Georgina Elizabeth Rylance (born 20 April 1976) is an English actress, best known for Dinotopia .
Born in Ladbroke Grove in 1976, [1] [2] Rylance has a younger sister, Charlotte, and is the daughter of Judge John Rylance KC, a circuit judge, by his marriage to Philippa Bailey. [3] She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School, London, Downe House School, St Edward's School, Oxford, [4] and Oxford Brookes University. [2]
After being recruited in a pub on the Portobello Road, London, during the Notting Hill Carnival, the eighteen-year-old Rylance embarked on a short modelling career which included a Coca-Cola commercial. However, it ended when she accepted a place at Oxford Brookes to read politics and publishing. [2]
After leaving Oxford Brookes, Rylance trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While she was a drama student, she was a regular in the audience at the Gate Theatre. [2] [5]
Rylance's first screen role was in Howard Davies's television movie Armadillo (2001) as Amabel. She played Marion Waldo in ABC's thirteen-part television series of Dinotopia , Helena in Spartacus (a TV movie for USA Network, 2004), Rachel Kelly, the on-screen daughter of Mark Rylance (unrelated), in The Government Inspector (2005), [6] and Suza in the film 7 Seconds (2005). Other television appearances include Manchild , Keen Eddie , As If , The Inspector Lynley Mysteries , Scooterman , New Tricks , Agatha Christie's Poirot , and War Machine . [4]
In 2015, Rylance starred in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya , [7] and in 2017 appeared in a revival of Noël Coward’s "This Was a Man" at the Finborough Theatre. [8] [9]
In 2008, Rylance met Greg Bailey, a Canadian doctor, in Los Angeles and in 2009 was living with him in an apartment in Knightsbridge, Westminster. The same year, she spent a month in Antarctica and several weeks in Peru, working in an orphanage. [2]
In April 2015, her father announced Rylance's engagement to Giuseppe (Peppe) Ciardi, [10] and their son was born in 2016. [11] Ciardi, a hedge fund manager, was a widower with three grown-up children, having lost his wife in a boating accident in 2005. [12]
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career he had considerable success in television roles.
Greta Scacchi, OMRI is an actress known for her roles in the films White Mischief (1987), Presumed Innocent (1990), The Player (1992), Emma (1996) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000).
Louise Marion Jameson is an English actress with a variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in Doctor Who (1977–1978), Anne Reynolds in The Omega Factor (1979), Blanche Simmons in Tenko (1981–1982), Susan Young in Bergerac (1985–1990), Rosa di Marco in EastEnders (1998–2000) and Mary Goskirk in Emmerdale (2022–present).
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is a British actress and author. She is best known for her film roles, including the Bridget Jones film series, Calendar Girls (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), the FX TV series Better Things (2016–2022) and the Netflix series The Diplomat.
Rachael Atlanta Stirling is an English stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage work. She played Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, and Millie in the ITV series The Bletchley Circle. She has also guest starred in Lewis and one episode of Doctor Who, co-starring with her mother Diana Rigg.
Roger William Allam is a British actor who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio.
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson, was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969.
Andrew Scott is an Irish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Television Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards, along with nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Georgina Hale was a British actress. In a career spanning six decades, her credits include work in radio, stage, film, and television. She was the recipient of such accolades as a British Academy Film Award, in addition to a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2010, she was listed as one of ten great British character actors by The Guardian.
John Barry Foster was an English actor who had an extensive career in film, radio, stage and television over almost 50 years. He was best known for portraying the title character in the British crime series Van der Valk (1972–1992) and Bob Rusk in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972).
Frances Barber is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays Camille (1985), and Uncle Vanya (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with Gary Oldman in Prick Up Your Ears (1987), We Think the World of You (1988) and Dead Fish (2005); as well as Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987); Soft Top Hard Shoulder (1992); and latterly Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017). Barber's numerous television credits include The Street (2009), Doctor Who (2011), Silk (2012–2014), and Whitstable Pearl (2021–2022).
Faith Brook was an English actress who appeared on stage, in films and on television, generally in upper-class roles. She was the daughter of actor Clive Brook.
Hugh Fraser is an English actor, theatre director and author. He is best known for his portrayal of Captain Hastings in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot opposite David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and for his role as the Duke of Wellington in the Sharpe television series.
Fidelis Morgan is an Anglo-Irish actress, writer and director. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in West End productions, including Noël Coward's The Vortex.
Malcolm Sinclair is a British stage and television actor and former President of Trade Union, Equity 2010–18 when he stood down after 4 terms and was replaced by Maureen Beattie. He played Assistant Chief Constable Freddy Fisher in the television series Pie in the Sky from 1994 to 1997.
Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as White Oleander and television films like Warriors, The Government Inspector, The Promise, Wolf Hall and The State.
Joanna McCallum is an English theatre, film and television actress.
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
Helen Schlesinger is a British stage and television actress. In film and on television, she has appeared in 24 Hour Party People (2002), Rose and Maloney (2004), Sex Traffic and Dirty War (2004), Sensitive Skin (2005), Trial & Retribution (2006), Merlin (2012), The Hour (2013), and Lewis (2015).
Lucy Bailey is a British theatre director, known for productions such as Baby Doll at Britain's National Theatre and a notorious Titus Andronicus, described by a critic as "all eye-catchingly visceral but there’s little depth". Bailey founded the Gogmagogs theatre-music group (1995–2006) and was Artistic Director and joint founder of the Print Room theatre in West London (2010-2012). She has worked extensively with Bunny Christie and other leading stage designers, including her husband William Dudley.