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Eline Powell (born Eline Pauwels, 12 April 1990) is a Belgian actress best known for playing the title role on the American TV series ''
Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...
''.


Early years and education

Powell is the daughter of Belgian pharmacologist
Rudi Pauwels Rudi Pauwels (born 1960) is a Belgian pharmacologist and biotech entrepreneur. He studied pharmaceutical sciences at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. As one of the first researchers in the field of HIV, he played a key ...
and clinical researcher Carine Claeys, who in 1994 were two of the co-founders of the biotech company
Tibotec Tibotec was a pharmaceutical company with a focus on research and development for the treatment of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. The company was founded in 1994 and then acquired by Johnson & Johnson and merged into its Jan ...
. She was born in
Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
and lived in
Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
until she was fourteen years old. After a short stay in Switzerland, she moved to England, but she has Belgian citizenship and considers Belgium her home. She attended the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
, graduating in 2011 with a BA degree in acting.


Career

Powell started her career in a short student film '' For Elsie'', where she played the role of Mila, a mobster's daughter who wants to learn the piano in one day. Her performance earned awards from the Beijing Student Film Festival and the Student Academy Awards, USA; and the film's director, David Winstone, received the Foreign Film Gold Medal at the 39th Annual Student Academy Awards in 2012. In 2012, she had a small role (Angelique) in
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
's directorial debut ''
Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...
.'' In 2014, Powell played the title role in the Italian drama film '' Anita B.'' directed by
Roberto Faenza Roberto Faenza (born 21 February 1943) is an Italian film director. Born in Turin in 1943, Faenza received a degree in Political Science and a diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. Career Faenza made his directing debut in 1968 ...
, for which the 2014 Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival named her that year's Breakout Actress. ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', on the other hand, criticized her performance as "ineffective.. failing to convey any traces of the suffering her character has obviously endured." In 2016, she appeared in two episodes 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 ...
'' as Bianca, a young actress plotting to murder her rival. She had small roles in ''
Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
'' and '' King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'', both released in 2017. In August 2016, Powell was cast to star in the Freeform series''
Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...
''playing Ryn, a feral mermaid who comes to a small coastal village in search of her sister. To prepare for the role, Powell studied legends of mermaids and sea creatures. To develop ideas for the mermaid's body language, she worked from videos of marine and other predators. For the mermaid's newly learned speech, Powell was inspired by the accent of Icelandic singer
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
. She also worked with a
free diver Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on apnea, breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba set, scuba gear. Besides the l ...
to learn
monofin A monofin is a type of swimfin typically used in underwater sports such as finswimming, free-diving and underwater orienteering. It consists of a single or linked control surface (fluid dynamics), surfaces attached to both of the diver's feet, ...
techniques for underwater swimming and fast turns. Reviews of ''Siren'' were generally positive about Powell's performance, with ''
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
'' saying, "Powell’s ability to embody a being who is mainly a physical presence, yet fill it with wonder, fear, and menace without uttering a word, is magnetic." ''
The Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' praised her performance as one of "Siren's biggest strengths" (the other was its Pacific Northwest setting.) ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'', on the other hand, reviewing the pilot, complained that Powell "looks weird...performs the act of staring weird, as though she's trying with all her might to pop her eyeballs out of her head through sheer will." ''Siren'', which was the top new cable drama during spring 2018, was renewed in October for a second season, premiering on January 24, 2019.


Personal life

In December 2018, Powell announced her engagement to British director and animator Lee Lennox. She announced her pregnancy on Instagram April 2021. She later gave birth to a girl in July 2021.


Filmography


References


External links

* *
Casting page
at
Spotlight (company) Spotlight is the largest Casting (performing arts), casting resource in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1927, it has over 70,000 actors, actresses, presenters, dancers, and stunt performers in its database. It is used by thousands of producti ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Eline 1990 births Living people 21st-century English actresses Belgian television actresses Belgian film actresses Belgian expatriates in the United Kingdom