Ella Balinska (born 4 October 1996) is an English actress. She is known for starring in the action-comedy film '' Charlie's Angels'' (2019) and 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 fi ...

original series ''Resident Evil'' (2022).

Early life and education

Balinska was born on 4 October 1996 in London to entrepreneur Kaz Balinski-Jundzill and chef Lorraine Pascale. She has described her background as being a mix of "British,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and Caribbean". Her parents divorced in 2000. Her father is married to model

Sophie Anderton Sophie Louise Balinska-Jundzillova (born 14 May 1977) is an English model and reality television personality. Her modelling career included a campaign for Gossard bras in 1996, and later included appearances for a range of other brands. Sinc ...

. Balinska played county-level

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and competed in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

at a national level, having been the

javelin thrower The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

for Team London. She went to

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is an independent day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. It is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain - Godolphin School in Salisbury being the oldest, founde ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...

and left in 2015 to attend

Arts Educational School Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in mus ...

(ArtsEd) in Chiswick for Sixth Form. She then went on to train at the

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

. She left during her final semester in 2018 for work and returned in 2020 to complete her degree, officially graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Acting in 2021. The Ella Balinska Scholarship was established in her name.

Career

In 2017, Balinska obtained the lead role in the Sky Kids series ''The Athena'' (2019) as Nyela Malik. She starred alongside

Kristen Stewart Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

and

Naomi Scott Naomi Scott (born 6 May 1993) is an English actress and singer. Born in Hounslow, she rose to prominence for her performances in the television film '' Lemonade Mouth'' (2011) and the science fiction series '' Terra Nova'' (2011). In 2015, Scree ...

in the action comedy '' Charlie's Angels'', a continuation of the 1976 television series of the same name and two previous theatrical films. It was released in November 2019, garnering mixed critical reviews. Balinska starred in the thriller film ''

Run Sweetheart Run ''Run Sweetheart Run'' is a 2020 American supernatural horror film directed by Shana Feste from a screenplay by Feste, Keith Josef Adkins and Kellee Terrell. The film stars Ella Balinska, Pilou Asbæk, Dayo Okeniyi, Betsy Brandt, Ava Grey, La ...

'', which premiered at the

2020 Sundance Film Festival The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was ''Miss Americana'' directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morga ...

. She will portray and voice Frey Holland, the protagonist of the

action role-playing video game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

Forspoken ''Forspoken'' is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Luminous Productions and published by Square Enix. It is to be released on January 24, 2023, on PlayStation 5 and Windows. Gameplay According to director Takeshi Aramaki, th ...

''. Balinska starred in ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'', a

live-action television series based on the video game series of the same name. It was released in July 2022. She is set to appear in ''The Occupant'', a science fiction thriller film.

Personal life

Balinska is a supporter of the nonprofit organisation the

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balinska, Ella 1996 births 21st-century English actresses Living people Actresses from London Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting Black British actresses English actresses English film actresses English people of Polish descent English people of West Indian descent English television actresses National Youth Theatre members People educated at the Arts Educational Schools People educated at James Allen's Girls' School