Anna Friel

Anna Friel Photo

ANNA FRIEL

Date of Birth: July 12, 1976

Born in Lancashire, England, Friel started off working in the Oldham Theatre Workshop in 1989 where she performed in numerous productions. Her first professional acting job came the following year in the television series In Their Shoes, which was soon followed by G.B.H.

Friel got her big break when landing a role on the popular UK soap opera Brookside, for which she won a National Television award for Best Actress in 1995.

She continued to work in television in various series such as Tales from the Crypt, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and the telefilm based on the Charles Dickens novel, Our Mutual Friend.

Friel got her first stint in feature films in 1997's The Stringer. Playing small roles at first, she was soon receiving top billing in films like A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), An Everlasting Piece (2001) and Land of the Lost (2009).

When not in film or television, Friel goes back to her roots on stage, playing in productions such as Look Europe at the Almeida Theatre opposite Harold Pinter, and Closer, on Broadway.

Anna has reportedly revealed she is seeing Rhys Ifans. The pair worked together last year on the Sky TV movie Neverland, a two-part prequel to the Peter Pan story. The actress split up with actor David Thewlis last year after nearly a decade together. They have a five-year-old daughter, Gracie.