Tamzin Claire Merchant (born 4 March 1987) is a British actress, best known for her roles as Georgiana Darcy in the film '' Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), as

Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542) was Queen of England from July 1540 until November 1541 as the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a first cousin to Anne Boleyn (the second ...

in the Showtime series ''

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

'' (2009–2010) and as Anne Hale in the

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that operated from November 9, 1978 to February 28, 2021. The service was originally uplinked to satellite by United Video Inc. as a national feed of Chicago independent station WGN-T ...

series '' Salem'' (2014–2017). She wrote the 2021 children's book ''The Hatmakers''.

Early life

Merchant was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

and

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

, although she has also lived in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. After twice deferring university places to concentrate on her acting career, she eventually studied English and Drama with Education at

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

Career

Merchant's early credits include Margo Durrell in the 2005

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television film ''

My Family and Other Animals ''My Family and Other Animals'' (1956) is an autobiography, autobiographical book by British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It tells in an exaggerated and sometimes fictionalised way of the years that he lived as a child with his siblings and wid ...

'' and Georgiana Darcy in the 2005 film ''Pride and Prejudice''. In 2006 she appeared in two more BBC dramas, as Sara Fox, the daughter of

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...

and Michelle Gomez, in the comedy ''The Good Housekeeping Guide'', and as Probationer Eastwood in the historical drama ''Casualty 1906''. In 2007, while studying at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, she performed in an audio production of ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...

'' as Lady Agatha, while in 2008 she appeared in the ensemble drama ''Radio Cape Cod'' in which she plays a summer theatre camper. She appears in the music video for Jamie T's "If You've Got The Money" and in

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

's "Nobody's Empire". She was cast in the third season (2009) of ''

'', playing

, the fifth wife of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. She debuted in the part in the third-season finale and features heavily in several episodes of the fourth (and final) season. Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of the HBO series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'', based on

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

's ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the first volume, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and published it in 1996. Martin, who originally envisioned the ser ...

'' series of fantasy novels. The pilot was poorly received, and as a result the first episode was completely remade. Merchant was replaced in her role as Daenerys by

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received nominations for four Primetime E ...

. She played Miranda in the ''

DCI Banks ''DCI Banks'' is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and ...

'' episodes "Playing with Fire - Part 1" and "Playing with Fire - Part 2". In early 2012, Merchant played the 17-year-old Rosa Bud in the BBC adaptation of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' ''

The Mystery of Edwin Drood ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirm ...

'', written by Gwyneth Hughes. Merchant was a series regular for 3 seasons of '' Salem'' on

from 2014 to 2017. In 2019 Merchant was cast as a series regular on 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 ''

Carnival Row ''Carnival Row'' is an American fantasy television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham, based on Beacham's unproduced film spec script, ''A Killing on Carnival Row''. The series stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon M ...

''. The series premiered on 30 August and was renewed for a second season.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Stage

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merchant, Tamzin Actresses from West Sussex English film actresses English television actresses Actors educated at Brighton College Alumni of Homerton College, Cambridge 1987 births Living people Actors educated at Windlesham House School 21st-century English actresses Actors from Haywards Heath