Bio
Alum Jennifer Ehle (MIO ’86) has joined the cast of AMC’s gothic horror series The Vampire Lestat (known as Interview with the Vampire for it’s first two season) in the series regular role of Gabriella de Lioncourt.
The new season debuts 7th June on AMC and AMC+.
Congratulations to alum Lennette Randall (MIO ’17) who was recently named the 2026 Governor General Performing Arts (GGPAA) Mentorship Protégé!
In sharing the news with us, Lennette had this to say about her achievement and her time at BADA:
“The rigour, mentorship, and clarity of craft I experienced during the 2017 Midsummer in Oxford Programme continue to shape how I approach my work as an artist. The training I received there remains deeply present in my practice, informing not only what I create, but how and why I create it.
I’m pleased to share that I have been selected as the 2026 Governor General Performing Arts (GGPAA) Mentorship Protégé. This opportunity feels like a natural extension of the values emphasized during my training at BADA—artistic discipline, generosity of practice, and the responsibility to remain in dialogue with those who come after us.”
The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) are proud to feature a unique Mentorship Program that provides a way for past GGPAA recipients to inspire the next generation by offering guidance to talented Canadian artists in mid-career. The program serves as a creative catalyst and an investment in future Canadian artistic achievement.
Each year, a past laureate of the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award or the National Arts Centre Award is invited to act as the program’s mentor. In consultation with the National Arts Centre’s artistic leadership, the mentor selects an artist from the same performing arts discipline whom he or she would like to have as a protégé. Each year’s Mentorship Program is as unique as the artists themselves, but the aim is the same: both mentor and protégé enjoy a unique opportunity to share, learn and grow from each other’s experience and insights. In addition to receiving artistic guidance and an honorarium, each protégé is invited to participate in the GGPAA celebrations.
Lennette Randall is an interdisciplinary creative whose cosmopolitan background profoundly influences her worldview, fuelling a deep passion for storytelling that reflects and interrogates diasporic, cross-cultural, and intergenerational narratives.
Her work as an actress, director, writer, speaker, singer, and educator is deeply rooted in ethnic storytelling techniques. Through hybrid art forms, she strives to create theatre that is both colossal in scope and rich in detail, blending movement, music, and technical artistry to engage audiences on multiple sensory levels.
Ms. Randall holds a BA (Honours) in Applied Communication from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, an MA in Classical Acting (Distinction) from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and a Master of Studies (MSt.) in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. Further training includes Rosebud School of the Arts (Rosebud, AB), New York Film Academy (Los Angeles), Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA), and the British American Drama Academy (Oxford, UK).
Her artistic collaborations encompass Rosebud Theatre, The Shakespeare Company, Theatre Calgary, Grand Theatre, Obsidian Theatre’s Young, Gifted and Black, Canadian Stage RBC Emerging Director Intern, and Stratford Festival’s Langham Directors’ Workshop.
Lennette Randall’s accolades include the Black Shoulders Legacy Award (2024), Black People Making History in Calgary (2023), the FDC Jacie Levinson Memorial Award (2017), and the Stephen Hair Emerging Actor Award (2014).
Olivier award-winning, Joseph Mydell has been acting for more than four decades and won his Olivier award for his performance as Belize in ANGELS IN AMERICA at the National Theatre in 1994. Since then he has gone on to work extensively on both stage and screen.
He has recently been seen starring opposite Tilda Swinton in Joanna Hogg’s, THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER for A24; THE PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY opposite Jim Broadbent and CONCLAVE from BAFTA Winning director Edward Berger, starring alongside Ralph Fiennes.
Recent film credits include THE SON, with Hugh Jackman; WOMAN IN GOLD for Simon Curtis and TONIGHT YOU’RE MINE for Sigma Films.
Some of Joseph’s previous TV credits include: PRIME TARGET (Apple TV+); BRASSIC (Sky); ALEX RIDER (Amazon); MRS WILSON (BBC); HOMELAND (Showtime) and TRIAL AND RETRIBUTION (ITV) among many others. He was recently seen opposite Steve Cogan in BBC One’s, THE RECKONING.
His stage work is second to none and he has worked on over 40 stage productions throughout the world, UK and West End. Most recently; OEDIPUS (The Old Vic); THE VISIT (National Theatre); DEATH OF A SALESMAN with Wendell Pierce (Young Vic); THE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD II (Almeida); HAMLET (RSC) and EVENING AT THE TALKHOUSE (National Theatre).
This winter, Joe will be appearing in AMERICAN PSYCHO at the Almeida Theatre.
Joe has also written and directed a documentary Ira Aldridge: The Black Tragedian about the 19th Century Shakespearean actor.
“It is my honour and privilege to come back home to BADA once again, this time as its Patron, as BADA has been a consistent hub of community for me throughout my career going back to my earliest days in the UK.” said Joe. “I look forward to continuing BADA’s work and strengthening the connections between our artistic peers in the UK and the US while building on our long tradition of sharing insights and expertise with new actors as they enter and immerse themselves in the training and traditions of our craft.”
“We are absolutely delighted that Joe will be our new Patron,” says Dean of BADA Ben Naylor. “As a student of the first ever BADA programme, and thereafter as a regular teacher and masterclass leader, Joe has been an essential part of the BADA family for four decades. His career and work embody the Academy’s values of internationalism, cultural curiosity and professional rigour; and Joe’s warmth, wit and generosity are legendary. We’re tremendously excited for Joe to shape the role of Patron in the coming years.”
As Patron, Joe succeeds Brian Cox, who is taking up an Honorary Fellowship with BADA.
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