Anna Friel

Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, she has been acting since the age of 13, appearing in a number of British television programmes. She played Beth Jordache in the Channel 4 soap Brookside, and portrayed the first lesbian kiss in a British soap opera in January 1994. She made her West End theatre debut in London in 2001 and has subsequently appeared in several productions, including in an adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffany's and as Yelena in a 2012 production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.

Friel made her film debut in 1998 in David Leland's Land Girls and has since made a number of films such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), Timeline (2003), Land of the Lost (2009) and Limitless (2011). Outside of film, she played the role of Charlotte "Chuck" Charles in the ABC comedy series Pushing Daisies, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2008.

She is the recipient of a number of awards, including National Television Award (1995), Drama Desk Award (1999), and the Royal Television Society Award (2009). She has also appeared in music videos and television and print media advertising campaigns and is the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Bolton.
In April 2010, she was cast in the psychological thriller film The Dark Fields (now entitled Limitless and released in March 2011). In November 2010, Friel starred in London Boulevard alongside Ray Winstone, Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley and her then partner David Thewlis.

Friel appears in the video for the Manic Street Preachers' September 2010 single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love" opposite Welsh actor Michael Sheen, with whom she co-starred in the 2003 film Timeline.

In January 2011, Friel appeared in an episode of the BBC series Come Fly with Me as a fictionalised version of herself. In the show she is bald and has lost her wig. In December of that year, she played the star role (Ellie Manning) in ITV's series drama Without You. That same month, she starred as Captain Elizabeth Bonny in the SyFy network's production of Neverland, a prequel to J.M. Barrie's classic story Peter Pan.

In March 2012, Friel began filming for The King of Soho, later renamed The Look of Love, a biographical movie about porn baron Paul Raymond, in which she plays Raymond's wife Jean alongside Steve Coogan as Raymond. She also starred in Public Enemies, a 3-part BBC television drama which aired in early 2012, opposite Daniel Mays. The two previously worked together during her appearance on The Street. It also featured Barnaby Kay, an actor whom she worked with in Without You.

In 2013 Friel was cast in Showtime's new drama The Vatican opposite Kyle Chandler. Anna Friel filmed Having You, a TV movie, opposite Andrew Buchan, in 2012, and it aired on Sky TV in early May 2013 for UK residents. Having You has been released on DVD and VOD.

Friel was cast in the lead role of Sergeant Odelle Ballard in NBC's American Odyssey for one season in 2015. As of April 2016, Friel portrays lead character Detective Sergeant Marcella Backland in the British crime drama Marcella (ITV/Netflix). The series has been renewed for 2017.