Hannah Dominique John-Kamen (born 7 September 1989) is a British actress. She is known for her television roles in Black Mirror (2011–2016), Killjoys (2015–2019), Brave New World (2020), and Netflix miniseries The Stranger (2020), and has portrayed Ava Starr / Ghost in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She has also starred in various films including SAS: Red Notice (2021), Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and Unwelcome (2023).
Early life Hannah John-Kamen was born in Hull, the daughter of a Norwegian fashion model mother and a Nigerian forensic psychologist father. She has an older brother and an older sister. She attended primary school in nearby Kirk Ella, received her secondary education at Hull Collegiate School, and trained at the National Youth Theatre. John-Kamen moved to London at the age of 18. In 2012, she graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career John-Kamen began her career in 2011, providing voice work for the video game Dark Souls. She went on to make appearances in episodes of television series Misfits (2011), Black Mirror (2011), Whitechapel (2012), The Syndicate (2012), The Midnight Beast (2012) and The Hour (2012).
From 11 December 2012 to 29 June 2013, she took the lead role of Viva in the Spice Girls-themed West End musical Viva Forever! The musical premiered at the Piccadilly Theatre to largely negative reviews. The Daily Mirror, however, praised John-Kamen's performance and called it a "shame" that she and the rest of the cast were "let down by a clichéd plot and leaden dialogue". In 2014, she had a guest role in an episode of Death in Paradise and a recurring role in Happy Valley. The following year, John-Kamen started in two television series penned by Russell T Davies, Cucumber and its sequel Banana.
In 2015, John-Kamen made her film debut in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and had a main starring role in the SyFy space adventure series Killjoys and remained in the show until its final episode in 2019. In 2016, she had a guest-star role as Ornela in the HBO series Game of Thrones. That year, she appeared in the Black Mirror episode "Playtest" and an episode of The Tunnel.
John-Kamen's next film role was in Tomb Raider in 2018. Later that year she starred in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. Addressing John-Kamen's role in the film, Kristen Tauer wrote, "While much of Ready Player One takes place in a virtual reality world, Hannah John-Kamen's character is unique in that she is rooted in the reality throughout the film." That same year, John-Kamen played Ava Starr / Ghost in the superhero film Ant-Man and the Wasp. In 2021, John-Kamen starred in the action-thriller film SAS: Red Notice and portrayed Jill Valentine in the reboot film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. She was cast as Red Sonja in the upcoming film by the same name from Millennium Films but reportedly left the project for unknown reasons.
In 2023, John-Kamen starred in the folk horror film Unwelcome alongside Douglas Booth. In 2025, John-Kamen starred opposite Lucien Laviscount in the action film Safe House, and reprised her role as Ava Starr / Ghost in Thunderbolts* (2025); it was announced that same year that she would also reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
Personal life John-Kamen enjoys playing the piano and is trained in various styles of dance such as ballet, cabaret, jazz, salsa and tap.
Filmography
Film Year Title RoleNotes 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens First Order Officer 2018 Tomb Raider Sophie Ready Player One F'Nale Zandor Ant-Man and the Wasp Ava Starr / Ghost2021 SAS: Red Notice Dr. Sophie Hart Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City Jill Valentine2023 Unwelcome Maya Breaking Point Kate2025 Thunderbolts* Ava Starr / Ghost Safe House Agent Owens 2026 Ava Starr / Ghost Post-production TBA Makalya Post-production
Television Year Title RoleNotes 2011 Misfits Carly 1 episode 2011Black Mirror Selma Telse Episodes: "Fifteen Million Merits" 2012 Whitechapel Roxy 2 episodes The Syndicate Young Shop Assistant 1 episode The Midnight Beast Pizza Girl 1 episode The Hour Rosa Maria Ramírez 4 episodes2014 Death in Paradise Yasmin Blake 1 episode Happy Valley Justine 4 episodes2015 Cucumber Violet 2 episodes The Ark Nahlab Television film Banana Violet 2 episodes 2015–2019 Killjoys Yalena "Dutch" Yardeen Main role, 50 episodes2016 The Tunnel: Sabotage Rosa Persaud 5 episodes Game of Thrones Ornela Episodes: "Oathbreaker" and "Book of the Stranger"Black Mirror Sonja Episode: "Playtest" 2019 The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Naia (voice) Recurring role, 5 episodes2020 The Stranger The Stranger Miniseries, 8 episodes Brave New World Wilhelmina "Helm" Watson Main role, 9 episodes
Stage Year Title RoleNotes 20122013 Viva Forever! Viva Piccadilly Theatre
Video games Year Title RoleNotes 2011 Dark Souls Lord's Blade CiaranVoice 2014 Dark Souls II Sweet ShalquoirVoice
Music videos Year Artist Title 2015 The Chemical Brothers "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted" 2019 Sun Silva "Just the Romantic"
References
External links