Anna Friel: What To Know About The English Actress

An English actress named Anna Friel was born on July 12, 1976. She was raised in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and began acting professionally when she was 13. Friel first rose to stardom as Beth Jordache in the British soap opera Brookside (1993–1955), and she later gained international notoriety as Charlotte “Chuck” Charles on the ABC drama Pushing Daisies (2007–2009).

She has won numerous honors, including an honorary degree, an International Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, a National Television Award, an RTS Award, and nominations for the Czech Lion Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, Saturn Award, and Genie Award.

anna friel
Source

Read More: Julia Rose: Amazing Facts About Her Career, Nude Controversy, Relationship And Net Worth

Early Life

On July 12, 1976, Anna Louise Friel was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Julie (née Bamford), her mother, teaches students with disabilities. [Reference needed] Desmond “Des” Friel, her father, was raised in County Donegal, Ireland, but was born in Belfast. He used to teach French and play folk music, but today he runs a web design business. Michael, her brother, is a doctor who worked on Hovis’s television advertising campaign when he was younger.

Friel went to Holy Cross College after graduating from a local Catholic school. She started her acting studies at the Oldham Theatre Workshop.

Read More: Tom Holland: Amazing Facts About His Career, Relationship And Net Worth

Career

Anna friel
Source

 

Anna Friel made her professional acting debut at the age of 13 in the 1991 British television miniseries G.B.H., which starred Michael Palin and received multiple BAFTA nominations. Friel played the character’s daughter. This resulted in appearances on Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

She was hired to play Beth Jordache in the 1992 season of Brookside, a Channel 4 serial drama. She performed the part for two years and was a part of some of the most notable storylines from the show, such as the murder of her on-screen father and a plot that featured the first lesbian kiss on British television before nine o’clock in history.

Friel debuted on the West End stage in an adaption of Lulu by Frank Wedekind in 2001. During this time, she appeared in several movies, including Sunset Strip (2000) with Jared Leto, Me Without You (2001) with Michelle Williams, and Richard Donner’s high-budget fantasy-adventure movie Timeline (2003), in which she played Gerard Butler’s love interest. These movies were all directed by Barry Levinson and co-starred Billy Connolly. She also played a key role in the 2001 Canadian film The War Bride, for which she was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actress.

Read More: Donna Mills: Amazing Facts About Her Life, Career, And Net Worth

The following major part for Friel was in the television movie Watermelon (2003). The Jury was an American courtroom drama series that aired on Fox for one season in 2004. She was then cast in it as Attorney Megan Delaney.

Friel starred as a Geordie nurse in the sports drama Goal! in 2005. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton the following year for her services to the performing arts, and the year after that she starred in the Canadian movie Niagara Motel.

Friel was chosen in 2007 to play Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, the main character in Bryan Fuller’s American comedy-drama television series Pushing Daisies, which ran on ABC from 2007 to 2009. Throughout the two seasons of the program, it got positive reviews, and Friel was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work.

The cancellation of Pushing Daisies, however, was made public in November 2008 due to falling viewership. Friel then turned down six television jobs during the pilot season the following year to concentrate on her acting career. After that, she played the lead role in Juraj Jakubisko’s historical drama Bathory (2008). For her performance, Friel was nominated for a Czech Lion Award.

Read More: Antonio Brown: Amazing Facts About His Life, Career, Wife And Net Worth

Friel debuted on the West End stage in an adaption of Lulu by Frank Wedekind in 2001. During this time, she appeared in several movies, including Sunset Strip (2000) with Jared Leto, Me Without You (2001) with Michelle Williams, and Richard Donner’s high-budget fantasy-adventure movie Timeline (2003), in which she played Gerard Butler’s love interest. These movies were all directed by Barry Levinson and co-starred Billy Connolly. She also played a key role in the 2001 Canadian film The War Bride, for which she was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actress.

Anna Friel’s performance of Holly Golightly, one of her “all-time favorite heroines,” was acclaimed; Alice Jones of The Independent called her “infectious.” The show garnered mixed reviews. When a photo of Anna Friel in a nude scene from a preview performance surfaced online, it led to enhanced security during performances. Anna Friel appeared naked in the play. For her portrayal of a struggling single mother in the British drama series The Street, Friel won an RTS Award in November 2009

2010’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, which was directed by Woody Allen, featured Friel with Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts. In the same year, she co-starred in the sci-fi thriller Limitless with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro as well as the crime drama London Boulevard with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley.

Friel made an appearance in an episode of the mockumentary series Come Fly with Me in 2011 as a fictionalized version of herself. In the same year, she appeared in the SyFy prequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Neverland, and won praise for her work in the ITV drama Without You.

Read More: Amy Schumer: Amazing Facts About Her Early Life, Career, Relationship, And Net Worth

After that, Anna Friel went back to the West End to portray Yelena in a production of Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, for which she garnered positive reviews. She then appeared in the BBC series Public Enemies (2012), Steve Coogan’s wife in the biopic The Look of Love (2013) based on Paul Raymond’s life, and opposite Andrew Buchan in the British movie Having You (2013).

Friel and Kyle Chandler were both chosen for the Ridley Scott-directed Showtime pilot The Vatican in September 2013. Later in the year, it was revealed that Showtime had changed its mind about moving forward with a full series as originally intended.

Sergeant Odelle Ballard, the main character of the 2015 NBC television series American Odyssey, was played by Friel. She also played a key role in the critically acclaimed Norwegian miniseries The Heavy Water War (UK title: The Saboteurs), a wartime drama. Next, she starred in four films as the lead character, including Urban and the Shed Crew (2015), which was based on the nonfiction book of the same name; The Cleanse (2016), in which she shared a screen with Anjelica Huston; I.T., a thriller directed by John Moore and starring Pierce Brosnan; and the Irish-Canadian crime drama Tomato Red.

Read More: Karol G: Interesting About Her Early Life, Career, Relationship And Net Worth

The Girlfriend Experience, a drama series created by Steven Soderbergh for the Starz network, featured Anna Friel in its second season in 2017. The portrayal of Republican Erica Myles by Friel as having relationships with two different women was praised as “brilliant” and “amazing.” Anna Friel referred to the role as being her “most tough job to date” due to the demanding production schedule and the explicit nature of the show’s sex scenes. She received a British Academy Television Award nomination in the same year for her work in the six-part BBC drama Broken.

Friel has portrayed Marcella, the titular character of the British “Nordic” noir detective series, since 2016. For her work, she received the 2017 International Emmy Award for Best Actress. Friel portrayed the parent of a transgender child in the October 2018 film Butterfly.

The Box (a Swedish TV series), which debuted on Viaplay on November 28, 2021, starred Anna Friel as Sharon Pici, a Kansas City investigator.

Read More: Rob Pelinka: Amazing Facts About Him As An Executive And Career As A Sport Agent

Other Ventures

Friel has appeared in print and television commercials for companies like Pantene, Reebok, Virgin Atlantic, Mulberry, Three, and Marks & Spencer. She has served as the cover girl for many publications.

She co-starred with actor Michael Sheen in the 2010 music video for the Manic Street Preachers’ song “(It’s Not War) Just the End of Love” as a chess player. Friel represents the WWF wildlife organization.

Personal Life

anna friel david thewlis
Source

After meeting on a flight to Cannes in 2001, Friel started dating actor David Thewlis. Later that year, after collapsing and having two blood transfusions and emergency surgery for a burst ovarian cyst, Friel fell and was taken to the hospital. It was found that she has endometriosis and would have trouble getting pregnant.

In spite of this, she subsequently got pregnant and gave birth to Gracie Ellen Mary Friel on July 9, 2005, at Portland Hospital in London. Gracie was given the names Gracie Fields and Ellen and Mary, the grandmothers of her mother.

After nearly twelve years together, Friel and Thewlis divorced in December 2010.

Affiliate Disclosure: Purchases that are made using our links may earn us commissions from affiliate partners such as Amazon and other retailers.

Leave a Comment!