Daniela Lavender, Lady Kingsley ( Barbosa de Carneiro; 14 December 1974) is a Brazilian actress, appearing on Brazilian television and on English-language television, film and stage, including touring with the

British Shakespeare Company The British Shakespeare Company was a British open-air touring Shakespeare Company. Founded by Robert J. Williamson in 1994 (as the R. J. Williamson Company), it was renamed in 2005. Originally based in Leeds (performing in the ruins of Kirksta ...

Early life

Lavender was born in Bahia, Brazil, daughter of a policeman father and English teacher mother. At the age of eight, Lavender began training in ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Lavender studied

Flamenco dancing Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

under Roberto Amaral and Yolanda Arroyo in Los Angeles. Lavender received a journalism degree from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and studied drama at Dirceu de Mattos school in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, studied English for a year and traveled to London. She auditioned for the London International School of Performing Arts, playing 'Queen Anne' from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' Richard III'', and passed the audition in spite of the language barrier.

Acting career

Lavender appeared in the low budget independent film ''

Emotional Backgammon ''Emotional Backgammon'' is a 2003 British independent comedy-drama about couples strategizing to repair relationships, with unexpected results.Russell, Jamie (22 August 2003).''Emotional Backgammon'' review BBC. The film was written by Leon Her ...

'' (2003), and was awarded "Best Actress" at the

Denver Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

. Lavender appeared in ''

Ali G Indahouse ''Ali G Indahouse'' is a 2002 British comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' ...

'' and the BBC series ''

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

'', '' EastEnders'', and ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

.'' Lavender toured with the

production of ''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' in 2009, playing

Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...

and Titania. She made her theatre debut at London's Tabard Theatre in March 2011 in ''A Woman Alone'' (produced by Jason Greer).

Other work

Lavender has supported Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC) as an ambassador, to raise awareness and funding to assist the disadvantaged.

Personal life

In her professional life, Lavender uses the surname of her first husband, Ben Lavender, to whom she was married from 1996 to 2003. She married, secondly, to actor Sir

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...

Early life

Acting career

Other work

Personal life

Filmography

Film and television

Theatre

References

External links