Victoria Smurfit

Victoria Smurfit was born on March 31, 1974, in Dublin, Ireland. She is part of the Smurfit family, known for its involvement in various industries including Smurfit Kappa. Smurfit dedicated her early education to theatre studies, leading her to the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Her acting career began in the mid-1990s, with early film roles in “The Run of the Country” (1995) and “The Leading Man” (1996).

Smurfit gained wider recognition for her portrayal of Orla O’Connell in the BBC television series “Ballykissangel” from 1998 to 1999. She then took on the lead role of Detective Chief Inspector Roisin Connor in the ITV police procedural “Trial & Retribution,” a position she held from 2003 to 2009. Her filmography includes a variety of projects, such as playing Nina in the action film “Bulletproof Monk” (2003) and Suzie in the acclaimed movie “About a Boy” (2002).

In recent years, Smurfit has taken on significant roles in projects like “Dracula” (NBC 2013-2014) as Lady Jayne Wetherby, and most notably, as Cruella de Vil in ABC’s fantasy series “Once Upon a Time” (2014–2018), earning her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 13th IFTA Film & Drama Awards in 2016. She received an IFS Award for Best Actress in 2014 for “Amnesia: Who Are You?” and an Irish Film & Television Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Film in 2018 for “The Lears.” Her recent work includes “Deadly Cuts” (2021) and “Bloodlands” (2022), and playing Maud O’Hara in Disney Plus’s “Rivals” (2024), which has been renewed for a second season.