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Anna Friel

Anna Friel is one of the few British actresses who has managed to maintain a glittering stage and screen career on both sides of the Atlantic. She recently played a pirate queen in Ireland for RHI's US/UK Television production of Neverland opposite Rhys Ifans and Bob Hoskins and completed a sold-out and critically acclaimed run as Holly Golightly in Samuel Adamson's new stage adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London's West End.

On the big screen, she will next be seen in Academy Award winner William Monahan's London Boulevard opposite Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley, and Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger with Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin.

Friel won over US television audiences as Chuck in ABC's critically acclaimed series Pushing Daisies, for which she received a 2008 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy. Pushing Daisies was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy and a People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy. In 2009, Friel won the Royal Television Society North's award for Best Actress for Jimmy McGovern's The Street, directed by Terry McDonough.

Born in North West England, Friel joined the Oldham Theater Workshop in 1989 and performed in numerous theater productions across England before being cast to star in Alan Bleasdale's critically acclaimed miniseries G.B.H. as a young teen, and received the National Television Award for Best Actress for her role as Beth Jordache on the popular series Brookside.

Friel made her Broadway debut in Patrick Marber's Closer, alongside Ciaran Hinds, Rupert Graves and Natasha Richardson. Her performance garnered a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play and a Special Achievement Award for an Ensemble Performance. Friel also starred in the Almeida Theatre productions Look Europe! and Lulu, for which she received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2002.

Anna's other film credits include: Land of the Lost, opposite Will Ferrell; Bathory; Goal!; Goal II: Living the Dream; Rubbish; Niagara Motel; Irish Jam; Timeline; Me Without You, opposite Michelle Williams; The War Bride; for which she was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role; An Everlasting Piece; Sunset Strip; Rogue Trader, opposite Ewan McGregor; A Midsummer Night's Dream, opposite Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer; The Tribe, opposite Joely Richardson and Jeremy Northam; The Stringer and The Land Girls, opposite Rachel Weisz and Catherine McCormack.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2011.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Anna Friel Facts

OccupationModel, Actress
BirthdayJuly 12, 1976 (47)
SignCancer
BirthplaceRochdale, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 2" (1m57)  How tall is Anna Friel compared to you?

Selected Filmography

The War Bride
Niagara Motel
Bathory: Countess of Blood
Me Without You
Having You
Treasure Guards
Part 1
Goal II: Living the Dream
Pushing Daisies: Cast & Creators Live at the Paley Center
Continue » Find more details on the Anna Friel Movies page