Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s. Beginning her career as a child actor, including the Rod Steiger film Hennessy (1975), Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She then went on to appear in the films The Great Gatsby (1974), Gold (1974), Alfie Darling (1975), The Blue Bird (1976) and Hanover Street (1979). Balancing a dual career as both an actress and a singer, in 1983, Kensit formed and became the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder. The group produced several successful singles including “I’m Not Scared” and “Cross My Heart” before their split in 1989.

Kensit achieved further success in her breakthrough role as Suzette in the musical film Absolute Beginners (1986) and as Rika van den Haas in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) before starring in the films Blue Tornado (1991), Timebomb (1991), Twenty-One (1991), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Bitter Harvest (1993), Full Eclipse (1993), Angels & Insects (1995), Love and Betrayal (1995) and Grace of My Heart (1996).

Following a return to television, between 2004 and 2006, Kensit played the role of Sadie King in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and following that, she played Faye Morton in the BBC One medical drama Holby City from 2007 until 2010, and for an episode in 2019. Since 2023, she has played Emma Harding in EastEnders. Kensit has been married to musicians Dan Donovan, Jim Kerr, Liam Gallagher and Jeremy Healy.

Kensit was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in Hanover Street (1979). In 1991, she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead in Twenty-One (1991), and later had several nominations for her role in Emmerdale.

Kensit was born on 4 March 1968, at the General Lying-In Hospital, Lambeth, to James and Margaret Rose Kensit (née Doohan). Kensit’s maternal grandparents hailed from County Leitrim, Ireland. She has an older brother, Jamie, born in 1963. Her mother was a secretary at Dior and former model, who had previously dated Aga Khan IV, while Kensit’s father was a close associate of both the Kray Twins and the Richardson Gang, earning himself the nickname “Jimmy the Dip”, and was involved in the Great Train Robbery. He served time in prison before Kensit was born and used a cover as an antiques dealer. Kensit’s godfather was Reggie Kray. Her paternal grandfather was a robber and counterfeiter. Kensit spent her childhood living on a council estate in Hounslow and had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Kensit attended Newland House School, St Catherine’s School, Twickenham, and Corona Theatre School.

In 1972, at the age of four, Kensit appeared in a television advert for Birds Eye frozen peas. She had her first big-screen role in the film For the Love of Ada. Her next film role was two years later in The Great Gatsby, with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, the latter of whom she portrayed in the 1995 biopic, Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story. Later in 1974, she had a small role in the thriller film Gold alongside Roger Moore and Susannah York. She then starred in Alfie Darling (1975) with Joan Collins. Following that, Kensit had a leading role in the 1976 Soviet-American co-production, The Blue Bird, and she struck up a friendship with actress and co-star Elizabeth Taylor. In 1979, Kensit starred in the war-romance film Hanover Street, opposite Harrison Ford and Christopher Plummer. She was nominated for Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a Motion Picture at the Young Artist Awards for her role in the film.

In the early 1980s, Kensit began to appear regularly in films. In 1981, she starred as Estella in the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. An important role was Lady Margaret Plantagenet in the 1982 BBC Television Shakespeare production of Richard III. In the same year, she starred as the title character in the Walt Disney episode The Adventures of Pollyanna.

In 1983, she starred as the leading character in the TV series Luna. The following year she starred in the children’s play The Prattling Princess. In 1985, she starred in the films Silas Marner and The Corsican Brothers. In 1983, with her brother Jamie Kensit, she helped set up the band Eighth Wonder, which included Steve Grantley and Geoff Beauchamp. In 1985, Kensit pursued a dual career as a singer and an actress. She starred as Eppie in an adaptation of Silas Marner, with Ben Kingsley. At the time, Kensit stated: “All I want is to be more famous than anything or anyone”. In 1986, she won the lead female role in the film version of Absolute Beginners, based on the book by Colin MacInnes. In November 1987, she sang a duet with the Italian singer and songwriter Eros Ramazzotti, entitled La luce buona delle stelle (“The Good Light of the Stars”).