Vanessa Kirby

Vanessa Nuala Kirby (born 18 April 1988) is an English actress.

She made her professional acting debut on stage, with acclaimed performances in the plays All My Sons (2010), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2010), Women Beware Women (2011), Three Sisters (2012), and as Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (2014).

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.

For All My Sons, she won the BIZA Rising Star Award at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, worth £5,000.

She also starred as Rosalind in As You Like It by William Shakespeare at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.

Alfred Hickling of The Guardian described her as a "significant new talent", and stated: "Kirby gives a performance of statuesque distinction as Helena".

In 2011, 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.

She was also in the play The Acid Test by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Simon Godwin.

For her performance, Kirby earning praise from Paul Taylor of The Independent, who described her as "a star if ever I saw one".

That same year, Kirby made her television debut in two BBC's series: The Hour and as Estella in Great Expectations.

Kirby filmed the British crime movie The Rise in early 2012.

The film premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival to favourable reviews, and won the Best Debut Category for director Rowan Athale.

Then, she went on to play Masha in the acclaimed stage production by Benedict Andrews of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in September 2012, earning exceptionally good reviews, notably Matt Trueman of Time Out wrote: "In a super cast given licence to shine, Kirby stands out as Masha".

In 2013, 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 Kirby delivers a "strong performance".

Kirby had a supporting role in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy film About Time, starring Rachel McAdams.

During that time, she made some apparitions in the American film Charlie Countryman, and in one episode of the British TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot.

In the summer of 2014, Kirby played Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, again collaborating with Benedict Andrews at the Young Vic, alongside Gillian Anderson as Blanche Dubois and Ben Foster as Stanley.

She won Best Supporting Actress category at the Whatsonstage Awards 2014.

Also in 2014, Kirby appeared in Queen and Country, written and directed by John Boorman.

It was screened at the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

The 2015 year was very fruitful for Kirby.

Indeed, she had supporting roles on screen: in Everest as American socialite Sandy Hill Pittman, in the space opera film Jupiter Ascending by The Wachowskis, and in Bone in the Throat who premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

In television, Kirby made appearances in the British television drama film The Dresser, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen; and she had a main role in the series The Frankenstein Chronicles.

It was also in 2015 that Kirby was cast as Princess Margaret in May for the Netflix's first original British series The Crown, an historical drama series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Kirby rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2016–2017), for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress.

From 2016 to 2020, she was in a relationship with actor Callum Turner.

Since 2022, Kirby has been in a relationship with Paul Rabil, an American former professional lacrosse player, co-founder and President of Premier Lacrosse League.

Meanwhile, in 2016, 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".

During this year, Kirby had three screen roles: she played Zelda Fitzgerald in Genius alongside Colin Firth, Jude Law, and Nicole Kidman; she has the leading role in the sci-fi film Kill Command; and she played in the romantic drama film Me Before You, directed by Thea Sharrock and starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.

For her performance, Kirby was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2017, and won the award for the season two in 2018.

For this role, she received praise from critics and rose to international prominence.

In 2018, 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.

She also took on roles in the action films Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and the Mission: Impossible film series since 2018.

For her performance as a grief-stricken woman in Pieces of a Woman (2020), she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Kirby has since portrayed Empress Joséphine in the historical drama Napoleon (2023) for which she won the AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Kirby was raised in Wimbledon, London.

Her parents are Jane Kirby, a former Country Living magazine writer; and Roger Kirby, a retired surgeon and President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

She has two siblings: Joe, a school teacher, and Juliet, a theatrical agent.

After attending Lady Eleanor Holles School and being turned down by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Kirby took a gap year to travel and work in an AIDS hospice in South Africa.

She then studied English at the University of Exeter.