Sienna Miller

Sienna Rose Diana Miller (born 28 December 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian '' Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli Calendar. Her acting breakthrough came in the 2004 films ''Layer Cake'' and '' Alfie''. She subsequently portrayed socialite Edie Sedgwick in '' Factory Girl'' (2006) and author Caitlin Macnamara in ''The Edge of Love'' (2008), and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2008. Her role as The Baroness in '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009) was followed by a brief sabbatical from the screen amid increased tabloid scrutiny.

Miller returned to prominence with her role as actress Tippi Hedren in the 2012 television film '' The Girl'', for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. She has since starred in several notable films, including ''Foxcatcher'' (2014), ''American Sniper'' (2014), '' The Lost City of Z'' (2016), '' Live by Night'' (2016), and '' American Woman'' (2018), as well as the miniseries '' The Loudest Voice'' (2019) and '' Anatomy of a Scandal'' (2022).

Early life

Miller was born in New York City, in ''The Nutcracker Suite'' theatre, and moved to London with her family when she was 18 months old. She later boarded at the Heathfield School in Ascot, Berkshire. Her father, Edwin Miller, is an American dealer in Chinese art, previously a banker. Her mother, Josephine, is a British former model who was born in South Africa to British parents and was a personal assistant to David Bowie and onetime manager of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.

Acting career

2001–2003: Early acting credits

Miller's screen debut came in the romantic comedy ''South Kensington'' (2001), opposite Rupert Everett and Elle Macpherson. In 2002, she had supporting roles in ''High Speed'' and its follow-up ''The Ride'', and guest-starred in '' The American Embassy'' and '' Bedtime''. She had a regular role as the combative yet caring flatmate of an NYPD detective in the television drama series '' Keen Eddie'' (2003). It was Miller's first exposure to American audiences. FOX cancelled it after only seven episodes.

2004–2008: Breakthrough and tabloid notoriety

With roles in two commercial films and a higher public profile due to her relationship with actor Jude Law, 2004 was a turning point for Miller's career. The crime thriller ''Layer Cake'', directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Daniel Craig, featured her as the love interest of a London-based cocaine supplier. ''The New York Times'' called Miller "a new It Girl who barely registers on-screen despite wearing little more than lacey filaments that make her look like a gift meant to be unwrapped very quickly". In '' Alfie'', the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 film, she played the girlfriend of a cockney limo driver and sex addict (Jude Law). Of her It Girl status, she said at the time: "I'm not very happy about it, to be honest. It makes me uncomfortable because I don't think it's as a result of having a film come out, utbeing scrutinised because of the relationship I'm in".

Miller portrayed a writer of illegal feminist books and the love interest of Giacomo Casanova (Heath Ledger) in the 2005 period dramedy '' Casanova''. It made $37.6 million, and ''Entertainment Weekly'', in a favorable review, wrote: "Ms. Miller has a modern, smart-girl look about her; her Francesca is neither too tough to melt nor too glittering from the Emma Thompson school of smarties". Also in 2005 she made her West End debut in a revival of ''As You Like It'' at the Wyndhams Theatre, receiving lukewarm reviews. Paul Taylor of ''The Independent'' wrote: "She approaches an emotion with the finesse of someone beating a carpet" and that she "brings to it all the ripe professional stage experience that can be mustered from appearing in three movies".

Miller took on the role of 1960s socialite and Andy Warhol's muse Edie Sedgwick in the 2006 biographical drama '' Factory Girl''. Johnny Vaughan of ''Sun'' Online concluded, " 's Sienna Miller's star that shines brightest in this heartbreaking cautionary tale", but Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus reads: "Despite a dedicated performance by Sienna Miller, ''Factory Girl'' delves only superficially into her character, and ultimately fails to tell a coherent story." In 2007, Miller had a role as the love interest of a young man from a fictional British town in Matthew Vaughn's adaptation '' Stardust'', and played a starlet in Steve Buscemi's ''Interview'', a remake of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh's 2003 movie of the same name. Budgeted at $65 million, ''Stardust'' grossed $137 million worldwide, while critics felt that Buscemi's and Miller's "captivating performances" in ''Interview'' made "a seemingly simple premise gripping and entertaining".

In '' The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'' (2008), a film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel, Miller played a woman romantically involved with a rebellious bisexual man. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received a limited release. She created a minor stir in Pittsburgh when, in a 2006 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', she called the city "Shitsburgh", saying, "Can you believe this is my life? Will you pity me when you're back in your funky New York apartment and I'm still in Pittsburgh? I need to get more glamorous films and stop with my indie year." Miller was parodied in Pittsburgh media (including one article headlined "Semi-famous actress dumps on the 'Burgh") and criticised for making what was seen as an unnecessarily disparaging remark, given the special treatment the film's cast and crew had received from the visitors' bureau and other city offices. Miller apologised and said her remarks were taken out of context.

In the 2008 British biographical drama ''The Edge of Love,'' Miller appeared alongside Keira Knightley as Caitlin Macnamara, the wife of poet Dylan Thomas. Despite a mixed critical reception, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' critic Ray Bennett wrote that it was a "wonderfully atmospheric tale of love and war", and that "the film belongs to the women, with Knightley going from strength to strength (and showing she can sing!) and Miller again proving that she has everything it takes to be a major movie star." Miller earned a BIFA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. She also voiced a circus fox in the animated film '' A Fox's Tale'' (2008) and played an undead newlywed in the romantic comedy ''Camille''.

2009–2011: Screen hiatus

Miller was cast as The Baroness in the live-action film adaptation of the ''G.I. Joe'' franchise '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'' (2009), her first—and to date, only—mainstream Hollywood blockbuster. She auditioned because it did not involve "having a breakdown or eingaddicted to heroin or dying at the end, something that was just maybe really great fun and that people went to see and actually just had a great time seeing." She sprained her wrist after slipping on a rubber bullet while filming a fight scene with Rachel Nichols. ''G.I. Joe'' was not well received by most critics, but made $302.5 million worldwide.

She appeared on the British motorsport show '' Top Gear'' in 2009 on the segment "star in a reasonably priced car" and set a lap time of 1:49.8, having passed her driving test only five days before.

''The Irish Independent'' observed that Miller's professional trajectory had reached "its lowest ebb" with ''G.I. Joe'', an experience that "convinced her she had well and truly lost her way"; in an interview with UK's ''Esquire'' magazine, she said that roles dried up because "people don't want to see films with people they don't approve of in them".

She opted to take a hiatus from films for the next two years and work in theater instead. She later said, "I was sick of myself, to be honest, or sick of that perception of me. It all felt so fucking dirt".

In 2009, Miller played the title role in Patrick Marber's '' After Miss Julie'' on Broadway. She told ''The New York Times'': "This is what I have always wanted, to be on Broadway. I'm living my dream, and that's all you can ask for. At a certain point, you have to ignore all the rest". On her performance, ''The Guardian'' stated: "Miller masters it intermittently—an accomplishment, however incomplete." She starred as a former starlet caught up in a love-triangle in Trevor Nunn's 2011 production of ''Flare Path'' at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket.

2012–2017: Resurgence

After her professional slump, Miller experienced what journalists called a "career revival" She played more complex, dramatic parts in a series of critically acclaimed films. "All the directors speak to each other," she said in an interview. "And once you crack that upper echelon of incredible directors, you've got people rooting for you. People who people listen to. I've never had that before".

In '' The Girl'' (2012), an HBO and BBC film, Miller portrayed actress Tippi Hedren, the muse of director Alfred Hitchcock. As part of her research, Miller (who was in the early stages of pregnancy) spoke to Hedren several times during filming, and they became friends. Live birds were used for the recreation of the attic scene in Hitchcock's '' The Birds''. Miller told the ''Radio Times'', "I did go through a bird attack for two hours. It pales in comparison to what edrenwas subjected to, but it was pretty horrible. There were men off-camera with boxes of birds, throwing seagulls and pigeons in my face". The film received mixed reviews, but the ''Daily Mirror''s Jane Simon wrote: " iding gracefully through it all (and with an impeccable American accent) Sienna Miller brings untouchable beauty and icy glamour, but also captures the extraordinary resilience Hedren must have had to withstand everything Hitchcock threw at her." Writing for ''The Telegraph'', Clive James

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