Andrea Riseborough

Early life and education

Riseborough was born on 20 November 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne, the daughter of Isabel, a secretary and beautician, and George, a car dealer. She grew up in Whitley Bay. In reference to The Long Walk to Finchley, she has described her parents as "working-class Thatcherites."

She appeared at the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, in the play Riding England Sidesaddle by Christopher Goulding, as Celia Fiennes, and was a member of the Young People's Theatre for five years. Riseborough spent her schooldays at the independent school, Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School. She was a student of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating in 2005 with a BA in Acting Degree (H Level).

Career

Riseborough portrayed Margaret Thatcher in the BBC Four film The Long Walk to Finchley (2008). She appeared in the 2010 films Made in Dagenham and Mark Romanek's adaptation of Never Let Me Go. She starred in the American premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in January 2010. The production was directed by Joe Mantello. She appears in Rowan Joffé's film adaptation of Brighton Rock. She worked with The Devil's Mistress author Peter Flannery on his screenplay based on the life of Angelica Fanshawe. She played the role of Wallis Simpson in W.E., a film directed by Madonna. She stars in Resistance, an adaptation of an Owen Sheers novel. The film was released on 25 November 2011.

She writes with her creative partner, actor Tom Burke, and with Mike Leigh. Riseborough starred in the thriller Hidden, a low-budget film directed by the Duffer Brothers. Hidden was released for streaming September 2015. She appeared in Oblivion (2013), in a supporting role. She co-starred in the acting ensemble of the Alejandro González Iñárritu's showbusiness drama film Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), which won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards. Riseborough shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for the film.

In 2016 she co-starred in apartheid drama Shepherds and Butchers and the Tom Ford directed psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals. She joined the cast of Netflix's Bloodline for season 2, as a series regular character, Evangeline. She acted as Emma Stone's love interest in the biographical sports film Battle of the Sexes, based on the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. She portrayed Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Stalina in the 2017 comedy-drama film The Death of Stalin and was praised by Variety for the "shrewd, multi-layered complexity" of her performance.

She was cast in Waco, a six-part television series about the Waco siege. The first episode was released on 24 January 2018. That same year she acted in three films, the horror film Mandy, the mystery drama Nancy (which she also produced), and the historical drama Burden. Riseborough has been cast in Lone Scherfig's The Kindness of Strangers as an ER nurse who runs an eclectic therapy group. The film started shooting at the Russian Tea Room in the spring of 2018. She starred in a Sony remake of The Grudge. The film was released on 3 January 2020. Riseborough starred in the international cocaine trade drama ZeroZeroZero, an eight-part series adapted from the book by Roberto Saviano, which had its debut on Sky in the UK and Amazon Prime in the US in 2020. She starred in Possessor—written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg—as Tasya Vos, an agent for a secretive organization who uses brain-implant technology to inhabit other people's bodies, driving them to commit assassinations for the benefit of high-paying clients. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020.

In 2022, Riseborough appeared in the film To Leslie, for which she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Numerous celebrities praised her performance publicly and on social media, and hosted screenings during the voting period for the Academy Award nominations in January 2023. Her unexpected To Leslie nomination generated some questions and, without referring to her, the Board of Governors pledged "review of the campaign procedures around this year's nominees, to ensure that no guidelines were violated, and to inform us whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication."

Also that year she had supporting roles as Mrs. Wormwood in the musical Matilda the Musical and Beatrice Vandenheuvel in David O. Russell's Amsterdam. In 2023, she acted opposite Kate Winslet portraying Vogue editor Audrey Withers in the biographical war drama Lee which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2024, Riseborough acted opposite Winslet again, portraying the latter's character's right-hand woman, in the HBO political satire miniseries The Regime, for which she earned a nomination at the inaugural Gotham TV Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Limited Series.

Personal life

Riseborough was in a relationship with Joe Appel between 2009 and 2016.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Day, Elizabeth. (8 January 2012). "Andrea Riseborough interview: Rise and shine". [[The Observer]].
2. White, Lesley. (1 June 2008). "Andrea Riseborough plays the young Margaret Thatcher". [[The Times]].
3. "RADA Productions 2000-2007". mickhurdus.com.
4. "RADA Student & graduate profiles - Andrea Riseborough". RADA.
5. Brantley, Ben. (16 February 2020). "Musings on Gay Identity, Then and Now".
6. Zimmerman, Samuel. (26 September 2009). "Riseborough, Skarsgard "Hidden" in Bomb Shelter". Fangoria.
7. Kit, Borys. (26 September 2009). "Andrea Riseborough to Star Opposite Alexander Skarsgard in Warners' 'Hidden' The actress will play Skarsgard's wife in the low-budget horror movie.". The Hollywood Reporter.
8. "Hidden (Review) – INFLUX Magazine".
9. "Universal Pictures – New Movies In Theaters & Future Releases".
10. "Andrea Riseborough joins Steve Coogan apartheid drama 'Shepherds and Butchers'".
11. "Shepherds and Butchers - www.westendfilms.com".
12. (3 September 2015). "'Birdman' Star Andrea Riseborough Joins 'Bloodline' Cast".
13. (6 May 2016). "Bloodline's Andrea Riseborough: 'I've always felt confused about being a girl'". The Telegraph.
14. (7 October 2017). "Battle of the Sexes premiere: A chat with Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough and Billie Jean King". The Upcoming.
15. (8 September 2017). "Toronto Film Review: 'The Death of Stalin'". Variety.
16. Petski, Denise. (27 March 2017). "'Waco': Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Paul Sparks & Shea Whigham Join Cast".
17. Busch, Anita. (6 October 2016). "'Birdman's Andrea Riseborough Takes On 'Burden'".
18. "Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Zoe Kazan to star in Lone Scherfig drama (exclusive)".
19. White, Peter. (16 February 2018). "Lone Scherfig Drama; HBO Europe Hacker Drama; 'Strange But True' US Deal – Berlin Briefs".
20. (6 September 2018). "First Look at Lone Scherfig's 'The Kindness of Strangers' (Exclusive)".
21. Kroll, Justin. (15 March 2018). "'The Grudge': Andrea Riseborough, Demian Bichir to Star in Horror Reimagining".
22. (20 April 2018). "Gabriel Byrne, Andrea Riseborough, Amazon Board Cocaine Drama 'ZeroZeroZero'".
23. (20 April 2018). "Andrea Riseborough, Dane DeHaan, Amazon Board Crime Series 'ZeroZeroZero' From 'Gomorrah' Team".
24. Siegel, Tatiana. (6 December 2019). "Sundance Unveils Female-Powered Lineup Featuring Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem, Abortion Road Trip Drama".
25. Lattanzio, Ryan. (January 17, 2023). "What the Hell Is Going on with Andrea Riseborough's Celebrity-Backed Oscar Campaign?". IndieWire.
26. Horton, Adrian. (January 18, 2023). "'Masterpiece of a film': why is every A-lister trying to get To Leslie an Oscar?". The Guardian.
27. Dresden, Hilton. (24 January 2023). "Andrea Riseborough's Last-Minute and Star-Studded Oscars Campaign Pays Off With Surprise Best Actress Nom".
28. Utichi, Joe. (24 January 2023). "Andrea Riseborough Reacts To Surprise Best Actress Oscar Nomination For 'To Leslie': "I'm Not Entirely Sure How This Happened"".
29. Feinberg, Scott. (27 January 2023). "Oscars: Film Academy "Conducting a Review" Amid Questions About Andrea Riseborough's Campaign".
30. Verhoeven, Beatrice. (May 14, 2024). "'Baby Reindeer,' 'The Curse,' 'Shogun' Among Inaugural Gotham TV Awards Nominees".
31. "Andrea Riseborough: Enough cleaning the loo. I'm ready to get back to work". [[The Times]].
32. "The Silent Storm, The London Film Festival". [[The Times]].
33. (2 September 2016). "'Nocturnal Animals': Venice Review".
34. "Buy cinema tickets for Mindhorn – BFI London Film Festival 2016".
35. Kroll, Justin. (6 February 2017). "Andrea Riseborough to Play Serial Imposter in Psychological Drama 'Nancy' (Exclusive)".
36. "Andrea Riseborough: Already a national treasure".
37. Jaafar, Ali. (5 August 2016). "Andrea Riseborough To Board BBC's Agatha Christie Adaptation 'The Witness For The Prosecution'".
38. Ravindra, Manori. (August 9, 2023). "Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson Lead Offbeat Channel 4 Romance 'Alice & Jack,' Directed by 'Compartment Number 6' Helmer (Exclusive)".
39. "The Leonard Lopate Show: The Pride". WNYC.
40. "Past Recipients". Theatre World Awards.
41. (30 October 2017). "Andrea Riseborough shares her real life experiences with 'Battle of the Sexes' themes – SCAD District". SCAD District.
42. scaddistrict. (30 October 2017). "Outstanding Supporting Actress Award recipient Andrea Riseborough discusses her craft".
43. "2017 SCAD Savannah Film Festival – Andrea Riseborough Outstanding Supporting Actress Award Presentation – SavannahNow".
44. (2018). "Siteges - 51ed. Festival Internacional de Catalunya 2018 - List of winners".