Clara Cleymans (born 5 January 1989) is a Belgian actress and musical theatre singer.
Early years and education She was born on 5 January 1989 in Wilrijk, as the second child of Karin Jacobs and Jan Cleymans. She has an older brother, named Jelle. She attended the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, and then the philosophy department of the University of Antwerp.
Career She began her acting career when she was 8 years old, and appeared as Klaartje in a 1997 episode of the Belgian television series Samson en Gert. Her film debut came in 1999 by appearing as Liese in De Kabouterschat. She had the same role in the following sequels as well, Plop in de Wolken (2000) and Plop en de Toverstaf (2003).
After having minor roles in various television series, she had her first leading role in the one-season VTM series Dag & Nacht: Hotel Eburon (2010) as Amber Claessens. Between 2010 and 2011, she portrayed Nina Oostvoghels, one of the main characters at that time of the Eén series Thuis. She imitated various celebrities and public figures, and had different characters in the VTM satirical series Tegen de sterren op between 2010 and 2018 . For her performances in the series, she was awarded with the Rising Star award in the Vlaamse Televisie Sterren 2011, and nominated for the Best Actress in the 2012 edition of the awards. Cleymans continued her film career with Kill Me Please (2010) and Groenten uit Balen (2011). She portrayed public prosecutor Helena De Ridder, the leading role of the four-season Eén series De Ridder (2013–2016). She was nominated for the Best Actress in the 2014 and 2015 editions of the Vlaamse Televisie Sterren, for the performances in De Ridder, and De Ridder and Tegen de sterren op respectively.
Between 2018 and 2019, she portrayed Sarah Liebman, a Jewish girl that has a love affair with a non-Jewish guy Louis Segers (Jonas Van Geel) in a dramatic musical theatre '40-'45 that set during World War II. In the Belgian comedy horror zombie movie Yummy (2019), she played the hospital director Janja, one of the leading roles in the movie. She appeared as Els and shared the main role with Rik Verheye in We moeten eens praten, the Eén mini-series that started to air in January 2021.
Personal life She married Jo Mahieu in 2014. The couple has two children, Jeanne (born 2016) and Romy (born 2019).
Filmography
+Film Year Title Role Notes 1999 De Kabouterschat Liese 2000 Plop in de Wolken Liese 2003 Plop en de Toverstaf Liese 2008 Happy Together Julie Daelemans 2010 A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures Snow Voice of the Dutch version 2010 Kill Me Please Mlle Julia 2011 Hammertime Cherry Short film 2011 Chit Chat Anna Short film 2011 Groenten uit Balen Anlice 2011 The Smurfs Smurfette Voice of the Dutch version 2013 The Smurfs 2 Smurfette Voice of the Dutch version 2016 Bottom-Up Eefje Short film 2019 Yummy Janja
+Television Year Title Role Notes 1997 Samson en Gert Klaartje Episode: "De hamster van Octaaf" 1998 Heterdaad Clara Piron Season 3 episode 6 1999 Flikken Cara Goffin Episode: "Partners" 2002 Spoed Sandie Vermeire Episode: "Stadsplannen" 2004 Rupel Rilke Goeminne Episode: "De kroon" 2006 F.C. De Kampioenen Leentje Episode: "De eerste prijs" 2006 Aspe Tania Janssen Episode: "Kinderen van de nacht" 2006–2007 De Kavijaks Episodes: "Marcella" and "Belinda" 2008 Vermist Isabelle Maes Episode: "Baby Alisha" 2010 F.C. De Kampioenen Fien Episode: "Bella Africa" 2010 Dag & Nacht: Hotel Eburon Amber Claessens 12 episodes 2010 Witse Sienna Episode: "Klare Lijn" 2010–2011 Thuis Nina Oostvoghels 159 episodes 2010–2018 Tegen de sterren op Various roles and imitations 88 episodes 2011 Mega Mindy Natalia Tkofschip Episode: "De Bompiano" 2011 Code 37 Vicky Renders 13 episodes 2011 Zonde van de zendtijd Inspecteur de Babe Season 3 episode 8 2011 Quiz Me Quick Monica 10 episodes 2012 Aspe Brenda Schepens / Dorothy Kahn Episode: "Lüger" 2013–2016 De Ridder Helena De Ridder 48 episodes 2018 Connie & Clyde 2 Wendy / Wanda Episode: "Wendy weet van Wanda" 2019–2020 Dit zijn wij Fiona Maas 4 episodes 2021 We moeten eens praten Els2021Hidden AssetsCarolyn3 episodes2021MatchLaura10 episodes
+Stage Year Title Role Notes 1999 Assepoester Young Assepoester Musical 2001 Kuifje: De zonnetempel Zorrinho Musical 2011 De Koepoort 15 Sara 2011–2012 Fiddler on the Roof Chava Musical 2013 Diep in mij Yasmine 2014 Costa Blanca 2015 Figaro Rosine/Contessa 2016–2017 Club 27 2017 Our Mutual Friend (Onze Wederzijdse Vriend) Lizzie/Venuz 2017 Kleinkunsteiland 2018 Così Despina Musical 2018–2019 '40-'45 Sarah Liebman Musical 2019 Les Enfants du Paradis Garance
Awards and nominations AwardCeremony dateCategoryWorkResult Vlaamse Televisie Sterren 25 February 2011 Rising Star Tegen de sterren op 24 March 2012 Best Actress Tegen de sterren op 15 March 2014 Best Actress De Ridder 18 April 2015 Best Actress De Ridder, Tegen de sterren op
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