Sophia Myles Biography

Biography

Birth Name
Sophia Myles
Date of birth (location)
18 March 1980
London, England, UK

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Sophia Myles was born on March 18, 1980. She spent the first 11 years in Notting Hill, where she attended the Fox Primary School. Then her father, who is a vicar, was relocated to Isleworth, a west London suburb. It was there where her acting began. Well, she never had any intentions of becoming an actress, but when she started her A levels at the Green School before going to Richmond College she also took Drama. Drama Teacher Kevin Broadway recalls: "I’ve taught drama for about 20 years and there were about five people in that time who really stood out. She’s one of the best, very talented and I’m really proud of her."

When she was 16, she was spotted by Oscar winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes in a school production of ‘Teachers’ by John Godber. Kevin Broadway remembers the play, a dark comedy on wasted youth: "She played the role of a frustrated 5th former, and she played it incredibly well. She can play people completely different from herself." This led to her being casted in the BBC film The Prince & The Pauper. That was the beginning of Sophia's real acting career.

The moment the film was screened, the offers started flowing in. Sophia then appeared in the TV series Big Women in the role of the young Saffron. A year later, when she had finished her A-Levels (she was a straight A student at school and achieved 6 starred As and 4 As at the A-Levels) she played Fanny's sister Susan in the cinema adaption of Mansfield Park. But despite this promising development of her acting career she wanted to study Philosophy at Cambridge university. She was going to take a gap year before starting her studies. During that year she played Agnes Fleming in the Oliver Twist TV series. But then, she decided not to go to university but to pursue acting.

Since then Sophia Myles has appeared in many films - in TV as well as in cinema. These are some films: From Hell, Abduction Club, Nicholas Nickleby, Out of Bounds. At the beginning Sophia only had small parts in cinema films (e.g. the decised wife of Jonny Depp in From Hell), but nevertheless she brought those characters to life. Thanks to her acting, her charisma and her beauty each and every one of her characters stand out.

Recently, Sophia's career developed even further when she bet well-known actresses to the role of Lady Penelope in the feature-adaption of 'Thunderbirds' Also her appearance as the tragic heroine in 'Tristan & Isolde' is bound to get her more recognition. Unfortunately, the movie is taking a long time to be released - an US release date has been set for February 3, 2006. Right after 'Thunderbirds' premiered in July 2004, Sophia Myles began shooting 'Art School Confidential' in Los Angeles. It is a dark comedy and she's playing an American. Even before she started work on this project she was, according to interviews, very much looking forward to it. And now, looking back, that time has been one of her best experiences in her career so far. For us it will be interesting to see Sophia Myles playing a kind of edgy character, someone totally different to any roles she has played so far.

Early 2005 saw the UK airing of 'Colditz', the ITV Drama about Prisoners of War in WW2. Work for this high quality television mini series had been completed during summer 2004. Sophia Myles is playing Lizzie, the woman who gets between the two lead characters Jack Rose and Tom Willis. A very welcome invitation was offered to Sophia as well: She is now a voting member of the European Film Academy! After some months of unemployment Sophia Myles started work on another ITV drama: 'Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder'. The series is based upon the famous Agatha Christie novel and Sophia Myles plays newly-wed Gwenda Reed who is uncovering a murder from the past together with Miss Marple.

Sophia Myles is one of the most talented and natural young British actresses. Over the years she has slowly but steadily built up a reputation of being a serious actress. By only accepting parts that she could believe in she was able to deliver outstanding performances in each one of them. Even though Sophia Myles has not yet received an 'official' award, critics are always quick to praise her acting - even when Sophia only had a small part in it or when they didn't like the movie very much (e.g. Underworld or Thunderbirds): she's always favourably mentioned. This, combined with her intelligence, down-to-earth attitude and good character makes it a pleasure to follow her career. We're bound to hear more from this fabulous actress!!