1. Vanessa Nuala Kirby was born on 18 April 1987 or 1988 and is an English actress.
32 Facts About Vanessa Kirby
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Vanessa Kirby made her professional acting debut on stage, with acclaimed performances in the plays All My Sons, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Women Beware Women, Three Sisters, and as Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.
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Vanessa Kirby has since portrayed Empress Josephine in the historical drama Napoleon.
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Vanessa Kirby's parents are Jane Kirby, a former Country Living magazine writer, and Roger Kirby, a retired surgeon and President of the Royal Society of Medicine.
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Vanessa Kirby has two siblings: Joe, a school teacher, and Juliet, a theatrical agent.
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Vanessa Kirby then studied English at the University of Exeter.
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Vanessa Kirby signed to a talent agency and met the theatre director David Thacker, who gave her three starring roles over 2010 at the Octagon Theatre Bolton: in All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, and A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.
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Vanessa Kirby starred as Rosalind in As You Like It by William Shakespeare at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.
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Alfred Hickling of The Guardian described her as a "significant new talent", and stated: "Vanessa Kirby gives a performance of statuesque distinction as Helena".
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In 2011, Vanessa Kirby then went on to appear at the National Theatre in Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton, directed by Marianne Elliott, alongside Harriet Walter and Harry Melling.
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Vanessa Kirby was in the play The Acid Test by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Simon Godwin.
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That same year, Vanessa Kirby made her television debut in two BBC series: The Hour and as Estella in Great Expectations.
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Vanessa Kirby filmed the British crime movie The Rise in early 2012.
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In 2013, Vanessa Kirby returned to the Royal National Theatre to play the Queen of England Isabella of France in Edward II opposite John Heffernan, and Michael Billington for The Guardian said that Vanessa Kirby delivers a "strong performance".
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Vanessa Kirby had a supporting role in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy film About Time, starring Rachel McAdams.
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Vanessa Kirby won Best Supporting Actress category at the Whatsonstage Awards 2014.
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Also in 2014, Vanessa Kirby appeared in Queen and Country, written and directed by John Boorman.
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Meanwhile, in 2016, Vanessa Kirby played Elena in Robert Icke's production of Uncle Vanya at the Almeida Theatre, for which she won rave reviews, with Matt Trueman of Variety writing that her performance: "confirms her as the outstanding stage actress of her generation, capable of the most unexpected choices".
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In 2018, Vanessa Kirby came back on stage and played the title character in Polly Stenham's Julie, an adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie, at the Royal National Theatre.
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Vanessa Kirby appeared in the biopic Mr Jones, who loosely tells the story of Gareth Jones.
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In 2020, Vanessa Kirby portrayed Martha, a grief-stricken woman, in Kornel Mundruzco's Pieces of a Woman, a film approaching the trauma and grief surrounding baby loss.
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The film received positive reviews, with Vanessa Kirby garnering universal critical acclaim.
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Vanessa Kirby won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered.
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Vanessa Kirby went on to receive various nominations, notably for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award.
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Also at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, Vanessa Kirby promoted The World to Come, directed by Mona Fastvold and starring Katherine Waterston, the film won the Queer Lion award for best LGBTQ-themed film during the festival.
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In 2021, Vanessa Kirby co-founded, with her sister Juliet, the London-based production company Aluna Entertainment which has a first look deal with Netflix.
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David Fear from Rolling Stones wrote that Vanessa Kirby delivers a: "completely raw, guileless, ego-less performance".
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Between 2021 and 2023, Vanessa Kirby was one of the hosts of the True Spies podcast, alongside Hayley Atwell, Sophia Di Martino, and Daisy Ridley.
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Clayton Davis, for Variety, said: "Vanessa Kirby is reinventing the wheel of acting with a masterfully executed physical portrayal".
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Vanessa Kirby replaced Jodie Comer as Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, in the historical drama film Napoleon with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, and directed by Ridley Scott.
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In March 2024, Vanessa Kirby was announced as Lynette, the leading role in the Netflix adaptation of The Night Always Comes based on the Willy Vlautin novel of the same name.
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From 2015 to 2019, Vanessa Kirby was in a relationship with English actor Callum Turner.