'Anna Friel' (born
12 July,
1976 in
Rochdale,
Greater Manchester) is an
English actress.
Acting career
Friel's acting career began with the role of
Beth Jordache on the British
Channel 4 soap opera, ''
Brookside'' from 1993-1995; her character was part of British TV's first pre-
watershed lesbian kiss.
[1] In 1995, Friel won the
National Television Award for ''Most popular actress'' for her work on
Brookside.
In 1996, Friel courted further controversy when she appeared in the television film ''The Tribe'' by
Stephen Poliakoff, which included nudity and a much discussed ''
menage-a-trois'' sex scene between characters played by Friel,
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and
Jeremy Northam.
In 1998, Friel appeared in the original broadway run of
Closer by
Patrick Marber at the
Music Box Theatre, winning
Drama Desk and ''Theatre World'' awards for her performance as ''Alice'' and in 2001, Friel made her
West End stage debut in a fringe production of ''
Lulu''.
Her film credits include ''
Rogue Trader'' opposite
Ewan McGregor,
David Leland's ''The Land Girls'', which also starred
Rachel Weisz and
Catherine McCormack, ''
All For Love'' with
Richard E. Grant, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with
Michelle Pfeiffer, ''
Timeline'', ''
Me Without You'' opposite
Michelle Williams and ''
Goal!'' and ''
Goal! 2'', currently she is filming the follow-up and final installment of the Goal series with ''
Goal! 3''.
Friel's television work includes the short lived ''
The Jury'' for the
Fox Network and
ITV1's ''
Watermelon'' which was based on the novel by
Marian Keyes. She will shortly be seen in ''
Pushing Daisies'', a new TV series from the creator of ''
Dead Like Me'' and ''
Wonderfalls'', for the
2007 season on the
American network
ABC.
[2]
In November 2006 she was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate by the
University of Bolton for contributions to the performing arts.
[3]
She has recently been seen as the face of
Pantene ''Pro-V Ice shine'' in the
UK, appearing in both television commercials and print advertising, Friel has also previously appeared in commercials for
3 Mobile and
Virgin Atlantic.
According to press reports, she narrowly missed out on the role of Jenny Everdeane in ''
Gangs Of New York'' to
Cameron Diaz. Upcoming roles include
Elizabeth Bathory in ''Bathory'' and in ''Angel Makers'' opposite
Helen Mirren.
Notes and references
1. Discover more about the stars of BBC Drama - Anna Friel
2. (Pushing Daisies)About This Show
3. University announces winter Honorary Doctorates
External links
★
★
The Anna Friel Official Site