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Zendaya (which means "to give thanks" in the language of Shona) is an American actress and singer born in Oakland, California. She began her career appearing as a child model working for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy. She was a backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010) which also includes Bella Thorne, Kenton Duty and Roshon Fegan. Zendaya was a contestant on the sixteenth season of the competition series Dancing with the Stars. She went on to produce and star as K.C. Cooper in the Disney Channel sitcom K.C. Undercover (2015) She made her film breakthrough in 2017, starring as Michelle "MJ" Jones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and as Anne Wheeler in the musical drama film The Greatest Showman (2017) alongside actors such as Tom Holland, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Besides acting, singing and dancing she is an ambassador for Convoy of Hope. She has written a book, launched her own clothing line (Daya by Zendaya) and proved herself to be a great role model for young girls all around the world.- Actress
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Lily James was born Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson in Esher, Surrey, to Ninette (Mantle), an actress, and Jamie Thomson, an actor and musician. Her grandmother, Helen Horton, was an American actress. She began her education at Arts Educational School in Tring and subsequently went on to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduating in 2010.- Alessandra Mastronardi was born on 18 February 1986 in Naples, Campania, Italy. She is an actress, known for To Rome with Love (2012), The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) and Master of None (2015). She has been married to Gianpaolo Sannino since 8 July 2023.
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Gemma Christina Arterton was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, where she was raised. She is the daughter of Sally-Anne (Heap), a cleaner, and Barry J. Arterton, a welder. Her mother's cousin is singer-songwriter Eric Goulden.
Her parents divorced when she was age five, and Gemma subsequently lived with her younger sister and her mother. Her parents encouraged their children to explore their creative abilities. Gemma's sister, Hannah, liked to sing, whereas Gemma chose acting. During her teenage years, she was part of the Masquerade and Miskin theater companies, appearing in productions of The Massacre of Civitella and Guiding Star. In 2004, she won an award for Best Supporting Actress, which helped her to win a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Whilst studying at RADA, she landed her first professional role in Capturing Mary (2007), directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Maggie Smith. Gemma graduated from RADA in 2007 and won her first film role in St. Trinian's (2007). Her breakthrough role came in 2008, when she appeared in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008). In 2009, she was the winner of Empire's Best Newcomer Award.- Actress
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Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress and model. She was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland, Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia who Hebraized their name from 'Greenstein' to sound less European). She served in the IDF for two years, and won the Miss Israel title in 2004.
Gal began modeling in the late 2000s, and made her film debut in the fourth film of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast & Furious (2009), where she appeared as Gisele Yashar; she repriced the role of Yashar in several subsequent installments of The Fast Saga. Gadot went on to achieve global stardom for her portrayal of Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, including in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Wonder Woman (2017) and Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). She has since starred in the Netflix action-comedy film Red Notice (2021) and the mystery film Death on the Nile (2022).
Gal is a motorcycle enthusiast, and owns a black 2006 Ducati Monster-S2R. She has been married to Yaron Versano since September 28, 2008. They have three daughters.- Actress
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Jenna Fischer is best known for playing Pam Beesly on the acclaimed television show The Office, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Comedy.
She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but was raised mostly in St. Louis, Missouri. Jenna watched her mom, Anne, perform in church plays when she was young, which instilled a love of theater and performance.
A trained theater actress, Fischer returned to her roots after wrapping The Office. She starred in the Off-Broadway play Reasons to Be Happy, written and directed by Neil LaBute and co-starring Josh Hamilton, Leslie Bibb, and Fred Weller. She went on to star in the world premiere of Steve Martin's newest play Meteor Shower, an absurdist comedy opposite Greg Germann and Josh Stamberg, for a record-breaking run at the Old Globe Theatre.
In October 2019, Fischer and The Office cast-mate and real-life best friend Angela Kinsey launched a podcast called Office Ladies on the Earwolf platform, which has become wildly popular, landing in the Top Ten globally every week and receiving over 200 million downloads in its first two years. In January 2021, Office Ladies won iHeart Radio's Podcast of the Year award.
She is the author of two books: The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide, in which she details her journey from St. Louis to Hollywood to become a working actress, and the forthcoming Office BFF's: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There (co-authored with Angela Kinsey), which is a memoir of their best friendship and time working on The Office.- Sophie Belinda Jonas (née Turner; born February 21, 1996) is an English actress. Turner made her professional acting debut as Sansa Stark on the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011) (2011-2019), which brought her international recognition and critical praise. For her performance, she has received four nominations for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Supporting Young Actress in a TV Series.
Turner has also starred in the television film The Thirteenth Tale (2013) and she made her feature film debut in Another Me (2013). She has also starred in the action comedy Barely Lethal (2015) and played Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
Turner was born in Northampton, the daughter of Sally, a nursery school teacher, and a father who works for a pallet distribution company. She moved to Chesterton, Warwickshire when she was two years old. She attended Warwick Prep School until she was eleven, and later attended The King's High School for Girls. Turner has been a member of the theatre company Playbox Theatre Company since she was three years old. Turner has two older brothers, and stated in an interview with The Telegraph that "My childhood was pretty fun. We had pigsties, barns and a paddock, and used to muck around in the mud." Turner had a tutor on the set of Game of Thrones (2011) until the age of 16, sending homework back to her teachers at school. She achieved five A and four B grades at GCSE, including a B grade in drama.
Since 2011, Turner has portrayed Sansa Stark, a young noblewoman, in the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011). Sansa is her first television role. Turner's drama teacher encouraged her to audition for the part, and she dyed her blonde hair auburn for the role. In 2012, she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series - Supporting Young Actress for her performance as Sansa. To date, Turner has appeared in all six broadcast seasons. In 2013, she had her first big screen role as the lead character in the independent thriller film Another Me (2013), based on the novel of the same name by Catherine MacPhail. She also starred as Adeline March in the 2013 television film The Thirteenth Tale (2013).
In 2013, she was cast in the comedy film Barely Lethal (2015), alongside American actress Hailee Steinfeld, which was released on 29 May 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand. Turner also narrated the audio-book version of the Lev Grossman short story The Girl in the Mirror, which was included in the short fiction anthology Dangerous Women, and was edited by George R.R. Martin. Turner played mutant Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), which was released on 27 May 2016. On 9 May 2016, it was reported that she would appear in a segment of the anthology film Berlin, I Love You, itself the fourth installment of the Cities of Love franchise. She will also reprise the role of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix in the film, X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). - Jennie Jacques is an English actress. Her first major role was as Annie Miller in Desperate Romantics (2009), a six-part BBC Two television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood that was broadcast in July and August 2009. From 2013-2014 she played the lead role of WPC Gina Dawson on the BBC television series WPC 56. From 2015 to 2019 Jacques has played the recurring role of Saxon Queen Judith on the television series Vikings.
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Swedish actress Noomi Rapace was born in Hudiksvall, Gävleborgs län, Sweden to Swedish actress Nina Norén and Spanish Flamenco singer Rogelio de Badajoz (Rogelio Durán). Her parents did not stay together, and when she was five she moved to Iceland with her mother and stepfather, where she lived for three years. When she was eight she was cast in a small role in the Icelandic film 'Í skugga hrafnsins', and this sparked her love of acting. At 15 she left home and joined the Stockholm Theatre School.
Rapace won the recurring role of Lucinda Gonzales in the Swedish TV series Tre kronor (1994), and also became a respected stage performer. She won critical acclaim for playing the leading role in 2007's Daisy Diamond (2007). In 2009, Rapace came to the attention of international audiences for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009). Her performance was widely praised, and she won the Best Actress prize at Sweden's prestigious Guldbagge Awards. She went on to reprise the role in the sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009).
Rapace made her English-language film debut in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) alongside Robert Downey Jr. She was also cast as Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012).- Holly Earl was born on 31 August 1992 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Humans (2015), Erica (2019) and Loving Vincent (2017).
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Ellie Kemper, born Elizabeth Claire Kemper on May 2, 1980, is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best-known for her role as "Erin Hannon" in the NBC series The Office (2005), as well as her supporting roles in the films Bridesmaids (2011) and 21 Jump Street (2012)). She plays the title role in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015), for which she has received critical acclaim. In the summer of 2015, she joined NBC News as a temporary co-host on NBC's morning news program, The Today (1952) Show.- Actress
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Hannah Britland was born on February 2, 1990 in Preston, Lancashire, England. She attended the Cardinal Newman College and later went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she graduated in 2011.
Hannah is best known for her appearances in Fresh Meat (2011), Skins (2007), Lovesick (2014) and in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988). She is able to do many accents, including London, American and Northern Irish. Next to film and television acting, she is also a stage actress and a skilled singer with a soprano vocal range.- Actress
Jessica Sula (born 3 May 1994) is a British actress known for playing the character Grace Blood in the third generation of the British television series Skins and for her role in the M. Night Shyamalan-directed horror film Split (2016).
Sula was born in Swansea to Trinidadian mother Shurla Blades, who has Afro-Hispanic and Chinese ancestry, and to Steven Sula, a father of German and Estonian heritage. She grew up in Gorseinon, where she completed her A-levels in Spanish, French and Drama at Gorseinon College.
Sula made her television debut in 2011, portraying Grace Blood in the fifth and sixth series of the E4 teen drama Skins. Afterwards, she gained a supporting role in comedy drama Love and Marriage which was broadcast on ITV in 2013. In 2015, Sula was cast as the lead character, Maddie Graham, in the Freeform drama Recovery Road, alongside Skins co-star Sebastian de Souza. Her first big screen leading role is in Honeytrap, the story of 15-year-old girl who sets up the murder of a boy who is in love with her. In 2017 she filmed the indie feature Big Fork, in which she played the main character, Emily.
Sula had a recurring role in the 2017 limited series Godless. That same year, it was announced that she would be a series regular for the third season of the series Scream, expected to air in 2019.
Sula plays the guitar and practices karate.- 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).- 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.- Actress
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Elizabeth Chase "Lizzie" Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films Silent House (2011), Liberal Arts (2012), Godzilla (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Captain America: Civil War (2016). For her role in the critically-acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), she was nominated for numerous awards, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She is the younger sister of actresses and fashion designers Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen.
Olsen was born in Sherman Oaks, California to Jarnette "Jarnie", a personal manager, and David "Dave" Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. She is the younger sister of twins Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, who became famous as TV and movie stars at an early age. Her oldest brother is named Trent Olsen, and she has two younger half-siblings. In 1996, Olsen's parents divorced. The Olsens have Norwegian and English ancestry.
As a child, Olsen received ballet and singing lessons. She began acting at age 4, and by 11 she'd had small roles in How the West Was Fun and the straight-to-video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley. Having appeared in her sisters' videos, when she was in the fourth grade, Olsen began to go on auditions for other projects, auditioning for the film Spy Kids. She almost quit acting in 2004 over the media frenzy surrounding Mary-Kate's eating disorder.
She attended Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, California from kindergarten through grade 12. After graduation, she enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2009, Olsen spent a semester studying in Moscow, Russia at the Moscow Art Theatre School through the MATS program at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.
Olsen's breakout role came in 2011, when she appeared in the film Martha Marcy May Marlene. The film, along with Olsen's performance, received critical acclaim. Olsen was nominated for and won numerous critics awards for her portrayal of the titular character Martha, a girl suffering from delusions and paranoia after fleeing her life in a cult and returning to her family. She next appeared in the horror film remake Silent House, in which she played the role of Sarah. The film received mixed reviews, although Olsen's performance was once again praised. Olsen also appeared in the music video "The Queen" by Carlotta. Olsen filmed the movie Red Lights during mid-2011, and it was released in the U.S. on July 13, 2012. She starred in Josh Radnor's film Liberal Arts, which was released on January 22, 2012. She and Dakota Fanning starred in Very Good Girls, a 2013 release.
In January 2013, Olsen was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. She co-starred in the 2013 American remake of the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy; she played Marie, a young social worker who developed a relationship with the protagonist, played by Josh Brolin. She played Edie Parker, Jack Kerouac's first wife and the author of the Beat Generation memoir You'll Be Okay, in Kill Your Darlings.
In 2014, Olsen starred in Legendary's Godzilla a reboot, opposite Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Olsen joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe by playing the Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the 2015 Avengers sequel. She first appeared as the character in a mid-credits scene of the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, again alongside her Godzilla co-star Taylor-Johnson, who portrayed her brother Quicksilver. She reprised this role as the Scarlet Witch in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron and the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War.
In September 2014, it was announced that Olsen would portray Audrey Williams, Hank Williams' wife, manager, and duet partner in the upcoming 2015 biopic I Saw the Light directed by Marc Abraham and starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams.
In January 2016, it was announced that Olsen would team up with her Avengers: Age of Ultron co-star Jeremy Renner in Taylor Sheridan's directorial feature film debut, Wind River.
Olsen attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic Theater Company and graduated in March 2013 after six years of intermittent study. Her sisters' clothing line "Elizabeth and James" was named after her and her older brother.
Olsen started dating fellow actor Boyd Holbrook in September 2012 after meeting him on the film Very Good Girls. They became engaged in March 2014 but called it off in January 2015.- Actress
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Tatiana Gabrielle Maslany was born September 22, 1985 in Regina, Saskatchewan, to Renate, a translator, and Dan, a woodworker. She graduated from Dr. Martin LeBoldus High school in 2003. She was a well respected student, and participated as often as possible in school productions. She is well known for her participation in the Canadian Improv Games. Maslany starred in the 2006 television movie, Booky Makes Her Mark (2006) along with Megan Follows and Stuart Hughes.
She had supporting roles in the films Eastern Promises (2007) and The Vow (2012), and came to fame starring in the series Orphan Black (2013), playing multiple roles. Maslany also had a large role in the 2015 film Woman in Gold (2015), playing a young version of Maria Altmann, Helen Mirren's character.- Actress
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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).- Actress
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Actress, writer, and producer on both the big and small screen, Abigail Spencer is quickly making a name for herself in Hollywood.
Spencer was seen in Sam Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), a prequel take on The Wizard of Oz (1939), alongside James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams.
She has starred in the Sundance Channel's first scripted series, Rectify (2013). The series follows "Daniel Holden" (played by Aden Young), who must put his life back together, after serving 19 years on Georgia's Death Row before DNA evidence calls his conviction into question.
Spencer also was on the indie, Kilimanjaro (2013), opposite Brian Geraghty, and reprising her role of "Annie" for the online series, "Burning Love" on YouTube, which got picked up for a second and third season. The series, produced by Red Hour, is a funny parody of a "Bachelor"-esque show. She also reprised her role on the USA hit show, Suits (2011), and was seen in the season of Childrens Hospital (2008) for Adult Swim.
Abigail was the lead in Daniela Amavia's cinematic piece A Beautiful Now (2015), produced by Keith Kjarval/Unified Pictures.
As a screenwriter and producer, Spencer is in development on Wrong Number, with James Franco producing through his "Rabbit Bandini Productions" banner. Spencer will also star in the indie romantic comedy directed by AnnaRose King. Spencer also co-wrote, with Lauren McBrayer Miller, the television series "Teach", which was purchased by ABC Family and deals with the lives of high-school teachers.
Spencer starred, alongside Gerard Butler in Curtis Hanson's, Chasing Mavericks (2012). The film follows surfer "Jay Moriarity", who sets out to ride the Northern California break, known as "Mavericks". She was also seen opposite Jon Hamm on AMC's award-winning and critically-acclaimed original series Mad Men (2007), in the series' third season, as Don Draper's latest love interest, who also happens to be his daughter's school teacher. Other film credits include McG's This Means War (2012) and Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens (2011).- 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.- Actress
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Emily Olivia Laura Blunt is a British actress known for her roles in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), The Young Victoria (2009), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and The Girl on the Train (2016), among many others.
Blunt was born in Roehampton, South West London, England, the second of four children in the family of Joanna Mackie, a former actress and teacher, and Oliver Simon Peter Blunt, a barrister. Her grandfather was Major General Peter Blunt, and her uncle is MP Crispin Blunt. Emily received a rigorous education at Ibstock Place School, a co-ed private school at Roehampton. However, young Emily Blunt had a stammer, since she was a kid of 8. Her mother took her to relaxation classes, which did not do anything. She reached a turning point at 12, when a teacher cleverly asked her to play a character with a different voice and said, "I really believe in you". Blunt ended up using a northern accent, and it did the trick, her stammer disappeared.
From 1999 - 2001, Blunt went to Hurtwood House, the top co-ed boarding school where she would excel at sport, cello and singing. She also had two years of drama studies at Hurtwood's theatre course. In August 2000, she was chosen to perform at the Edinburgh Festival. She was signed up by an agent, Kenneth Mcreddie, who led her to the West End and the BBC, scoring her roles in several period dramas on stage as well as on TV productions, such as Foyle's War (2002), Henry VIII (2003) and Empire (2005). In 2001, she appeared as "Gwen Cavendish" opposite Dame Judi Dench in Sir Peter Hall's production of "The Royal Family" at Haymarket Theatre. For that role, she won the Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer. In 2002, she played "Juliet" in "Romeo and Juliet" at the prestigious Chichester Festival.
Blunt's career ascended to international fame after she starred as "Isolda" opposite Alex Kingston in Warrior Queen (2003). A year later, she won critical acclaim for her breakout performance as "Tamsin", a well-educated, cynical and deceptive 16-year-old beauty in My Summer of Love (2004), a story of two lonely girls from the opposite ends of the social heap. Emily Blunt and her co-star, Natalie Press, shared an Evening Standard British Film award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2005, she spent a few months in Australia filming Irresistible (2006) with Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill. Blunt gave an impressive performance as "Mara", a cunning young destroyer who acts crazy and surreptitiously provokes paranoia in others. She also continued her work on British television, starring as "Natasha" in Stephen Poliakoff's Gideon's Daughter (2005), opposite Bill Nighy, a role that won her a 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.
She continued the line of playing manipulative characters as "Emily", a caustic put-upon assistant to Meryl Streep's lead in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Blunt's performance with a neurotic twist added a dimension of sarcasm to the comedy, and gained her much attention as well as new jobs: in two dramas opposite Tom Hanks, then in the title role in the period drama, The Young Victoria (2009). Her most recent works include appearances as antiques dealer "Gwen Conliffe" in The Wolfman (2010) and as the ballerina in The Adjustment Bureau (2011).
Emily is a highly versatile actress and a multifaceted person. Her talents include singing and playing cello; she is also skilled at horseback riding.
On August 28, 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement. The couple married on July 10, 2010, at the estate of their friend, George Clooney, on Lake Como in Italy. Blunt and Krasinski live in the Los Angeles area, California, and have two children.- Actress
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Bryce Dallas Howard was born on March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She was conceived in Dallas, Texas (the reason for her middle name). Her father, Ron Howard, is a former actor turned Oscar-winning director. Her mother is actress and writer Cheryl Howard (née Alley). Her famous relatives include her uncle, actor Clint Howard, and her grandparents, actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard. She also has two younger twin sisters, Jocelyn and Paige Howard (also an actress), born in 1985, and a brother, Reed Howard, born in 1987. Her ancestry includes German, English, Scottish, and Irish.
Howard was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, because her parents decided to raise their four children as far away from the trappings of showbiz milieu as possible. During most of her childhood, she really did not have much access to a TV. She attended Greenwich Country Day School, and Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York. At that time, she discovered existentialism and devoured books by Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. She attended the prestigious Steppenwolf School and Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts camp at Catskills, together with her friend, Natalie Portman. She applied to drama school as Bryce Dallas, dropping her last name to eschew special treatment because of association with her renowned father. From 1999-2003, she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory and at the New York University Tisch School of Arts and graduated with a BFA degree in Drama in 2003. At that time, she performed in Broadway productions of classical plays by George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov.
Young Howard appeared in three of her father's films as an extra, including her appearance as a child together with her mother in Apollo 13 (1995). She made her feature-film debut as Heather, a supporting role in Book of Love (2004) by director Alan Brown. Director M. Night Shyamalan was impressed by her performance in a Broadway play and cast her, without an audition, as a female lead in his two thrillers: The Village (2004) and Lady in the Water (2006). Howard replaced Nicole Kidman in the Dogville (2003) sequel, Manderlay (2005). She starred as Rosalind in As You Like It (2006), a reprise of her stage role that made such an impression on Shyamalan. She also played Gwen Stacy in the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man 3 (2007), and the female lead, Claire, in the sequel Jurassic World (2015). Both films broke the records for highest openings weekends at the time of their release. Among Bryce's other major films are Terminator Salvation (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Help (2011), and 50/50 (2011).
Howard became a devoted vegan, after Joaquin Phoenix showed her Earthlings (2005), a documentary about animal cruelty. After seeing that, she has consumed no animal products, not even milk or eggs. Her other activities outside of the acting profession include playing basketball and writing.
On June 17, 2006, in Connecticut, she married her long-time boyfriend, actor Seth Gabel, whom she met at New York University and had dated for five years. On February 16, 2007, Bryce and her husband, Seth, became parents of their first child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel. Their second child, a daughter named Beatrice Jean Howard Gabel, was born on January 19, 2012.- Actress
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Natalie Portman is the first person born in the 1980s to have won the Academy Award for Best Actress (for Black Swan (2010)).
Natalie was born Natalie Hershlag on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel. She is the only child of Avner Hershlag, an Israeli-born doctor, and Shelley Stevens, an American-born artist (from Cincinnati, Ohio), who also acts as Natalie's agent. Her parents are both of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Natalie's family left Israel for Washington, D.C., when she was still very young. After a few more moves, her family finally settled in New York, where she still lives to this day. She graduated with honors, and her academic achievements allowed her to attend Harvard University. She was discovered by an agent in a pizza parlor at the age of 11. She was pushed towards a career in modeling but she decided that she would rather pursue a career in acting. She was featured in many live performances, but she made her powerful film debut in the movie Léon: The Professional (1994) (aka "Léon"). Following this role Natalie won roles in such films as Heat (1995), Beautiful Girls (1996), and Mars Attacks! (1996).
It was not until 1999 that Natalie received worldwide fame as Queen Amidala in the highly anticipated US$431 million-grossing prequel Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). She then she starred in two critically acclaimed comedy dramas, Anywhere But Here (1999) and Where the Heart Is (2000), followed by Closer (2004), for which she received an Oscar nomination. She reprised her role as Padme Amidala in the last two episodes of the Star Wars prequel trilogy: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). She received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Black Swan (2010).
She received a second nomination for Best Actress, for playing Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie (2016).- Actress
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Krysten Ritter stars as Jessica Jones in the Peabody, Hugo, and Emmy Award-winning Netflix original series, Marvel's Jessica Jones (2015). Her performance, which earned her a prestigious Critics Choice nomination, a Saturn nomination, a Webby Award and a Glamour Best International TV Actress Award, has received rave reviews with the show being celebrated by critics and audiences alike for its groundbreaking depiction of a reluctant anti-super-heroine with an alcohol problem and a wicked case of PTSD who will not let a sexual assault from her past define her. She will also play Jessica Jones in The Defenders (2017) and the second season of Marvel's "Jessica Jones."
Additional acting roles include her critically acclaimed turn as Jane Margolis on AMC's hit series, Breaking Bad (2008), the titular character in the cult favorite Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 (2012), Big Eyes (2014) directed by Tim Burton, indie darling Listen Up Philip (2014), Life Happens (2011) which she co-wrote and co-produced, as well as roles in Veronica Mars (2014), The Blacklist (2013), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and She's Out of My League (2010).
Growing up in a small-town farm in rural Pennsylvania, Ritter started her career in front of the camera as a model at 15-years-old. Her body of work has subsequently spanned film, television, theatre, writing, producing, music, and fashion design.
In 2012, Ritter launched her production company Silent Machine where she juggles many projects in various stages of development, always with the objective of highlighting complex female protagonists.
Ritter and her dog Mikey split their time between New York and Los Angeles.- Actress
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Alison Brie was born in Hollywood, California, to Joanne (Brenner), who worked at a non-profit child care agency, and Charles Terry Schermerhorn, a musician and entertainment reporter. Her mother is Jewish and her father has Scottish, Dutch, English, German, and Norwegian ancestry. Brie grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of South Pasadena. Interested in acting at an early age, she began her career performing in community theater shows at the Jewish Community Center in Los Feliz. Her very first role was "Toto" in the Wizard of Oz. After graduating from South Pasadena High School in 2001; Alison attended California Institute of the Arts where she received her BFA in Acting. While there, she was one of the original cast members in the world premiere of The Peach Blossom Fan, performed as the inaugural theater production at Disney's REDCAT Theater in Downtown LA. During that time, Alison also studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.
Since graduating, she has continued to work in all forms of media, including film, television, and theater. She has performed in the Blank Theater Company's Young Playwright's festival and in shows at the Odyssey, Write-Act, and Rubicon Theaters, receiving an Indy Award for her haunting performance as "Ophelia" in the Rubicon's production of Hamlet. She had performed guest spots for Comedy Central and Disney's Hannah Montana (2006) as well as leading roles in some independent films before landing her role on Mad Men (2007). Since then, she has continued to work in film and TV.
Alison lives in South Pasadena.