Hannah Cowley (born 5 November 1981) is an English actress and director.

Early life and education

Cowley was born and raised in

Islington, London Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, the great grand-niece of Charles Cowley. While studying ballet at the London Studio Centre of Dance, she gained fame as a child model and filmed over 30 commercials. Cowley attended Prior Weston Primary School before moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

with honours I in history, then accepted a place in the PhD program at

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Career

Cowley performed with the London Studio Centre of Dance in the ballets ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' and ''Godspell'', at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Cowley's television debut was in ''Neighbours'', as Angie Gleason; she went on to film the first season of ''

Merrick and Rosso Merrick and Rosso were an Australian comedy duo, composed of Merrick Watts (Merrick) and Tim Ross (Rosso). The duo began in stand up comedy, and first came together when they teamed up for what was intended to be a one-off comedy show in 1996. The ...

'' as Chastity, and appeared with

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

in a 2011 sketch for

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and the fourth season of ''

Easy to Assemble Easy to Assemble is a web series created by and starring Illeana Douglas, and sponsored by furniture store IKEA. Douglas plays a fictional version of herself trying to quit acting and work a "real job" at the IKEA store in Burbank, California. ...

'', created by

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

. She also appeared as

Cersei Lannister Cersei Lannister is a fictional character in the '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation '' Game of Thrones'', where she is portrayed by Bermudan-English act ...

in a 2011 parody of ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' for

G4 (U.S. TV channel) G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...

. A noted model, Cowley was the face of

Napoleon Perdis Napoleon Perdis (born 19 March 1970) is an Australian make-up artist and businessman. Perdis launched a small makeup studio in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in 1992. He created a line of cosmetic products which he ...

"Astro Girl" campaign,

Air Tahiti Nui Air Tahiti Nui is the flag carrier of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia, with its head office in Papeete and its daily operations office in Faaa, Tahiti. It operates long-haul flights from its home base at Faa'a International ...

. She was one of the first real models to be used by make-up giant

Benefit Cosmetics Benefit Cosmetics LLC is a manufacturer of cosmetics founded and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is a subsidiary of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. History Benefit was founded by twin sisters Jean anJane Ford Born in India ...

. Cowley's on-screen film work has included ''

Get Him to the Greek ''Get Him to the Greek'' is a 2010 American comedy film written, produced and directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill. Released on June 4, 2010, the film is a spin-off sequel of Stoller's 2008 film ''Forgetting Sa ...

'', Bernard Rose's ''

Two Jacks 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

'', ''

Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus ''Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus'' is a monster disaster film by The Asylum, released on December 21, 2010, in the United States. The film stars Jaleel White, Gary Stretch, Robert Picardo, Dylan Vox, Hannah Cowley and Sarah Lieving. The film i ...

'' as the arrogant rich businesswoman Legatt in the beginning of the film, ''

Ghost Soldiers Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to army troops whom names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army of ...

'', ''Haunting of the Innocent'', ''

The Atticus Institute ''The Atticus Institute'' is a 2015 American independent pseudo-documentary horror film written and directed by Chris Sparling about a paranormal research institute, which becomes home to the only U.S. government confirmed case of possession. P ...

'', ''In The Blood'', and ''Bereave''. Cowley's directorial debut came at the SFC Cannes 2008. Her work was subsequently selected for the St John's International Women's Film Festival 2008. ''Flame of the West'' (2008), which she also wrote, produced and starred in, is distributed in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Moviola A Moviola () is a device that allows a film editor to view a film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. History Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept for the Moviola ...

. Her second film, ''Mere Image'' (2010) was chosen for the 2010

The Valley Film Festival The Valley Film Festival (VFF) is an annual independent film festival held in the San Fernando Valley of northwestern Los Angeles, California. The VFF is a venue for new independent work by Valley residents as well as American and international fil ...

. She has been an active contributor to literary and cinema magazines since working on an edition of ''Film Courage'', after a screening of ''Mere Image'' at the Film Courage Interactive.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Hannah Living people Actors from Islington (district) English ballerinas English television actresses English film actresses English film directors English women film directors 1981 births