Justine Waddell (born November 4, 1976) is a South African-born actress.
Waddell was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her mother, Cathy (née Gallagher), is a South African-born fashion designer who also operated a small shop in Soweto. Her father, Gordon H. Waddell, is a Scottish-born progressive member of Parliament, director of Anglo American PLC, and a former captain of the Scottish rugby team. Waddell moved with her family to Scotland when she was eleven. Some four years later they moved to London.
She is the only member of her family to take up a career in acting. She read Social and Political Science at Emmanuel College, Cambridge who allowed her to take time off from her studies to pursue her career.
Waddell has divided her work between theatre, film and TV productions. Amongst her most well-known roles to date have been her portrayal of Natalie Wood in The Mystery of Natalie Wood, a made-for-television film in 2004, her critically acclaimed performance as Sasha opposite Ralph Fiennes and Bill Paterson in z London production of Ivanov (1997), Tess in Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998), Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park (1999), Nina in a 1999 The Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Seagull by Chekhov, Estella in Great Expectations (1999) and Molly Gibson in the television mini-series Wives and Daughters (1999).
In 2002 she starred in the little known British film The One and Only, a comedy set in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2006 she played in the movie The Fall as Princess Evelyn.
