniseries Stonehouse as the titular character's daughter Jane Stonehouse. She had a recurring role as Ruby Foxcroft in the 2024 BBC Three adaptation of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Announced in 2024, she portrayed Deborah Mitford in the 2025 UKTV historical drama Outrageous.