Brooke Kinsella (born 17 July 1983) is a British actress, author and anti-knife crime campaigner. A graduate of the Anna Scher Theatre School, Kinsella has been acting since childhood. She has had various roles on television and in film. Her most notable role is that of Kelly Taylor, who featured in BBC's long-running soap opera, EastEnders, between 2001 and 2004. She has her own drama school called True Stars Academy. Kinsella's family made headlines in the British press in 2008 following the murder of her half-brother, Ben, who was stabbed to death in June 2008. After his death, hundreds of people protested along with Kinsella over knife fatalities in London. Career Kinsella attended the Maria Fidelis RC Convent School in Camden. Prompted by her mother, who wanted to encourage her to take up a hobby she enjoyed, Kinsella attended the Anna Scher Theatre School at the age of 6, and stayed there until she was 16. She made her television debut at the age of 7 in the BBC children's series Mud and has appeared in a variety of other TV productions, including Coming Home. As well as appearing in an episode of the BBC series Sunburn in 2000, she has also appeared in the entirely unrelated music video "Sunburn" by British rock band, Muse. Film credits include the Channel 4 film Kid In The Corner (1999), about a child with ADHD, and the controversial ITV film No Child of Mine (1997), in which she played a young girl subjected to systematic sexual abuse. In 2002, Kinsella appeared as Liz Chambers in ITV1's cop show The Bill, playing a teenage runaway. Her character is later the first victim of the original Sun Hill Serial Killer. Her stage credits include School Play at Soho Theatre (2001) and a rehearsed reading of Skyvers by Barry Reckord at the Royal Court Theatre in 2006. Before securing the role of Kelly Taylor in EastEnders, Kinsella had auditioned for the parts of Zoe Slater, Janine Butcher and Sonia Jackson, but was unsuccessful. Kinsella completed the first year of a degree in English, Media and Drama at Buckinghamshire New University before joining the cast of EastEnders. She joined the show for a brief stint in 2001, before returning as a full-time cast member from 2002 to 2004. During her time on the soap opera, Brooke's character weathered prostitution, relationship break-ups and confusion over her sexual identity