Aisling Loftus

Aisling Sinead Katie Loftus (born 1 September 1990) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress and gained prominence through her roles in the BBC dramas '' Five Daughters'' (2010) and ''Dive'' (2010), the play ''Spur of the Moment'', and the film ''Death of a Superhero'' (2011).

She has since appeared in the ITV period drama ''Mr Selfridge'' (2013–2015), the BBC series '' War & Peace'' (2016) and '' Broken'' (2017), and the Sky series ''A Discovery of Witches'' (2018–2022) and ''The Midwich Cuckoos'' (2022). Her performance in the film ''Property of the State'' (2016) earned her an IFTA nomination.

Early life

Loftus was born in Nottingham to Irish parents Paddy and Eileen from Drumcondra, Dublin and Roscrea, County Tipperary; she has an older sister Aoife. Loftus attended St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School in West Bridgford and later completed A Levels at the Becket School. She was nine when she discovered acting; she took classes at the Television Workshop and participated in the National Theatre Connections. She considered going to drama school, but decided against it when she was cast in ''Dive'' whilst on study leave from her A Levels.

Career

Loftus made her television debut in a 2000 episode of the ITV medical drama ''Peak Practice''. This was followed by guest appearances in the CITV series ''Help! I'm a Teenage Outlaw'' as well as ''Casualty'', ''Doctors'', and ''The Bill''. In 2009, she starred as Amy in the ITV comedy-drama television film '' The Fattest Man in Britain''Loftus profile on IMDb
/ref> and the titular character of Daniel Elliott's short ''Jade'', which won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009. Loftus was named a 2009 ''Screen International'' Star of Tomorrow.

In 2010, Loftus starred in the BBC dramas '' Five Daughters'' and ''Dive'' as Gemma Adams and Lindsey respectively. In her review of ''Dive'', Euan Ferguson of ''The Observer'' predicted that Aisling "Ash" Loftus would be a "phenomenon." That same year, Loftus made her London stage debut as Leonie Fowler in ''Spur of the Moment'' by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre. Dominic Cavendish of ''The Daily Telegraph'' called her "superb." She also appeared in the Australian film '' Oranges and Sunshine and the Sky One crime drama '' Thorne: Sleepyhead''.

Loftus starred in the 2011 Irish film ''Death of a Superhero'', for which she was awarded the Special Jury Prize by critics at the 2012 Dublin International Film Festival. She also starred in the television films ''Page Eight'' on BBC Two as Melissa Legge and '' The Borrowers'' on BBC One as Arrietty Clock, as well as the play '' Noises Off'' for its Old Vic and Novello Theatre runs, marking her West End debut. This was followed in by roles in the BBC miniseries '' Public Enemies'' as Jade and ''Good Cop'' as Cassandra.

In 2013, Loftus began starring in the ITV period drama ''Mr. Selfridge'' as Agnes Towler, a role she would play for the first three series. In 2016, she played Sonya Rostova in the BBC adaptation of '' War & Peace'', and appeared in the films '' Pride & Prejudice & Zombies'' and ''Property of the State''. For the latter, she was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Film at the 14th Irish Film & Television Awards.

In 2017, she played Joan in the 40th anniversary production of Stephen Lowe's '' Touched'' at Nottingham Playhouse alongside fellow Television Workshop alumni. and Anne in ''The Treatment'' at the Almeida Theatre. She appeared in the film '' Gun Shy'', and played PC Dawn Morris in the BBC series '' Broken''.

Loftus began played Sophie Wilson and later Susanna Norman in the 2018 Sky fantasy series ''A Discovery of Witches''. She appeared in ''Aristocrats'' at the Donmar Warehouse. She originated the role of Queenie in Helen Edmundson's 2019 stage adaptation of '' Small Island'' at the National Theatre. She returned to the Donmar Warehouse with '' Far Away'' in 2020. Loftus starred in the film ''Homebound'' and the Sky Max science fiction series ''The Midwich Cuckoos''.

Personal life

In December 2018, Loftus married actor Jacob Anderson. The couple have a daughter, born July 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Loftus on Screen Daily websiteLeftLion: Aisling Loftus

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, Aisling
Living people
1990 births
21st-century English actresses
Actresses from Nottinghamshire
English film actresses
English people of Irish descent
English television actresses
English stage actresses
People from Nottingham