Morfydd Clark (born ) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

actress. She is best known for her role as

Galadriel Galadriel (IPA: �aˈladri.ɛl 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 of bot ...

in the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one ...

fantasy series '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'' (2022–). She received a number of accolades for her performance in the film ''

Saint Maud ''Saint Maud'' is a 2019 British psychological horror film written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature directorial debut. The story follows hospice nurse Maud (portrayed by Morfydd Clark), a recent convert to Roman Catholicism, who beco ...

'' (2019), including a

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

as well as BIFA and

BAFTA Rising Star Award The 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 an award that acknowledges new talents in the ...

nominations. Clark's other films include ''

Love & Friendship ''Love & Friendship'' is a 2016 period comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman. Based on Jane Austen's epistolary novel '' Lady Susan'', written c. 1794, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, and Emma Gre ...

'' (2016), '' Interlude in Prague'' (2017), and ''

The Personal History of David Copperfield ''The Personal History of David Copperfield'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Armando Iannucci, based on the 1850 novel ''David Copperfield'' by Charles Dickens. It stars Dev Patel as the title character, along with Aneuri ...

'' (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 a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

'' (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 follows ...

'' (2019).

Early life

Clark was born in Sweden and moved with her family to

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a wealthy seaside resort ...

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

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

", and her maternal side is from

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a 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 Snowdonia N ...

. Her parents spoke English together, but her maternal grandparents were Welsh speakers, which led to her attending a Welsh language school. She is bi-lingual in English and Welsh. Her first taste of acting was playing Mrs Dai Bread in a school production of ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, '' Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptatio ...

''. After struggling with

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and ADHD, she left school at 16. In 2009, she was accepted to

British Youth Music Theatre British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT), formerly Youth Music Theatre UK, is a UK-based national performing arts organisation founded in December 2003. BYMT provides music theatre training to young people aged 11–21 and a stepping stone to drama ...

's production of ''According to Brian Haw'' and to the National Youth Theatre of Wales, before training at the Drama Centre London.

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. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-fo ...

' play ''Blodeuwedd'' with

Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is the Welsh language national theatre of Wales, founded in 2003. It has a counterpart in National Theatre Wales, the English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, ...

. She has appeared in ''Violence and Son'' at the Royal Court, as Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

, 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 from March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and ...

'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by M ...

. She played Frederica Vernon in Whit Stillman's film ''

''. 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. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

''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 ...

'' and as

Cordelia Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin ''cor'' (gen ...

in ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'' at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. 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 Vi ...

. In 2017, she starred in '' Interlude In Prague'', and portrayed

Catherine Dickens Catherine Thomson "Kate" Dickens (''née'' Hogarth; 19 May 1815 – 22 November 1879) was the wife of English novelist Charles Dickens, the mother of his ten children, and a writer of domestic management. Early life Born in Edinburgh, Scotlan ...

in '' The Man Who Invented Christmas''. In 2019, she appeared in the films ''

Crawl Crawl, The Crawl, or crawling may refer to: Biology * Crawling (human), any of several types of human quadrupedal gait * Limbless locomotion, the movement of limbless animals over the ground * Undulatory locomotion, a type of motion characterize ...

'', ''

'', and '' Eternal Beauty''. Also that year, Clark starred as Maud in the psychological horror film ''

'', 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 filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November ...

. For her performance as Maud, she won the

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

best actress award, and the 2021

''The Rings of Power''

In December 2019, it was reported (and in early 2020, confirmed) that Clark would portray a younger version of the character

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

. Morfydd has cited that she is "proud" that being a

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

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, fi ...

and Trystan Gravelle.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Morfydd Living people 1990 births 21st-century Welsh actresses Actresses from Cardiff Alumni of British Youth Music Theatre British expatriates in Sweden People from Penarth Welsh people of Irish descent Welsh people of Scottish descent