Curated playlist

Actresses from London

Keira KnightleyKeira Knightley stood on a plank for two days and refused a stunt double.
Elizabeth TaylorAfter Rock Hudson said he was dying of AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor helped found a research foundation in 1985.
Rachel WeiszRachel Weisz first made headlines in 1984 by saying no. She was a teenage model who had started working at the age of 14, and she turned down an offer to star in King David opposite Richard Gere. The British actress, born on the 7th of…
Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson is the only person to win Oscars for both acting and screenwriting.
Olivia ColmanOlivia Colman was born Sarah Caroline Colman, and she had to give up that first name before her career properly began. The actors' union Equity already had a Sarah Colman on its books, so the newcomer needed another. She took the name of a…
Naomi CampbellYves Saint Laurent threatened to pull his ads to get Naomi Campbell on French Vogue.
Emma WatsonEmma Watson was nine years old when she attended the first of eight auditions for the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. Her only acting experience came from school plays, and she had no experience in front of a film…
Rosamund PikeRosamund Pike, the English actress and producer, was turned down by every stage school she applied to. She went on to win a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. Between those two points lies a career built on women who are hard to…
Anya Taylor-JoyAnya Taylor-Joy was born in Miami on the 16th of April 1996, in a city her parents were only visiting on vacation. She calls her birth there a "fluke". That accident gave her American citizenship. She nevertheless grew up in Buenos Aires…
Helen MirrenDame Helen Mirren was born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff on the 26th of July 1945, at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in the Hammersmith district of London. Neither the first name nor the surname on that record would last. The woman who…
Rita OraRita Ora broke a 30-year-old record in 2018, when her single "Let You Love Me" became her thirteenth top-ten song in the UK. No British female solo artist had reached that number before her. Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark had jointly held…
Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter applied to King's College, Cambridge, and the college said no. She was rejected "because officials were afraid that she would leave mid-term to pursue an acting career." The fear was well founded. Born in 1966, she…
Lily AllenIn the months before her debut album, almost nobody outside her record label's A&R department knew who Lily Allen was. Even so, 500 limited edition 7-inch vinyl copies of her song "LDN" were rush-released, and they resold for as much as…
Emily BluntEmily Blunt is a British actress who earned an extraordinary compliment from Meryl Streep after the two worked together. Streep called her "the best young actress I've worked with in some time, perhaps ever". Praise like that can weigh…
Gillian AndersonGillian Anderson was arrested on her graduation night. She had broken into her own high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, hoping to glue the locks of its doors shut. Her classmates had voted her "class clown," "most bizarre girl" and "most…
Daisy RidleyDaisy Ridley was pulling pints at London pubs before she became Rey in Star Wars. She had been a total unknown.
Emilia ClarkeEmilia Clarke could not say her own name in February 2011. A ruptured brain aneurysm had left her with aphasia.
Mia GothMia Goth played two roles in the 2022 slasher film X, including an elderly killer. The makeup chair took about 10 hours.
Cynthia ErivoCynthia Erivo, whose surname is pronounced uh-REE-voh, belongs to a very small group. She has been nominated for an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. She has won every one of them except the Oscar. That set of four honors is known…