Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the young

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in the first two seasons of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

'' (2016–2017) for which she won a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leadi ...

. Foy studied drama at

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This lat ...

and the Oxford School of Drama, then made her screen debut in the pilot episode of the supernatural comedy series '' Being Human'' (2008). Following her professional stage debut at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

, she played the title role in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

miniseries ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

'' (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 earned praise for portraying the ill-fated queen

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...

in the BBC miniseries ''

Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a symp ...

'' (2015), receiving a

British Academy Television Award for Best Actress This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actress. The British Academy Television Awards began in 1955. The Best Actress award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until ...

nomination. In 2018, she starred in

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker. Soderbergh's direct ...

's psychological thriller '' Unsane'' and portrayed Janet Shearon, wife of astronaut

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

, in

Damien Chazelle Damien Sayre Chazelle (; born January 19, 1985) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is known for his films '' Whiplash'' (2014), '' La La Land'' (2016), and '' First Man'' (2018). For ''Whiplash'', he was nominated for t ...

's biopic '' First Man''. For the latter she received a nomination for the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2021, she portrayed

Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll Ethel Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (''née'' Whigham, formerly Sweeny; 1 December 1912 – 25 July 1993) was a Scottish heiress, socialite, and aristocrat who was most famous for her 1951 marriage and much-publicised 1963 divorce fro ...

in the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

series ''

A Very British Scandal ''A Very British Scandal'' is a 2021 historical drama television miniseries, starring Claire Foy as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Paul Bettany as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. Its production company, Blueprint Pictures, previo ...

'', and in 2022, she starred in the drama film '' Women Talking''.

Early life

Claire Elizabeth Foy was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is withi ...

on 16 April 1984, the youngest of three children. She has an older brother, Robert, and an older sister, Gemma. She has said that her mother, Caroline, comes from a "massive" Irish family; her maternal grandparents are from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

. She grew up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, and the family later moved to Longwick for her father's job as a

Rank Xerox Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

salesman. Her parents divorced when she was eight. She has a younger half-sister through her father's second marriage. Foy was educated at

Aylesbury High School Aylesbury High School (AHS) was founded in 1959, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, when the previously co-educational Aylesbury Grammar School (founded 1598) split to become two single-sex grammar schools. The two institutions remain on adjacent si ...

from the age of 12 and later studied drama at

. She also took a one-year course at the Oxford School of Drama, graduating in 2007 and moving to the

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vil ...

area of south

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to share a house with five friends from drama school.

Career

While at the Oxford School of Drama, Foy appeared in the plays ''

Top Girls ''Top Girls'' is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It centres around Marlene, a career-driven woman who is heavily invested in women's success in business. The play examines the roles available to women in old society, and what it means or takes fo ...

'', ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural ...

'', '' 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

in London (the third was ''Baby Girl''). Foy starred as the protagonist, Amy Dorrit, in the BBC series ''

''. She was nominated for an

RTS Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

. She went on to appear in the TV film ''

Going Postal ''Going Postal'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 33rd book in his '' Discworld'' series, released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, ''Going Postal'' is divided in ...

'' and the horror adventure film '' Season of the Witch''. Foy also starred in the BBC revival of '' Upstairs Downstairs'' as Lady Persephone, and co-starred in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

serial '' The Promise'', broadcast in February 2011. Foy played a lead role, Helen, in the TV movie ''

The Night Watch ''Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq'', also known as ''The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch'', but commonly referred to as ''The Night Watch'' ( nl, De Nachtwacht), i ...

'', which was based on a Sarah Waters novel. She returned to the stage in February 2013 as

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes que ...

, alongside

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...

in the title role, in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

. In 2015, Foy played the English queen

in the six-part drama serial ''

''. Her performance was met with critical praise and compared to

Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...

's performance in ''

Anne of the Thousand Days ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' is a 1969 British period historical drama film based on the life of Anne Boleyn, directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The screenplay by Bridget Boland and John Hale is an adaptation of the 19 ...

''. Foy was subsequently nominated for the 2016

. In 2016, Foy portrayed the young

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan, (10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He is the playwright behind '' The Audience'' and '' Frost/Nixon'' and the screenwriter of ''The Queen'' (2006), '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008), '' The Damned Unit ...

biographical drama series ''

''. Her performance earned her the

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award honors the best performance by an actress in a drama television series. ...

, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series twice, and the

. She was also nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. In 2017, she reprised the role in the second season, before the role passed to actress

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

, who would portray the Queen in middle age, beginning in the third season. Also in 2017, Foy starred as Diana Cavendish in the biographical drama film '' Breathe''. In 2018, Foy starred in

's psychological thriller '' Unsane'', portrayed the vigilante

Lisbeth Salander Lisbeth Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson in his award-winning ''Millennium'' series. She first appeared in the 2005 novel '' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'', as an asocial computer hacke ...

in the action-thriller '' The Girl in the Spider's Web'', and played Janet Shearon, wife of American astronaut

, in

's biopic '' First Man''. For the latter, she was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year. The fo ...

, the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the

British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

for Best Supporting Actress. In 2020, Foy reprised the role of the young Queen Elizabeth II in the eighth episode of ''The Crown''s fourth season. Her performance earned her the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a gues ...

. In 2021, Foy starred as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll in the BBC production ''

''. In October 2021, Foy was cast as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

COO

Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is al ...

in the drama series ''Doomsday Machine'', based on the book ''Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination'' by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang. The limited series has landed at HBO for development with the network closing a deal on 8 February 2022, following a multiple-outlet bidding war. In November 2022, Foy reprised the role of the young Queen Elizabeth in the season five premiere of ''The Crown''.

Personal life

Foy married actor

Stephen Campbell Moore Stephen Campbell Moore (born Stephen Moore Thorpe, 30 November 1979) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in Alan Bennett's play '' The History Boys'' and the film based on it. Since 2019, he has starred in the sci-fi television ...

in 2014. They have one child. They announced their separation in February 2018.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foy, Claire 1984 births Living people 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Greater Manchester Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Alumni of the Oxford School of Drama Audiobook narrators Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners English film actresses English people of Irish descent English stage actresses English television actresses English voice actresses Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners People educated at Aylesbury High School Actors from Stockport