Morfydd Clark (; born 17 March 1989) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for playing

Galadriel Galadriel () is a character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''Unfinished Tales''. She was a royal Elf (Middle-earth), Elf of both the N ...

in the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

series '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'' (2022–present). She received a number of accolades for her performance in the film '' Saint Maud'' (2019), including a BAFTA Cymru as well as BIFA and

BAFTA Rising Star Award The EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is a film award that acknowledges new talents ...

nominations. Clark's other films include '' Love & Friendship'' (2016), '' Interlude in Prague'' (2017), and '' The Personal History of David Copperfield'' (2019). Also on television, she played

Mina Harker Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. In the novel She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged t ...

in ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (2020) and Sister Clara in ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...

'' (2019).

Early life

Clark was born on 17 March 1989 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and moved with her family to

Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...

, Wales, when she was 2 years old. She described her father as a "

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

Glaswegian". Her maternal lineage comes from

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. She also has a younger sister, Siwan. Her parents spoke English together, but her maternal grandparents were Welsh speakers, which led to her attending a Welsh language school, Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg. She is bilingual in English and Welsh. Her first acting experience was playing Mrs Dai Bread in a school production of ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh people, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953. A Under Milk Wood (1972 film), f ...

''. After struggling with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

and

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

, she left school at sixteen. She later completed her A Levels in English and mathematics at Kings Monkton School in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. In 2009, she was accepted to British Youth Music Theatre's production of ''According to Brian Haw'' and to the National Youth Theatre of Wales, before training at the

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in Kings Cross, London, King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint ...

Career

2014-2021: Early career

Clark left Drama Centre in her final term to star in

Saunders Lewis Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis; 15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. Born into a Welsh-speaking ministerial family in Greater Liverpool, Lewis studied in a p ...

's play ''Blodeuwedd'' with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru. She has appeared in ''Violence and Son'' at the Royal Court, as Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

, Sheffield, and in ''

Les Liaisons Dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu on March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise Isabelle de Merteu ...

'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

. She played Frederica Vernon in Whit Stillman's film '' Love & Friendship''. In 2016, Clark was named as one of the

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

''Stars of Tomorrow'' for her early work in television and theatre. She appeared in the film ''

The Call Up "The Call Up" is a song by English punk rock group the Clash. It was released as the first single from the band's fourth album, ''Sandinista!''. The single was released in November 1980, in advance of the release of ''Sandinista!'', with "Stop t ...

'' and as Cordelia in ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

. In 2017, she starred in '' Interlude In Prague'', and portrayed Catherine Dickens in '' The Man Who Invented Christmas''. In 2019, she appeared in the films ''

Crawl Crawl, The Crawl, or crawling may refer to: Biology * Crawling, any type of tetrapod quadrupedal locomotion with the torso persistently touching or very close to the ground. ** Crawling (human), any of several types of human quadrupedal gait * L ...

'', '' The Personal History of David Copperfield'', and '' Eternal Beauty''. Also that year, Clark starred as Maud in the psychological horror film '' Saint Maud'', for which she was nominated for Best Actress of the 2020

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early Nov ...

. For her performance as Maud, she won the BAFTA Cymru best actress award, and was nominated for the 2021

2022-present: ''The Rings of Power''

Clark played the character

in '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'' on

(a younger version of the character found in ''The Lord of Rings''). She was so shocked when she was cast in the role that she fainted. Clark has cited that she is "proud" that being a Welsh speaker influenced her portrayal of her bilingual character, Galadriel. The actor stated, "I feel I can be much more romantic and deep in Welsh. So that was really useful for me, because I was thinking, ' hat's thelanguage of her heart? What language does she think in?'" In another interview, the actor discussed her education in Welsh: "Well, I went to a Welsh language school and everything is taught in Welsh. Welsh is phonetic, so it's great for people with dyslexia. I started learning English in the third year. What my Tolkien-obsessed mother was really proud of and passed on to us was that Tolkien was inspired by the Welsh. Oddly enough, his work was a badge of honour for me, because the Welsh are Welsh and obsessed with anything Welsh." She also mentioned enjoying speaking in Welsh on-set with co-stars

Owain Arthur Owain Arthur (born 5 March 1983) is a Welsh actor, who rose to fame playing Francis Henshall in The National Theatre's production of '' One Man, Two Guvnors'' at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. His early years were spent in Bangor, Wales, filmi ...

and Trystan Gravelle.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Morfydd Living people 21st-century Welsh actresses Actresses from Cardiff Alumni of British Youth Music Theatre British expatriates in Sweden British Shakespearean actresses Actors from Penarth Actresses from the Vale of Glamorgan Welsh people of Irish descent Welsh people of Scottish descent Actors with dyslexia People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 1989 births Swedish people of Scottish descent Swedish people of Welsh descent Swedish people of Northern Ireland descent Alumni of the Drama Centre London