Katie Amess

Amess was born in Basildon, Essex,^[2] the second of five children and the eldest of four daughters of Conservative MP David Amess and his wife Julia Arnold.^[3]

She attended St Anne Line Primary School in Basildon before going to the Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School in Brentwood, Essex, and finally St Bernard's High School in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. She went on to study drama at Queen Mary University of London and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.^[4]

Amess competed in several British beauty pageants and won the title of Miss Essex 2008 for the Miss Earth 2008 contest.^[5][6] In the same year she also became a finalist for the Miss England competition.^[7]

She has appeared in a host of television commercials including for Nintendo, Premier Inn with Lenny Henry and News of the World, Google and EE Broadband with Kevin Bacon. She appeared as Paris Hilton in two national commercials. She has appeared on various television shows in the UK including Funny Cuts on E4 and Dream Team.^[8]

In 2013, Amess signed on to play a lead in the musical parody Miserable Lesbians in New York and Edinburgh. The show was adapted from the Oscar-winning Les Misérables.^{[citation needed]}

She was cast as Lulu in William Friedkin's version of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party at The Geffen Playhouse alongside Tim Roth, Steven Berkoff, David O'Hara, Frances Barber and Nick Ullett.^[9][10] She went on to play Ulcie in the closing week of Rolin Jones' These Paper Bullets at the same theatre in 2015.^[11]

Amess played Brenda Dixon in Ray Cooney's Cash on Delivery, alongside Cooney himself in December 2015. The performance received positive reviews: "The ensemble [..] under Cooney's keen direction are all great [...] Katie Amess as Norman's innocent, confused fiancee Brenda. There is not a flaw, not a missed cue. No one stands above anyone else. Cooney as director has gleaned a perfect sense of timing from the entire cast".^[12] "The equally looks-blessed Meire, Arcilla, and Amess prove themselves all three expert comediennes [...] Amess's delightful but dim Brenda match[es] the male costars every step of the way".^[13]

In 2016, she appeared in the film Captain America: Civil War.^[14] In 2017, she played Kendall Nagel in Bull on CBS and Sandy Weeks in Criminal Minds Beyond Borders Season 2 also on CBS.^[15] Amess played Heather in the comedy Fifth of July opposite Jaleel White and in 2023 appeared as Alex Butler, opposite Judd Nelson and Jeff Fahey in The Final Run.^[16]

Following her father's murder in 2021, it was reported that Amess had agreed to continue his work mentoring children considering politics by becoming the patron of the UK's Children's Parliament.^[17] She also expressed her belief that the government's anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent failed her father "catastrophically".^[18] Amess later revealed that her mother had suffered a stroke in the year following the murder.^[19] In response to the Home Secretary rejecting an inquiry appeal into the murder of David Amess, Katie, on her mother's behalf, described it as "unacceptable" and "insulting".^[20] After a meeting with the Prime Minister, she acknowledged disappointment that the result could not be changed but held out "hope" that it would be renewed in the future.^[21] In March 2026, Amess and her family took part with Robert Buckland leading an independent review into state failings prior to the murder.^[22]