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Alison Sudol

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Alison Sudol
Sudol at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1984-12-23) December 23, 1984 (age 40)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Other names
  • A Fine Frenzy
  • Alison Monro
Occupations
  • Actress
  • musician
Years active1997–present
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
LabelsVirgin
Websitealisonsudol.com

Alison Sudol (born December 23, 1984)[1] is an American actress and musician. She is formerly known as the singer A Fine Frenzy, and for her role as Queenie Goldstein in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), as well as its sequels The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). Her music has been featured in numerous television shows and movies.

Early life

Sudol was born in Seattle, Washington, to dramatic arts teacher Sondra (Fraser) West-Moore and acting coach John Sudol. She and both parents moved to Los Angeles after their divorce, when she was five.[2] She grew up listening to a wide range of music, including Aretha Franklin, and Ella Fitzgerald and other swing artists.[3] She cites Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Simon and Garfunkel as some of her biggest musical influences.[4]

She graduated from high school at 16. She considered herself "nerdy and quiet", and did not "drink or smoke or do anything like that". She told an interviewer, "I was so nervous about going into college like that and super young. I figured I would take two years and try to find out what I was doing with music. And when I was 18, I was just so deep into it that I didn't want to stop."[3]

Sudol had a passion for literature, immersing herself in the works of C. S. Lewis, E. B. White, Lewis Carroll, Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens. Her stage name, A Fine Frenzy, is taken from a verse in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: "The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven" (Act 5, Scene 1). After teaching herself to play the piano, she began writing songs.

A short demo she sent out received attention from EMI's Jason Flom, who signed her after visiting her house and "listening to her play".[5]

Career

2007–2013: Music releases

Sudol playing the piano, Salt Lake City, 2008

In her music career, Sudol used the moniker A Fine Frenzy, taken from the phrase "in a fine frenzy rolling" (i.e., rolling in the ecstasy of inspiration), in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 1.[6][7][8] In March 2007, she appeared at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, opening for The Stooges. Shortly after, her debut album, One Cell in the Sea, was released to generally positive reviews,[9] and its first single, "Almost Lover", peaked at #25 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. In mid-200, she secured another opening spot, for Rufus Wainwright on his tour. In March and April 2008, she headlined her own tour in the US and Canada; and in April toured France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In September 2008, she was the star act on the opening night of the New Pop Festival organized by the German broadcaster SWR3. She returned to Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a headline tour in November 2008 and played in the Super Bock em Stock festival in Portugal in December 2008.

Her song "You Picked Me" was featured on iTunes as one of the "Free Singles of the Week" for August 14, 2007, and VH1 featured her as one of their "You Oughta Know" artists.[10] In October 2008, "You Picked Me" was chosen as a network theme by SIC, a Portuguese television network. To date, One Cell in the Sea has sold 300,000 copies. In 2008 it was released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland. In each of those countries, the album peaked within the top 30, with the first single, "Almost Lover," reaching #8 in Germany, #10 on the Swiss charts, and #5 in Austria.[11] Sudol's second album, Bomb in a Birdcage, was released September 8, 2009.[12] The first single, "Blow Away," was released on July 17, 2009, followed by two more, "Happier" and "Electric Twist".[13] On November 23, 2009, a live album and concert film recorded in 2007, A Fine Frenzy Live at the House of Blues Chicago, was released on iTunes.

On October 31, 2011, Sudol stated via Twitter that the band was mastering their new record.[14] Several songs, including "Avalanches" and "Riversong", were confirmed during her appearance at the Sundance Film Festival. In the March 2012 issue of Lucky magazine, she revealed the third album's title, Pines.[15] Previously scheduled for release in September 2012, its release date was pushed back to October 9. Along with Pines, Sudol released an animated short film and a companion book illustrated by Jen Lobo.[16] In September 2012, A Fine Frenzy was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book.[17] Afterwards, Sudol stated that she would no longer perform as A Fine Frenzy, although she continues to write songs: "I put A Fine Frenzy to bed".[18]

For Season 1 of the television series Transparent, Sudol and fellow cast member Clementine Creevy recorded a cover of Jim Croce's song "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)" under the band name Glitterish. A full version of the song was included on the Transparent soundtrack album released in December 2014.[19]

2014–present: Acting and return to music

Sudol at the 2016 Japan premiere of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

In 2014, Sudol focused on her acting career. She starred as Kaya in the recurring cast of the first season of the Amazon Video series Transparent, as a singer and love interest of Jay Duplass' character Josh.[20][21][22] She also starred in the television series Dig as the archeologist Emma Wilson.[20] Elle named Sudol one of "The 7 Most Exciting Newcomers on TV this Season" in January 2015.[23]

In 2016, Sudol co-starred in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a series of five Harry Potter prequel films written by J. K. Rowling. Sudol plays Queenie Goldstein, the younger sister of Tina (Katherine Waterston). The film, set in New York 65 years before Harry Potter's story starts, is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name, and follows the adventures of its author, "magizoologist" Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne).[24] Sudol reprised the role in the sequels Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

After a hiatus from music, on November 24, 2017, Sudol released the single "Enough Honey" under her own name.[25]

In 2018 and 2019, she released two EPs titled Moon and Moonlite, respectively, and went on a short tour of shows to promote both.

Sudol began to release music again throughout 2022, including the singles ″Peaches″ and ″Meteor Shower″. On July 8, 2022, she announced her debut album under her own name entitled Still Come the Night, set for release on September 30. The album was released to positive reviews.

Charities and conservation

Since 2011, Sudol has been a goodwill ambassador for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[26] She designed three t-shirts for Alternative Apparel in support for IUCN.[27] She is also Greenpeace's first Arctic Ambassador.[28]

Filmography

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
1997 Here Dies Another Day Girl No. 1 As Alison Monro
2002 The Gray in Between 21 Yr. Old As Alison Monro
2004 Little Black Boot Singer Short film
2012 The Story of Pines Pines Short film
2015 Other People's Children Winter
2016 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Queenie Goldstein
2016 Between Us Nadia
2018 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Queenie Goldstein
2019 The Last Full Measure Tara Huffman
2022 Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Queenie Goldstein
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2007 CSI:NY Nova Kent Episode: "Can You Hear Me Now?"
2014 Transparent Kaya Recurring role (season 1)
2015 Dig Emma Wilson Main role
Video Game roles
Year Title Role
2016 Lego Dimensions Queenie Goldstein (voice)

Discography

Main article: Alison Sudol discography

Tours

References

  1. ^ "Whimsical, pop-minded singer-songwriter with a Shakespearean moniker". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Cardoni, Salvatore (October 4, 2012). "Not in My Backyard: 94-Year-Old Retired Marine Corps Colonel Fights Proposed Strip Mine". Takepart. Archived from the original on July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "ELLEgirl". Elle. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
  4. ^ "Interview with Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy | LA Music Blog". lamusicblog.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Biography & Awards, Billboard.com
  6. ^ Mabillard, Amanda. "A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.1 – The lunatic, the lover, and the poet". shakespeare-online.com. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "Alison Wonderland". Chicago Tribune. October 4, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  8. ^ "Alison Sudol is One Fine Frenzy". Hollywood Sentinel. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  9. ^ see e.g. review in Monsters and Critics
  10. ^ "VH1 Original TV Shows, Reality TV Shows". VH1. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  11. ^ "A Fine Franzy – Almost Lover @ Top40-Charts.com – Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries". Top40-charts.com. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  12. ^ "A Fine Frenzy return". EMI.com. 2009. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009.
  13. ^ "One the Radar: A Fine Frenzy". DirectCurrentMusic.com. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009.
  14. ^ @AlisonSudol (October 31, 2011). "we are mastering the record today. OH MY GOODNESS. my heart is all squeezy with excitement and gratitude and love" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "A Fine Frenzy new album is called Pines". A Fine Frenzy Web. March 9, 2012. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  16. ^ "A Fine Frenzy Announces Co-Headline Fall Tour Dates With Joshua Radin". AFineFrenzy.com. August 16, 2012. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012.
  17. ^ "30 Songs / 30 Days for Half the Sky | Half The Sky". Halftheskymovement.org. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  18. ^ "Alison Sudol Says She Will No Longer Perform Under The Name A Fine Frenzy". MXDWN. June 1, 2015.
  19. ^ ""Transparent" Pilot (TV Episode 2014) - IMDb". IMDb.
  20. ^ a b Gallo, Phil (March 3, 2015). "A Fine Frenzy's Alison Sudol Digs into a Major Acting Gig, Talks Balancing Her Two Careers". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  21. ^ "Alison Sudol, "Last Call with Carson Daly"". NBC. March 6, 2015. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  22. ^ "Alison Sudol looks to a new stage". Nylon. March 5, 2015.
  23. ^ "The 7 Most Exciting Newcomers on TV this Season". Elle. January 7, 2015.
  24. ^ "'Fantastic Beasts': Alison Sudol Joins Eddie Redmayne in 'Harry Potter' Spinoff (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. July 9, 2015.
  25. ^ "Weekly Round-Up: Alison Sudol Announces New Music, Emma Watson Joins #MexicoRises Campaign & More!". the-leaky-cauldron.org. November 24, 2017.
  26. ^ "Alison Sudol". IUCN. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012.
  27. ^ "Fashion Frenzy". August 16, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  28. ^ Sudol, Alison. "Let's stand up for Antarctica". Al Jazeera. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
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