Joanna grew up in Scone, a village in the 'heart' of Scotland. She started acting in a local youth group at the age of 7, going on to study Drama at Int. 2, Higher and Advanced Higher at The High School of Dundee. Upon graduating, she moved to Cardiff to study acting professionally at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was while training here that she was 'spotted' by casting director Emma Style and cast in her first professional role as 'Cathy' in The Runaway (2010) together with Keith Allen, Ken Stott, Alan Cumming and Jack O'Connell among other members of an excellent cast. Her solid course also includes brilliant TV works such as Stephen Poliakoff's Dancing on the Edge (2013), The Paradise (2012), Banished (2015) and One of Us (2016), as well as excellent cinema performances in What Maisie Knew (2012) and other films. The range of her acting qualities is also expressed through her stage work, which includes roles such as Lika in Aleksei Arbuzov's "The Promise" (London's Donmar Warehouse, 2012) and Milly in Richard Greenberg's "The Dazzle" (Soho Theatre, 2015-16), as well as her remarkable Shakespearean performances as Desdemona in "Othello" (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2015) and as Lady Anne in 'Richard III" (Almeida Theatre, 2016).