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Claire Foy

Acting

Born April 16, 1984 · Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Also known as Claire Elizabeth Foy

Biography

Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is an English actress. She studied acting at the Liverpool John Moores University and the Oxford School of Drama, and made her screen debut in the pilot of the supernatural comedy series Being Human, in 2008. Following her professional stage debut at the Royal National Theatre, she played the title role in the BBC One miniseries Little Dorrit (2008) and made her film debut in the American historical fantasy drama Season of the Witch (2011). Following leading roles in the television series The Promise (2011) and Crossbones (2014), Foy received praise for portraying the ill-fated queen Anne Boleyn in the miniseries Wolf Hall (2015). Foy was educated at Aylesbury High School from the age of 12 and later attended Liverpool John Moores University, studying drama and screen studies. She also trained in a one-year course at the Oxford School of Drama. She graduated in 2007 and moved to London's Peckham district to share a house with five friends from drama school. While at the Oxford School of Drama, Foy appeared in the plays Top Girls, Watership Down, Easy Virtue, and Touched. After appearing on television, she made her professional stage debut in DNA and The Miracle, two of a trio of single acts directed by Paul Miller at the Royal National Theatre in London (the third was Baby Girl). Foy gained international recognition for portraying the young Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown, for which she won a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy, among other awards. In 2018, she starred in Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller Unsane and portrayed Janet Shearon, wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong, in Damien Chazelle's biopic First Man. For the latter role, she was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Description above from the Wikipedia Claire Foy licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series · 2018
  • Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series · 2018
  • Golden Globe Awards · 2017
  • Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series · 2017
  • British Academy Television AwardBest Actress · 2016 · nominated

Filmography34 titles

The Crown

2016as Queen Elizabeth II

Little Dorrit

2008as Amy Dorrit

Wolf Hall

2015as Anne Boleyn

All of Us Strangers

2023as Mum

Breathe

2017as Diana Cavendish

Upstairs Downstairs

2010as Lady Persephone Towyn

Going Postal

2010as Adora Belle Dearheart

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

H Is for Hawk

2025as Helen Macdonald

First Man

2018as Janet Shearon

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

2021as Emily Wain

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self - Host

Who Do You Think You Are?

Women Talking

2022as Salome

A Very British Scandal

2021as Margaret Campbell

The Great War: The People's Story

as Helen Bentwich

Savage House

2026as Lady Savage

The Lady in the Van

2015as Lois, Social Worker

Rosewater

2014as Paola

Unsane

2018as Sawyer Valentini

Vampire Academy

2014as Sonya Karp

My Son

2021as Joan Richmond

The Girl in the Spider's Web

2018as Lisbeth Salander

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015as Self - Guest

Crossbones

2014as Kate Balfour

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2014as Self - Guest

The Night Watch

2011as Helen Giniver

White Heat

as Charlotte

Season of the Witch

2011as The Girl

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003as Self

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014as Self - Guest

Wreckers

2011as Dawn

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

2009as Self - Guest

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

2014as Self