Felicity Jones
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Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is an English actress. She began her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the television series ''
The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...
'' (1998). In 2008, she appeared in the Donmar Warehouse production of '' The Chalk Garden''. Since 2006, Jones has appeared in the films ''
Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...
'' (2007), '' Brideshead Revisited'' (2008), '' Chéri'' (2009), ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'' (2010), '' The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014), and '' True Story'' (2015). She received praise for her performances in the romantic drama '' Like Crazy'' (2011) and the biopic '' The Theory of Everything'' (2014). Her portrayal of Jane Hawking in the latter earned her nominations for the
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
and
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
. In 2016, Jones starred in the thriller '' Inferno'', the fantasy drama '' A Monster Calls'', and the space opera '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' as Jyn Erso. She has portrayed
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
in the biopic '' On the Basis of Sex'' (2018), and has starred in the streaming films '' The Aeronauts'' (2019), '' The Midnight Sky'' (2020) and '' The Last Letter from Your Lover'' (2021), as well as the period drama '' The Brutalist'' (2024), which earned her a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...
.


Early life and education

Felicity Rose Hadley Jones was born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
on 17 October 1983, and grew up in Bournville. Her mother worked in advertising and her father was a journalist. They separated when she was three years old and she and her elder brother lived with her mother. One of her great-great-grandmothers was Italian and hailed from
Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
. Her uncle Michael Hadley is also an actor, which prompted Jones's interest in acting as a child. After Kings Norton Girls' School, Jones attended King Edward VI Handsworth School, to complete A-levels and went on to take a gap year (during which she appeared in the BBC series ''Servants''). She then studied English at
Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...
. She appeared in student plays, including '' Attis'' in which she played the titular role, and, in 2005,
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 '' The Comedy of Errors'' for the
Oxford University Dramatic Society The Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England. Not all student productions at Oxford University a ...
summer tour to Japan, starring alongside Harry Lloyd.


Career

Jones began acting at the age of 11 at after-school workshop Central Junior Television, which was funded by Central Television. At age 14, she appeared in the first series of ''
The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...
''. When '' Weirdsister College'' began in 2001, Jones returned as Hallow. Her longest-running role around this time was on the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
soap opera ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
'', where she played Emma Carter until 2009. In 2003, she starred as Grace May in the BBC drama ''
Servants A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly d ...
''. She took the leading role in the 2007 ITV adaptation of
Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...
's ''
Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...
'', and starred in Polly Stenham's '' That Face'' at the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
in April 2007. In 2008, Jones appeared in the films '' Brideshead Revisited'' and '' Flashbacks of a Fool'', the ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' episode " The Unicorn and the Wasp" and a revival of Enid Bagnold's '' The Chalk Garden'' at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London. In January 2009, the five-part TV serial '' The Diary of Anne Frank'', in which Jones played the role of Margot Frank alongside Tamsin Greig (as Edith Frank-Holländer) and Iain Glen (as Otto Frank), was broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
. Later that year in May, she performed in a rehearsed reading of
Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), ...
's ''Hang Up'' at the High Tide Festival. Jones played the role of Julie in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's 2010 film '' Cemetery Junction''. She appeared in '' Soulboy'' and in Julie Taymor's big screen adaptation of ''
The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...
'' as Miranda. On 29 January 2011, Jones won a Special Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
for her performance as Anna in
Drake Doremus Drake Doremus (; born March 29, 1983) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer best known for directing the films ''Like Crazy'' (2011), which won the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, ''Douchebag (film) ...
's '' Like Crazy''. For the film, Jones did her own hair and make-up and improvised her dialogue. Her performance earned comparisons to Carey Mulligan's
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-nominated role in '' An Education''. She received the Best New Hollywood Award for this film at the 2011 Hollywood Film Awards. Jones appeared alongside Ed Westwick in '' Chalet Girl'', a romantic comedy released in March 2011, for which she had to undergo two months of
snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...
training and work undercover in a chalet at St Anton, scrubbing toilets and partying at the Krazy Kanguruh bar in preparation for the role. Jones said that the role was "something of a relief" after a string of costume roles and she was also keen to take on a comic role. Jones performed in ''Luise Miller'', a new translation of Schiller's '' Kabale und Liebe'' by Mike Poulton at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London, in June and July 2011. Jones lived with a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
family and attended
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
to prepare for the role. In 2011, Jones was announced as the new face of Burberry. In November, she was also announced as the new face of Dolce & Gabbana. In 2013, Jones portrayed Ellen Ternan in '' The Invisible Woman''. Jones, previously unfamiliar with Ternan, learned about her life through research, and reflected that she knew she was "in for a challenge" when choosing to work on the film, citing the experience of director
Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...
and how "methodically done" his performance was. She appeared in '' The Amazing Spider-Man 2'', which was released on 2 May 2014. She played Felicia Hardy; an assistant of Harry Osborn. Jones signed on due to its difference from her previous works. In 2014, Jones portrayed Jane Wilde Hawking in the film '' The Theory of Everything'', a biopic charting the life and love between Wilde Hawking and physicist
Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...
, with Eddie Redmayne starring as Hawking. After being given the script by her agent, Jones read it in its entirety in one sitting, and said that she enjoyed that it was a "love story and not a straightforward biopic." She auditioned for the film and its director, James Marsh, offered her the part immediately after. Jones met with Jane Hawking in preparing for the role. Jane Hawking was so impressed by the portrayal she wondered if it was herself when watching Jones. For her role as Jane, she received nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...
, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. In February 2015, she was cast as Jyn Erso in the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' stand-alone film '' Rogue One'', with Gareth Edwards directing. Jones's agent recommended the role to her, and she enjoyed the character's search for an identity, drawing inspiration in her movements from Ronda Rousey. The film was released in December 2016 to positive reviews and grossed over $1 billion at the box office. Also in 2016, Jones starred in '' Inferno'', playing a doctor aiding Robert Langdon in his escape. After agreeing to the role, she visited museums and galleries to understand her character better. Jones enjoyed the chemistry between her and
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
's characters as well as ''Infernos overall diversity. In 2017, Jones was announced as a global brand ambassador for Clé de Peau Beauté. In late 2018, Jones starred in '' On the Basis of Sex'', a biography of United States Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; Bader; March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until Death and state funeral of Ruth Bader ...
, directed by Mimi Leder and co-starring Armie Hammer and Justin Theroux. She reunited on-screen with Redmayne in the biographical adventure '' The Aeronauts'' (2019), joined George Clooney in
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
's science fiction film '' The Midnight Sky'' (2020), and starred in the romantic drama '' The Last Letter from Your Lover'' (2021), an adaptation of Jojo Moyes' 2011 novel of the same name. Jones starred in the thriller '' Dead Shot'', alongside Aml Ameen, Mark Strong and Sophia Brown, in 2023. In May 2022, it was announced that she would lead Simon Amstell's comedy ''Maria'', co-starring
Jonathan Bailey Jonathan Stuart Bailey (born 25 April 1988) is an English actor known for his dramatic, comedic, and musical roles on List of Jonathan Bailey performances, stage and screen. List of awards and nominations received by Jonathan Bailey, His accola ...
. However, both Jones and Bailey were reported as having departed from the project in April 2024. Jones appeared in the 2024 film '' The Brutalist'', portraying the Holocaust-survivor wife of the central character, for which she received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performanc ...
.


Personal life

Jones met artist Ed Fornieles at
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
when he was at the Ruskin School of Art, and they dated from 2003 to 2013. In 2015, Jones began a relationship with director Charles Guard. They became engaged in May 2017 and married in June 2018. They have two children: a son born in 2020 and a daughter born in 2022.


Acting credits


Awards and nominations


See also

* List of British actors * List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain * List of actors with Academy Award nominations * List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Felicity Living people 1983 births 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British child actresses English feminists British film actresses British radio actresses British stage actresses British television actresses British voice actresses English people of Italian descent People educated at King Edward VI Handsworth People from Bournville People of Tuscan descent Sundance Film Festival award winners