Top 40 Rising British Stars for 2013
40 of the best up and coming actresses who are tipped for the top this year
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Andrea Louise Riseborough is an English actress and producer. She made her film debut with a small part in Venus (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), Never Let Me Go, Brighton Rock, Made in Dagenham (all 2010), W.E. (2011), Shadow Dancer, Disconnect (both 2012), Welcome to the Punch, Oblivion (both 2013), Birdman (2014), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Battle of the Sexes, The Death of Stalin (both 2017), Mandy, Nancy (both 2018), The Grudge and Possessor (both 2020).I'm not sure that Andrea's star can rise any higher, but I'd really like to see her take the lead in a big Hollywood movie this year. Riseborough is a rare talent, whose performances continue to haunt you long after the credits have rolled. Shadow Dancer was simply phenomenal.- Actress
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Felicity Rose Hadley Jones is an English actress and producer. Jones started her professional acting career as a child, appearing at age 12 in The Treasure Seekers (1996). She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series in the television show The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College. After Kings Norton Girls School, Jones attended King Edward VI Handsworth School, to complete A Levels and went on to take a gap year (during which she appeared in the BBC series Servants (2003)). She took time off from acting to attend school during her formative years, and has worked steadily since she graduated with a 2:1 from Wadham College, Oxford in 2006, where she read English. While studying English, she appeared in student plays, including Attis in which she played the title role, and, in 2005, Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" for the OUDS summer tour to Japan, starring alongside Harry Lloyd.
On radio, she is known for playing the long-running role of Emma Grundy in The Archers. In 2008, she appeared in the Donmar Warehouse production of The Chalk Garden. Since 2006, Jones has appeared in numerous films, including Northanger Abbey (2007), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Chéri (2009), and The Tempest (2010). She stars in Star Wars spin-off Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Jyn Erso. Her performance in the 2011 film Like Crazy (2011) was met with critical acclaim garnering her numerous awards, including a special jury prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, her performance as Jane Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014) was also met with critical acclaim, garnering her nominations for the Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and Academy Award for Best Actress.
In 2019, Jones founded her own production company, Piecrust Productions with her brother, Alex Jones.Felicity graduated in 2006with a 2:1 (Second-class Honours, upper division) in English from Wadham College, Oxford, where she'd acted in a few student plays. Since then Felicity has not stopped working, becoming one of Britain's hottest properties. 2013 is the year that I think that she'll really be making big movies.- Actress
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Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is an English actress. She studied acting at the Liverpool John Moores University and the Oxford School of Drama and made her screen debut in the pilot of the supernatural comedy series Being Human, in 2008. Following her professional stage debut at the Royal National Theatre, she played the title role in the BBC One miniseries Little Dorrit (2008), and made her film debut in the American historical fantasy drama Season of the Witch (2011). Following leading roles in the television series The Promise (2011) and Crossbones (2014), Foy received praise for portraying the ill-fated queen Anne Boleyn in the miniseries Wolf Hall (2015).
Foy gained international recognition for portraying the young Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown (2016-2017), for which she won a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, among other awards. In 2018, she starred in Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller Unsane and portrayed Janet Shearon, wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong, in Damien Chazelle's biopic First Man. For the latter, she was nominated for the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Foy was born in Stockport. She has said that her mother, Caroline, comes from "a massive Irish family". Her maternal grandparents were from Dublin and Kildare, respectively. She grew up in Manchester and Leeds, the youngest of three children. Her family later moved to Longwick, Buckinghamshire, for her father's job as a salesman for Rank Xerox. Her parents divorced when she was eight.
Foy attended Aylesbury High School, a girls' grammar school, from the age of twelve; she then attended Liverpool John Moores University, studying drama and screen studies. She also trained in a one-year course at the Oxford School of Drama. She graduated in 2007 and moved to Peckham to share a house "with five friends from drama school".Considered one of Nylon magazine's top faces in 2010, Claire seems to have dropped off the radar somewhat, but she is a really great actress, who has that rare ability to play a range of ages and characters, as proved in White Heat when she played a girl from 16 to 40.- Actress
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Alexandra Roach was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire in Wales and was already a veteran of the Welsh television soap 'Pobol Y Cwm' by her early teens. In 2003 whilst studying for her GCSE exams at the local comprehensive school she learned that she had beaten out players in national soaps to win the award for the best juvenile actor in a soap at the Children in Entertainment Awards. Leaving 'Pobl Y Cwm' in 2005 she spent time with the National Youth Theatre of Wales before going on to R.A.D.A. from where she graduated with a B.A, in acting in 2010. A number of high profile roles followed including television series and the role of the younger Margaret Thatcher in the biopic 'The Iron Lady' with Meryl Streep.Already doing a great mixture of TV and film, Alexandra has worked with some of the top names in the industry, including the actors' dream that is Meryl Streep. Not bad for a little girl from the valleys!- Actress
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Born in London, England, Hayley Elizabeth Atwell has dual citizenship of the United Kingdom and the United States. An only child, Hayley was named after actress Hayley Mills. Her parents, Alison (Cain) and Grant Atwell, both motivational speakers, met at a London workshop of Dale Carnegie's self-help bible "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Her mother is English (with Irish ancestry) and her father is American; he was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and is partly of Native-American descent (his Native American name is Star Touches Earth). Her parents divorced when she was age two. Her father returned to America and Hayley remained with her mother in London, but she spent her summers in Missouri with her father. Hayley's mother saw theater as an important communal experience, so she was introduced to theater from a young age. At age 11, she had memorable trip to see Ralph Fiennes playing Hamlet. She would later work with him on The Duchess (2008).
She went to Sion-Manning Roman Catholic Girl's School in West London where she excelled academically. She took her A-levels at the London Oratory School. She took two years out of her education, traveling with her father and working for a casting director. In 2005, she graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a degree in Acting. Hayley began her career with parts on a few BBC television productions. Her first big break came in the television miniseries, The Line of Beauty (2006). The following year, she got her first film role in How About You (2007). She followed this with Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007). Her breakthrough role came four years later as British agent Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).The thinking man's crumpet, Hayley Atwell is sophisticated, mature and intelligent in her performances. It looks as though we'll be seeing a lot more of her on our screens this coming year.- Actress
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Romola Garai was born on 6th August 1982. She is an English actress-writer-director who has worked extensively on film, television and theatre. As an actress she is known for her performances in films such as Atonement (2007), Angel (2007), I Capture the Castle (2003) and (Suffragette). On television her work includes her BAFTA nominated performance in The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), The Hour (2012), Born to Kill (2017) and The Miniaturist (2017). As a director her work includes the Sundance Best International Short Film nominated Scrubber. her debut feature, the horror film Amulet, will premiere in the Midnight Madness section at Sundance 2020.Romola (whose name I still can't pronounce) seems to give fantastic performance after performance. I feel that she will be one of the greats in years to come, with a longevity of career similar to Maggie Smith or Judi Dench.- Actress
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Lily Jane Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England. Her father is English musician Phil Collins, while her mother, Jill Tavelman, who is from Los Angeles, California, was president of the Beverly Hills Women's Club for three terms. Lily moved with her mother to LA at the age of five, after her parents split up. She is of Russian Jewish (from her maternal grandfather), English, and German descent.
Her first screen role was at the age of two in the BBC series Growing Pains, in 1992. Collins performed at the Youth Academy for Dramatic Arts as a child, but her main interest was journalism. She graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School, and attended the USC, where she majored in broadcast journalism. She began writing a column ("NY Confidential") for the British magazine Elle Girl in her teens as well as contributing to Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times magazines.
After some early television appearances as a presenter/reporter (for instance, covering the 2008 US Presidential campaign as a host on the Nickelodeon show, Kids Pick the President (2000)), she made a couple of appearances on 90210 (2008) in 2009. She co-starred as the daughter of Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock's characters in the massive box office hit The Blind Side (2009). More dramatic roles followed, and she came to worldwide attention when she played the starring role in Mirror Mirror (2012), following it up by headlining The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and Love, Rosie (2014).Daughter of Phil, but a fabulous actress in her own right. Not to mention those brows! Has taken the lead in Snow White, and has several big-budget movies under her belt and coming up, but this will be the year that Lily really makes her name.- Actress
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Jessie Cave studied Illustration and Animation at Kingston University, London, and worked backstage in various theatres before deciding to pursue acting.
She got a place at RADA to study Stage Management, but after watching some actors in rehearsal rooms she changed her mind and applied to drama school. She was ready to go to The Oxford School of Drama when she got the part in Harry Potter.An oddball by her own admission, Jessie Cave is a great character actress. Had a great little part in Great Expectations, her own stand up show is really very funny. Check out pindippy.com if you haven't before.- Actress
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Rebecca Hall was born in London, England, the daughter of Peter Hall, a stage director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Maria Ewing, an opera singer. Her father was English. Her mother, who is American, is of Dutch and African-American origin. Her parents separated when she was still young, and they divorced in 1990. She has a half-brother, Edward Hall, who is a theatre director, and four other half-siblings, including theatre designer Lucy Hall, veteran TV drama producer Christopher Hall, and Jennifer Caron Hall, a writer and painter.So much more than just part of a theatrical dynasty, Rebecca takes centre stage in everything that she does. She has had some big parts so far, I hope that this year brings more.- Holliday Clark Grainger also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series Roger and the Rottentrolls, Lucrezia Borgia in the Showtime series The Borgias, Robin Ellacott in Strike, DI Rachel Carey in the BBC One crime drama The Capture and Estella in Mike Newell's adaptation of Great Expectations.Working on the Borgias at the moment, Holliday is rapidly becoming a household name. Watch out!
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Alice Sophia Eve was born in London, England. Her father is Trevor Eve and her mother is Sharon Maughan, both fellow actors. She is the eldest of three children. Eve has English, Irish and Welsh ancestry. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California when she was young as her father tried to crack the American market. However, they returned to the United Kingdom when she was age 13.
She attended a school in Chichester for a year, whilst her mother appeared in a play. She then moved to Bedales School, where she first started acting in "Les Misérables" and "Twelfth Night". She took her A-Levels at Westminster School in London. She took a gap year before starting the university to study at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Afterwards, she returned to the United Kingdom to read English at St. Catherine's College, Oxford University. While at the university, she appeared in student productions of "An Ideal Husband", "Animal Crackers" (which toured to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), "Scenes from an Execution" and "The Colour of Justice".
Alice appeared in television dramas as well as two plays by Trevor Nunn and the play "Rock 'n' Roll" by Tom Stoppard. She got her first film role in Starter for 10 (2006) with James McAvoy and followed that with the film Big Nothing (2006) alongside Simon Pegg. In 2006, she went to India to shoot the British miniseries Losing Gemma (2006). Alice was introduced to American audiences in the film Crossing Over (2009). Her first high-profile role was in the sequel Sex and the City 2 (2010), where she played Charlotte York's Irish nanny. She also played the female lead role in She's Out of My League (2010), where her parents also played her character's parents.Alice seems to have been all over the papers lately, and I can't exactly say that I'm sure why. She's a great actress but hasn't actually worked in her own right for some time. I hope that she manages to get some film roles as strong as Starter for Ten as it would be a real waste if she were to fall into the trap of becoming tabloid fodder because of her father's name.- Actress
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Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at her school, Charleston Academy.
At age 16, Karen decided she wanted to pursue her acting career further and, studied under the renowned theatre director Scott Johnston at the Performing Arts Studio Scotland. She later attended the prestigious Italia Conti Academy in London. During her first year, she landed a role on Rebus (2000) and soon appeared in a variety of programs including Channel 4's Stacked (2008) and The Kevin Bishop Show (2008), as well as a two-year stint on the long-running series Doctor Who (2005). Karen also stars in the film Outcast (2010), starring James Nesbitt. Her most recent starring role is as Eliza Dooley on the situation comedy Selfie (2014).Everyone's favourite flame-haired vixen, Karen is still finding her post Doctor Who feet, but when she does, I think we'd all better watch out!- Actress
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Jessica Brown Findlay is an English actress. She is known for Emelia Conan-Doyle in the British comedy-drama Albatross (2011), Winter's Tale (2014), This Beautiful Fantastic (2016) and Lady Sybil Crawley in ITV's Downton Abbey (2010). She also starred in the TV series Misfits (2009) and mini-series Labyrinth (2012). In 2011, she starred in the Black Mirror (2011) episode, Fifteen Million Merits (2011). "Albatross" was her film debut.
Jessica was born in Cookham, Berkshire, to Beverley, a teacher's aide and nurse, and Christopher Brown-Findlay, who works in finance. She is of Scottish, English, and Irish descent. Jessica trained with the National Youth Ballet and the Associates of the Royal Ballet. At age fifteen, she was invited to dance with the Kirov at the Royal Opera House for a summer season.Having caused a rumpus with her shock Downton Abbey exit, Jessica Brown Findlay is the hottest word on everyone's lips. Beautiful girl!- Actress
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British actress Emilia Clarke was born in London and grew up in Oxfordshire, England. Her father was a theatre sound engineer and her mother is a businesswoman. Her father was working on a theatre production of "Show Boat" and her mother took her along to the performance. This is when, at the age of 3, her passion for acting began. From 2000 to 2005, she attended St. Edward's School of Oxford, where she appeared in two school plays. She went on to study acting at the prestigious Drama Centre London, where she took part in 10 plays. During this time, Emilia first appeared on television with a guest role in the BBC soap opera Doctors (2000).
In 2010, after graduating from the Drama Centre London, Emilia got her first film role in the television movie Triassic Attack (2010). In 2011, her breakthrough role came in when she replaced fellow newcomer Tamzin Merchant on Game of Thrones (2011) after the filming of the original pilot episode. From March to April 2013, she played Holly Golightly in a Broadway production of "Breakfast at Tiffany's". She played Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys (2015), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney and Jason Clarke. She played the lead role of Louisa Clark in the romantic comedy blockbuster Me Before You (2016) and went on to star in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) as Qi'ra.
Since her rise to prominence, Emilia has contributed to various charitable organisations. In 2018, she was named as the ambassador to the Royal College of Nursing because of her efforts in raising awareness about the working condition of the nurses in the UK. In 2019, she was named as the first ambassador for the global Nursing Now campaign. In 2019, in a personal essay published in The New Yorker, Emilia revealed that she had suffered from two life threatening brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013. She launched her own charity SameYou in 2019, which aims to broaden neurorehabilitation access for young people after a brain injury or stroke.As Game of Thrones rolls into its 3rd season, Emilia still continues to be the main reason that I tune into this show. Looking forward to what happens to Degeneris!- Actress
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Lenora Crichlow was born on 4 January 1985 in Westminster, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Fast Girls (2012), Sugar Rush (2005) and Being Human (2008).Urban, edgy, Lenora has a raw realness that really translates to her work. Her performance in Fast Girls was a personal highlight.- Actress
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Natalie Dormer born February 11, 1982 is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Anne Boleyn on the Showtime series The Tudors (2007-10), as Margaery Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones (2012-14), Irene Adler on the CBS series Elementary (2013-15), and as Cressida in the science-fiction adventure films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015). She has been nominated for Best Performance at the Gemini Awards for her work in The Tudors. She has also been nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award for her performance in Game of Thrones.That cheeky grin! Natalie stole the show in the Tudors, but has yet to have her really big break. Her Webber Douglas Training should set her in good stead though.- Egerton attended Ditcham Park School near Petersfield in Hampshire, where she says she was bullied. She also states she truanted, preferring to go to modeling shoots. After finishing school at 16 with nine A-grade GCSEs, Egerton decided to pursue acting rather than going to university. She had a brief job as a babysitter for three children. She previously shared a flat in Marylebone, Central London, with her St. Trinian's (2007) castmate, Talulah Riley, whom she described as her "soulmate". She lived in Hampstead with theatre producer Jamie Hendry.
She has cited Takeshi Kitano as her favourite film director.An actress and model with legs to die for, Tamsin has the rare charm of being both beautiful AND talented. Her performance in Chalet Girl was second to none. All the girls want to be her, all the boys want to be with her! - Kaya Rose Scodelario was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, to Katia (Scodelario) and Roger Humphrey. Her father was English and her mother is Brazilian, of Italian and Portuguese descent. Her surname comes from her mother's Italian grandfather. Thanks to her mother, Kaya grew up fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, as well as English. At the age of fourteen, she auditioned for Skins (2007), the debut series for new channel E4 that would become known for casting real teenagers like her, who had no professional acting experience, rather than experienced adult actors. She won the role of "Effy Stonem" and joined the show in January 2007. After an challenging debut in which she never spoke, Scodelario and Effy made quite an impression on viewers. At the forefront of many disasters, including stalkers, death, and sexual pressures, Effy became a fan favorite for her ability to resolve testing life situations while keeping her head above water. As the character and the role grew, Scodelario enjoyed depicting what she described as the realistic trials and challenges Effy faced with friendships, relationships, and adolescence. After two seasons of Skins (2007), the series endured an overhaul at the end of 2007. Feeling that most of the characters had run their course, the writers wrote out every character except Effy. This put significantly more pressure on Scodelario because it meant that she would be the most recognizable face for season three. As she waited for the new season of Skins (2007) to begin, she took advantage of her recent clout to seek out additional career opportunities. She joined the elite agency Models 1 and soon was featured as the cover model for SuperSuper Magazine. She made her feature film debut with a role in Moon (2009), starring Sam Rockwell as an astronaut suffering from surreal encounters while on the moon. With a blossoming film career and her successful TV series to fall back on, Kaya Scodelario is certainly someone to watch.Haunting as Effie, moving as Cathy, Kaya can do no wrong. Her exotic beauty is a result of her Portugese heritage, and I can't WAIT to see what I can spot her in this year.
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Tuppence Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is an English actress. She was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer. Since 2015, she portrays Riley Blue in the Netflix webseries Sense8.
She has appeared in feature films such as Tormented (2009), Chatroom (2010), Cleanskin (2012), Trance (2013), The Lady Vanishes (2013), The Imitation Game (2014), and Jupiter Ascending (2015), as well as in television series such as Bones (2008), New Tricks (2010), Friday Night Dinner (2011), Sinbad (2012), Spies of Warsaw (2013), Black Mirror (2013), and Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2017).
She starred in two British period dramas screened around the same time, Dickensian (2015-16), playing Miss Havisham, and War & Peace (2016), in which she played Russian princess and villain Hélène Kuragina.
Tuppence Middleton was born on 21 February 1987 in Bristol, England, to Nigel and Tina Middleton. She was named "Tuppence" after the childhood nickname her grandmother gave to her mother. She was raised in Clevedon, Somerset, with older brother Josh (now frontman of heavy metal band Sylosis, and lead guitarist of Architects) and older sister Angel.
She attended Bristol Grammar School, an independent day school where she was involved in school plays, including Guys and Dolls, in which she played the lead role. She also attended Stagecoach, a performing arts school in Portishead. She appeared in local drama productions, including a pantomime at the Princes Hall, Clevedon, with her sister.
She subsequently studied acting at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, earning an honours degree in acting.
Middleton gained a following for her appearance in the 2009 British horror/comedy Tormented. Her character, head girl Justine Fielding, dates one of the most popular boys in school, only to find that he and his friends were responsible for a classmate's death. She has also appeared in adverts for the chewing gum Extra and Sky TV.
In 2010 she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer and she starred in Samuel Abrahams's BAFTA-nominated short film "Connect". In 2011, she played the character Tanya Greene in the British sitcom Friday Night Dinner, and Sarah in Sirens. In 2012 she appeared in Cleanskin, a terrorist thriller. In March 2013 she made her professional theatre debut in The Living Room. She also played a minor role in the Danny Boyle film Trance. In 2015, she starred in the Netflix Original Series Sense8 as Riley Blue.
She starred in the 2016 BBC drama War & Peace, playing Russian aristocrat Princess Hélène Kuragina. The series received critical acclaim and featured fellow young actress Lily James also known for her period dramas. The Daily Express said: "Rising star Tuppence Middleton takes on the role of the delightfully evil Hélène Kuragina, who is one half of the incestuous duo. Audiences witnessed her brother getting a little too intimate with his sibling in the first episode before she turned her attentions to Pierre and dug her claws into him. She is a vile character who will use and abuse Pierre without giving him a second thought." Andrew Davies, who adapted War and Peace, described Middleton's Hélène as "the naughtiest woman on TV at the moment".Been one to watch for a while, it looks like Tuppence is finally getting her breaks. Nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards 2010 for Most Promising Newcomer, I particularly enjoyed her performance in Chatroom.- Brittany Ashworth is an English actress, best known for her roles as Kelly in The Ledge, Sister Vaduva in Peter Safran's The Crucifixion and Juliet in Hostile.
Ashworth began her career in British television, with period roles including Miriam Leivers in Sons and Lovers and Cathy in Wuthering Heights. She juggled acting with her studies, and at 18 won a place to study English Language and Literature at Oxford University. She starred the Warner Bros film Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution, in BIFA and Raindance winning Exhibit A, and was cast as Sister Vaduva in The Crucifixion. This led to director Xavier Gens casting her as the lead in his next feature Hostile; opposite Gregory Fitoussi. Ashworth won several best actress awards for this role.One of my top tips for this year, Brittany put in a brilliant performance in Exhibit A, demonstrating real emotional depth. She has just graduated from Oxford so I look forward to seeing what this year brings for her. - Actress
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Talulah Riley is an English actress. She has appeared in films such as Pride & Prejudice (2005), St. Trinian's (2007), The Boat That Rocked (2009) and Inception (2010).
She made her stage debut in The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic in 2005. Her television credits include episodes of Poirot (Five Little Pigs (2003)), Marple (The Moving Finger (2006)), Doctor Who (Silence in the Library (2008) and Forest of the Dead (2008)) and the HBO television series Westworld (2016).Fresh from her paypal divorce, Talulah seems to be back with a vengeance. I hope to see her do something to top St Trinian's.- Actress
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Olivia has appeared in over 100 productions since the age of seven. She is the youngest of four sisters and grew up in Hounslow, London. Her first ever big role, was playing alongside Cilla Black in the 1991 production of Robin Prince of Sherwood. Since then, she has starred in five stage productions, three films and more than ten television hit shows including The Bill, Holby City and Granada TV's smash hit show, Girls in Love. The CITV show was taken from the novels of Jacqueline Wilson and Olivia was delighted to play the main character Ellie, though her new found fame is something she is still getting used to. Her mother, who runs the Saturday Drama School, called 'All Expressions', in Teddington, tried to distract her from becoming an actress, but Olivia's determination to perform could not be taken away. She then began training at her mum's school when she was 11 and there gained the confidence she needed to break out into acting.I have loved Olivia since Cranford. With a transfixing beauty and eye-catching colourings there is something truly watchable about this girl.- Actress
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Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at her school, Charleston Academy.
At age 16, Karen decided she wanted to pursue her acting career further and, studied under the renowned theatre director Scott Johnston at the Performing Arts Studio Scotland. She later attended the prestigious Italia Conti Academy in London. During her first year, she landed a role on Rebus (2000) and soon appeared in a variety of programs including Channel 4's Stacked (2008) and The Kevin Bishop Show (2008), as well as a two-year stint on the long-running series Doctor Who (2005). Karen also stars in the film Outcast (2010), starring James Nesbitt. Her most recent starring role is as Eliza Dooley on the situation comedy Selfie (2014).Everyone's favourite flame-haired vixen, lets see what the post Doctor Who world has to offer this girl! Can't wait.- Actress
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Tamzin Merchant is a British born actress, writer and director. She grew up in Dubai and was cast in her first professional role as Georgiana Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005). She attended The University of Cambridge to read Education Studies and continued to develop her career as an actor alongside her studies.
Merchant has starred in period dramas ranging from the Tudor period (The Tudors (2007)) right through to the 1940s (Murder on the Home Front (2013)) and in many contemporary productions. She also appears as Imogen Spurnrose in Amazon's Carnival Row (2019).
She has written and directed four short films, all of which have picked up awards on the indie festival circuit.Tamzin is slowly working her way through the television and film channels, and finally getting there. You can't say that this girl hasn't tried!- Actress
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Hannah Murray is an English actress known for portraying Gilly in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) and Cassie Ainsworth in the E4 teen drama series Skins (2007), from 2007 to 2008 (and again in 2013). In 2014, Murray starred in God Help the Girl (2014). In 2015, she played Sara in the Danish film Bridgend (2015).
Hannah was born in Bristol, England. Her father is a University professor and her mother is a research technician in the same field. When she was a teenager she began taking drama lessons, and she fell for acting. At the age of sixteen, Hannah decided to pursue acting and she auditioned for Skins (2007), the debut series for new channel E4. She won the role of Cassie Ainsworth, a gentle, "spacey", yet self-destructive teenager with an eating disorder. The role lasted two seasons on the show, when her generation was replaced with a new one. But until today, her character remains one of the greatest icons of the series. Murray can also be seen in Chatroom (2010), Womb (2010), and Dark Shadows (2012).One of the skins generation, Hannah has made her name playing fragile, vulnerable characters, something that she does down to a tee. I'd like to see her do some more stage work, she was good in That Face!- Kimberley Nixon was born on 24 September 1985 in Bristol, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), Wild Child (2008) and Black Death (2010).Kim seems to have got stuck in a television rut recently, but she still provides me with heart-warming cheer every time I hear her lovely lilting accent on Fresh Meat, or Hebburn.
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Antonia Thomas is an English actress. She is best known for her work in the TV series Misfits, Lovesick and the The Good Doctor.
She studied for a Bachelor of Arts in acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2009, and then joined the National Youth Theatre.
Her acting debut was in the TV movie Stanley Park (2010).Really proved herself in Homefront, showing that she is much more than her Skins character. Has a host of new films coming up to look forward to!- Actress
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Charlotte Riley is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Catherine Earnshaw in ITV's adaptation of Wuthering Heights (2009).
Riley was born in Grindon, County Durham. In 2004, she won the Sunday Times' Playwriting Award for "Shaking Cecilia", which she co-wrote with Tiffany Wood.
She also appeared in Edge of Tomorrow (2014), In the Heart of the Sea (2015), and London Has Fallen (2016).
She is married to English actor Tom Hardy. Riley and Hardy worked together on Wuthering Heights (2009) and The Take (2009).Ah beautiful Charlotte finally steps out from the fabulous Tom Hardy's shadow. What a power couple they will be after the work that she has lined up this year!- Actress
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Jodie Whittaker came to prominence after her breakout performance in Venus (2006), which was met with a string of nominations, including British Independent Film Award and Satellite Award nominations for "Most Promising Newcomer" and "Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical." Whittaker has also received critical acclaim for her performances in Journeyman (2017), Adult Life Skills (2016), and Broadchurch (2013), and also starred in Wired (2008), Attack the Block (2011), Good Vibrations (2012), and Trust Me (2017).
In 2017 she made history as the thirteenth actor and first woman to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (2005). She made her onscreen debut as the Doctor on December 25, 2017, in the episode titled Twice Upon a Time (2017). Her casting was met with overwhelming acclaim and positivity, and in 2020 she was voted the second greatest Doctor in the programme's 57-year history, only losing narrowly to David Tennant.Jodie's lovely Huddersfield twang seems to have been everywhere in the last year. Deservedly so, though. From her start in Venus to her scene stealing appearance in One Day, Jodie has been an absolute delight.- Actress
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Bonnie Francesca Wright was born on February 17, 1991 to jewelers Gary Wright and Sheila Teague. Her debut performance was in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) as Ron Weasley's little sister Ginny Weasley. Bonnie tried out for the film due to her older brother Lewis mentioning she reminded him of Ginny. Her role in the first film was a small cameo like role as Ginny, having bigger part in the second film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). After shooting the first Potter film, in 2002 Bonnie did the Hallmark television film Stranded (2002) playing Young Sarah Robinson. Then in 2004 after doing the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Bonnie was cast in Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004) , a BBC TV film as Young Agatha. Then Bonnie was back as Ginny Weasley for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) where her role turned supporting as Harry's love interest.
In 2007 she guest-voiced for Disney's TV series The Replacements (2006) as Vanessa. Also that time she voiced Ginny for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) as well for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) in 2009.
While shooting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), Bonnie was cast as Mia for Geography of the Heart (2014) a feature-length film shot in five international locations about the complexity of love. Bonnie's segment was shot in December 2009 in London. Also during that time and shooting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) Bonnie was attending London College of Communication to study film.
In 2011 Bonnie starred in After the Dark (2013), with James D'Arcy, Daryl Sabara and with Harry Potter co-star Freddie Stroma.
Bonnie also wrote and directed a short film for school called Separate We Come, Separate We Go (2012) starring Potter co-star David Thewlis.Newly single Bonnie just looks so beautiful, doesn't she? I really hope that 2013 is the year that we get to see her as something other than Ginny Weasley. And that will take a VERY strong part.- Actress
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Sarah Lee Bolger (born 28 February 1991) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her roles in the films In America (2002), Stormbreaker, and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), as well as her award winning role as Lady Mary Tudor in the TV series The Tudors (2007), and for guest starring as Princess Aurora in Once Upon a Time (2011).Does anyone remember her in Angels in America? SO cute! Anyway, she's come on leaps and bounds since then to become an Irish darling of the cinema world. Here's to seeing more of her.- Actress
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Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is a British film, television, and theatre actress and former fashion model. She played Charlotte in season four of the Showtime and ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007); Ruth in Channel 4's Fresh Meat (2011); Mia Bennett in The Waters of Mars (2009), and Soo Lin in The Blind Banker (2010). She also appeared in the feature films Exam (2009) and Paramount Pictures' action-thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). Chan made a film for Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Chan was born at Guy's Hospital in London, England. Her father grew up in Hong Kong and was an engineer. Her mother, a pharmacist at Guy's Hospital, emigrated from pre-Cultural Revolution Communist China via Hong Kong with her parents (Chan's maternal grandparents) and younger sister, growing up in Greenock, Scotland. Chan was raised near Sevenoaks, Kent, and attended Newstead Wood School for Girls in Orpington, Bromley, London. She later went on to read law at Worcester College, Oxford.
Following graduation, Chan gained a training contract offer as a graduate at the law firm Slaughter and May, but instead pursued an acting career and studied at the Drama Centre London. Spotted at her showcase by British film producer Damian Jones, she signed to acting agent Nicki van Gelder. In 2006, Chan was one of the models in series one of Project Catwalk, the UK version of Project Runway. She has been photographed by Rankin for a campaign for Nivea Visage, having previously worked as a model in order to fund her studies and drama school training.
Chan played geologist Mia Bennett in The Waters of Mars (2009), starring David Tennant and Lindsay Duncan, which aired 15 November 2009 in the UK. She was cast as a series regular in Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007), the fourth and final series airing on ITV2 in the UK and Showtime in the US in 2011. She also appeared in Sherlock (2010), and the fourth series of The IT Crowd (2006) for Channel 4.
In 2012, Chan was a regular in series two of Sky Living's supernatural drama Bedlam (2011) and in True Love (2012), a five-part semi-improvised television series produced by Working Title for the BBC One. In 2013, she starred in new BBC One crime drama Shetland (2013), alongside Douglas Henshall and Steven Robertson, and guest starred in the BBC's Death in Paradise (2011). She was a cast-member of Channel 4 romantic drama, Dates (2013).
Chan played the synthetic Anita/Mia in the AMC/Channel 4 eight-part science-fiction drama Humans (2015). Filming commenced in autumn 2014 with a June 2015 premiere. The second series premiered on 30 October. For her portrayal, she was nominated for numerous awards. In July 2016, Chan provided the voice "Dewdrop" in BBC One's animated television series Watership Down (2018). She appeared in the World War II drama film Shanghai (2010) and the comedy-drama Submarine (2010). Chan starred in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Families (2015).
She made her professional stage debut in the British Premiere of Bertolt Brecht's last play, Turandot, at the Hampstead Theatre, London, directed by Anthony Clark. In November 2012, she performed in The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie, a new play by Anders Lustgarten at the Finborough Theatre. In June 2013, she performed in the UK premiere of Yellow Face by American playwright David Henry Hwang at The Park Theatre, London, directed by Alex Sims. It was revived in 2014 at the Royal National Theatre with the original London cast returning. In November 2013, Chan performed in the world premiere of Our Ajax by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Southwark Playhouse, London. Wertenbaker chose her to play the war goddess Athena after she saw her performance in Yellow Face.I'm not exactly sure why Gemma has been in absolutely every magazine that I have read over the last few weeks, as I can't really remember her in any of the productions that she has been in, but it seems that she is someone's darling and, if the papers have it their way, we'll be seeing a lot more of her.- Joanna grew up in Scotland. She trained at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was here she was 'spotted' by casting director Emma Style, which led to her first professional role as 'Cathy' in The Runaway (2010) together with Keith Allen, Ken Stott, Alan Cumming and Jack O'Connell . The excellent range of her subtle performances includes notable TV and film works such as Stephen Poliakoff's Dancing on the Edge (2013), The Paradise (2012), Banished (2015), Retribution (2016), What Maisie Knew (2012) and Warrior (2019). Her superb stage work as a brilliant theatre artist also includes her exquisite interpretations 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) alongside Andrew Scott and David Dawson, as well as her remarkable Shakespearean performances as Desdemona in Othello (2015) and as Lady Anne in Richard III (2016) (Almeida Theatre) with Hugh Quarshie and Ralph Fiennes in the title roles respectively.She seems to be EVERYWHERE at the moment. Not my favourite actress but you can't seem to switch on the tv without seeing her face, so I will reluctantly include her in my top 40. Not bad in The Runaways though
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Alice Allegra Englert (born 15 June 1994) is an Australian actress best known for her roles as Rosa in the film Ginger & Rosa, and as Lena Duchannes in the 2013 film Beautiful Creatures. In 2013, she starred in the low-budget horror film In Fear, and in the supernatural romance film Beautiful Creatures, which was based upon the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.Something else as the seductive Rosa opposite Elle Fanning in Ginger and Rosa. With the mega blockbuster Beautiful Creatures coming out, we are sure to see more of this girl.- Actress
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Zawe Ashton is an actor, writer and director.
Her role as Vod in Channel 4's "Fresh Meat" won her a cult following, and the diversity of her work across television, film, and stage has attracted numerous accolades and awards.
Most recently, Zawe starred on Broadway in the critically acclaimed revival of Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL directed by Jamie Lloyd, opposite Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox. Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote that Zawe is "a breakout star... her deeply sensitive performance elicits a feminist subtext in Betrayal." She also received a WhatsOnStage nomination for the West End run of the show.
Zawe's recent film and TV credits include the Netflix feature film Velvet Buzzsaw, in which she starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Toni Colette, and Rene Russo. She is seen teaming up with Toni Colette again in the BBC/Netflix TV series Wanderlust. She will appear as a new character Oona in the fourth series of the critically acclaimed Handmaid's Tale. She was nominated for two British Comedy Awards for her break out role as Vod in 'Fresh Meat', the show was nominated for a BAFTA in 2014. Her heartbreaking portrayal of Joyce Vincent in Carol Morley's 'Dreams of a Life' earned her a Best Newcomer nomination at the British Independent Film Awards in 2012.
In addition to being an accomplished actress, Zawe has also established herself as an award-winning writer, producer and director. As a playwright, her second play FOR ALL THE WOMEN WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE... MAD was produced in London at the Hackney Showroom and at Soho Rep in New York, simultaneously in 2019. Her writing career began when she became the youngest winner of the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000. Her debut play Harm's Way was nominated for a Verity Bargate Award in 2007. Zawe's directorial debut Happy Toys was nominated for Best British Short at the Raindance Film Festival in 2014.
As an author, Zawe's novel, CHARACTER BREAKDOWN, was published by Penguin / Random House in 2019. The Times called it "'Smart, funny, vivid, honest, dark, timely'".Zawe has tackled a variety of roles that have demonstrated her to be a true chameleon, in the vein of Samantha Morton. I truly hope that this continues, but that we also get to see some more Fresh Meat in the process!- Actress
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Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly (born July 18, 1977) is an English actress. Her performance in After Miss Julie at the Donmar Warehouse made her a star of the London stage and earned her a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress of 2003. Reilly was born and brought up in Chessington, Surrey, England, the daughter of a hospital receptionist mother, and Jack Reilly, a police officer. She attended Tolworth Girls' School in Kingston, where she studied drama for GCSE. Her grandparents are Irish.
Reilly wrote to the producers of the television drama Prime Suspect to ask for work, and six months later she auditioned for a role in an episode of Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circle, which was broadcast on ITV on 7 May 1995. Six years later, she again appeared alongside Helen Mirren in the film Last Orders.
Her first professional role was followed by a series of parts on the English stage. She worked with Terry Johnson in four productions: Elton John's Glasses (1997), The London Cuckolds (1998), The Graduate (2000), and Piano/Forte (2006). Johnson wrote Piano/Forte for her and said, "Kelly is possibly the most natural, dyed-in-the-wool, deep-in-the-bone actress I've ever worked with." Reilly has stated that she learned the most as an actor from Karel Reisz, who directed her in The Yalta Game in Dublin in 2001. She said, "He was my masterclass. There is no way I would have been able to do Miss Julie if I hadn't done that play."
By 2000, Reilly felt she was being typecast in comedy roles, and actively sought out a role as the young Amy in Last Orders, directed by Fred Schepisi. This was followed by a role in the Royal Court's 2001 rerun of Sarah Kane's Blasted. The Times called her "theatrical Viagra." In 2002, Reilly starred alongside Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris as Wendy, an English Erasmus student, in the French comedy L'Auberge espagnole (The Spanish Apartment). She reprised her role in the 2005 sequel, Les Poupées russes (The Russian Dolls) and the 2013 follow-up, Casse-tête chinois (Chinese Puzzle). Also in 2005, Reilly had roles in such films as Mrs Henderson Presents and Pride & Prejudice.
Reilly's first lead role came in 2008 in the horror film Eden Lake and, in 2009, she had a high-profile role on prime-time British television in Above Suspicion. Reilly also appeared in three major films: Sherlock Holmes, Triage, and Me and Orson Welles.
In 2011, Reilly reprised her role as Mary Watson in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. In 2012, Reilly appeared opposite Sam Rockwell in A Single Shot and had a leading role in Robert Zemeckis' Flight opposite Denzel Washington. In 2014, Reilly starred with Greg Kinnear in the film Heaven is for Real and in the John Michael McDonagh film Calvary. The same year Reilly starred in the short-lived ABC series Black Box, as Catherine Black, a famed neuroscientist who explores and solves the mysteries of the brain (the black box) while hiding her own bipolar disorder from the world.
In 2015, Reilly starred in the second season of HBO's True Detective as Jordan Semyon, the wife of Vince Vaughn's character Frank Semyon. The same year, Reilly made her Broadway debut opposite Clive Owen and Eve Best in Harold Pinter's play Old Times at the American Airlines Theatre.She's been around a little longer than some of my other picks, but my FAVOURITE actress seems to have finally had her moment in Denzel Washington's flight. Go girl, and here's to more!- Screen International "Star of Tomorrow" Aisling Loftus is best known thus far as 'Sonya Rostova' in the hugely successful BBC historical period drama series War and Peace alongside Lily James, Paul Dano and James Norton.
She plays Zoë Moran in The Midwich Cuckoos, a dark, disturbing modern-day re-imagining of John Wyndham's classic science fiction novel of the same name, made most famous in the film Village of the Damned. The Sky series is adapted by Emmy-nominated writer David Farr (The Night Manager, Hanna).
Aisling is well respected for her eclectic projects to date, from A Discovery of Witches to Mr Selfridge with The Observer predicting her to be a 'phenomenon' following her role in BBC drama Dive, from BAFTA award winning Dominic Savage in which she starred with Jack O'Connell. She also starred in Jimmy McGovern's six-part BBC drama Broken with Sean Bean and Anna Friel and for film she featured in Oranges and Sunshine alongside Lily James, Sam Riley and Emily Watson.
Aisling took on the pivotal role of 'the irrepressible Queenie' in the critically acclaimed, five-star production of Andrea Levy's prize-winning novel, Small Island, at the National Theatre (Time Out). She also starred in the equally prolific, The Treatment at the Almeida Theatre with Indira Varma and Julian Ovenden.Aisling's work has a wonderful sincerity and I am sure that this year holds great things for her. Good luck Aisling! - Amy Wren was born on October 14, 1989 in Leicestershire, UK. She is a British actress best known for U Want Me 2 Kill Him? (2013),Wuthering Heights (2011) and Silk (2011). Amy was Talent spotted at age 16 by Walt Disney. Following this she appeared as Chloe in Disney Channels Life Bites (2008) for two series.Starting in Nicklodeon, Amy is only just becoming a serious actress, however a small part in Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights puts her in the game.
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Ophelia Lucy Lovibond is an English actress. She grew up in Shepherd's Bush, London, in a single-parent family. She was a scholarship student at Latymer Upper School. She also attended the Young Blood theatre company, a drama club for youth, in Hammersmith. She attended the University of Sussex to study English Literature, graduating in 2005 with a first class degree. Lovibond's first television appearance was at the age of 12 in the Channel 4 sitcom The Wilsons (2000). She acted in the TV series FM (2009). In the BBC satire W1A (2014) she appears as the character of Izzy Gould. Lovibond was also a regular in season 3 of Elementary (2012), as Sherlock's new apprentice, Kitty Winter. In 2016, she played the role of Lady Alexandra Lindo-Parker in Sky1 series Hooten & the Lady (2016).
Lovibond made her film debut in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005) in 2005. She had a part in the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy (2009). She played a leading role in the film 4.3.2.1. (2010) alongside with Emma Roberts & Tamsin Egerton, and had roles in the films London Boulevard (2010), No Strings Attached (2011) and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011). Lovibond played Carina, The Collector's slave, in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).This probably doesn't need saying but Ophelia is on fire at the moment. This year is sure to be her most successful yet.- Actress
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Olivia Cooke was born and raised in Oldham, a former textile manufacturing town in Greater Manchester, North West England. She comes from a family of non-actors; her father, John, is a retired police officer, and her mother is a sales representative. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Secondary School and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before the end of her A-levels to star in Blackout.
At a young age, Cooke practiced ballet and gymnastics. She started acting when she was 8 years old at an after-school drama programme in her hometown, called the Oldham Theatre Workshop. For years, Cooke performed only as part of the ensemble, until she was 17, when she starred as Maria in Oldham Sixth Form College's production of West Side Story. Soon after, Cooke landed her first and last leading role for the Oldham Theatre, in Prom: The Musical, a remake of Cinderella.Pretty Olivia has just been taken on for the 'Bates Motel' series. Cute and likeable in the Secret of Crickley Hall, this Manchester girl is doing good!