Annabelle Wallis


Annabelle Frances Wallis is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama The Tudors, Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, Mia Form in the supernatural horror film Annabelle, and Jenny Halsey in the supernatural adventure film The Mummy.

Early life

Wallis was born in Oxford, England. She was raised in Cascais, Portugal, where her family emigrated when she was eighteen months old.
Her maternal great-uncle is actor Richard Harris. Her cousins are actors Jared Harris, Jamie Harris and director Damian Harris. On her father's side, she is a descendant of English singer Marie Lloyd. Her older brother, Francis Wallis, is a director and worked for fashion designer Michael Kors and singers Pixie Lott and Birdy.
As a result of attending international schools, Wallis speaks fluent English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish.

Career

2005–2012: Career beginnings

In Portugal, Wallis appeared in several short films before she moved to London to pursue a career in film. In London, she did some advertisements and looked into drama schools before ultimately deciding to find an agent.
In 2005 she landed a lead role in the Bollywood film Dil Jo Bhi Kahey.... The film did not fare well at the box office. In the following years, she landed small parts in True True Lie alongside Jaime King and Body of Lies in which she played Mark Strong’s girlfriend. She starred in the B-movie Steel Trap.
In television, her breakthrough was in season three of the Showtime drama series The Tudors as queen Jane Seymour. She replaced actress Anita Briem. In the following years, she starred in the television film The Lost Future alongside Sam Claflin and in the ABC series Pan Am. The show was cancelled after one season due to a drop in viewership.
In 2011, she was directed by Madonna in W.E.: Wallis & Edouard and had a small part in . In 2012, she appeared in Jared Leto's documentary, Artifact, and in Snow White and the Huntsman, but was not credited.

2013–2017: ''Peaky Blinders'' and blockbusters

Wallis starred as Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders, from 2013 to 2016.
In 2014, she joined The Conjuring Universe with the main part of the horror film Annabelle directed by John R. Leonetti and produced by James Wan. The film was a box-office success and became the fourteenth highest-grossing horror/supernatural film. Wallis' performance stood out and she was nominated at the 2015's MTV Movie & TV Awards for Best Scared-As-S**t Performance. She returned as Mia Form in '. In 2014, she portrayed Muriel Wright, the original Bond Girl, on the mini-series ' alongside actor Dominic Cooper.
In 2016 she starred in the action comedy film The Brothers Grimsby, the drama Come and Find Me and the psychological thriller war film Mine.
In 2017, Wallis joined the Dark Universe created by Universal Pictures and starred as archaeologist Jenny Halsey in The Mummy, a reboot of The Mummy franchise. Wallis did almost all of her stunts herself including a Zero-G scene that almost killed her. The film received negative reviews and was a box office bomb. It was nominated in eight categories at the Golden Raspberry Awards and in two categories at the Alliance of Women Film Journalists which included Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis in the category Most Egregious Age Difference between the Lead and the love Interest Award. The same year she joined Guy Ritchie's .

2018–2020: Diversification and leading parts

In 2018, she landed a lead in the American comedy Tag as Rebecca Crosby. Later that year, Wallis reunited with film director Alex Kurtzman for an episode of . She lends her voice to an artificial intelligence called Zora.
In April 2018, she was announced to be Cartier's ambassador for jewellery and the new face of the Panthère de Cartier watch.
In 2019, Wallis joined Showtime's mini-series The Loudest Voice. She portrays Laurie Luhn, Head of Booking at Fox News Channel and Roger Ailes' long-time "mistress". Luhn is one of Ailes' first victims to talk and denounce him, alongside Gretchen Carlson. The series received generally favourable reviews and was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards for Best Limited Series or Television Film. Wallis' performance was praised and seen as an "heartbreakingly powerful work" according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Later that year, Wallis reprised her role as Grace Shelby in the fifth season of Peaky Blinders. She joined the science fiction action film Boss Level directed by Joe Carnahan, starring Frank Grillo and Mel Gibson and was announced as a lead in Agata Alexander's science fiction thriller Warning.
In February 2019, she landed the role of Sheriff Alice Gustafson in Robin Pront's thriller The Silencing. The film was supposed to premiere at the South by Southwest festival in March 2020 but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film will premiere on DirecTV on July 16 and will be available on digital and on demand in August 14.
In 2020, Wallis starred as Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride for Quibi to raise money for World Central Kitchen.

Upcoming projects

Wallis stars in James Wan's horror film Malignant. Scheduled by Warner Bros to premiere in August 2020, the released was postponed to an unknown date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, right before the lockdown ordered by the United Kingdom due to the pandemic, she finalised the filming of the Christmas comedy Silent Night.

Philanthropy

Wallis is a feminist. In February 2018, she attended the Letters Live event curated by Net-à-Porter in Los Angeles where she read a letter from suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. The money raised was donated to Women for Women International.
She spoke up against Brexit and in June 2018, she participated to the #DontFuckMyFuture campaign to conscientise young people and encourage them to vote against the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
Wallis supports Save The Children and participated to the Christmas Jumper’s campaign in November 2018. She is committed to the NGO Help Refugees and their project Choose Love which provides humanitarian aid to refugees around the world and advocates for them. She attended the launch of the Choose Love's store in Los Angeles in December 2019. In September 2019 she joined the U.n.I project for UNICEF.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wallis teamed up with her friend, fashion designer Georgia Hardinge, to raise funds for the charity Age UK. Along with other celebrities, Wallis joined the movement #SaveWithStories in partnership with Save The Children and No Kid Hungry. The movement aims at providing fun and education to kids and parents stuck at home during the pandemic. The donations made to #SaveWithStories will help children and families most affected by the COVID-19 crisis around the world by providing them with food, access to early learning resources and household goods.

Personal life

Wallis was in an on-off relationship with singer Chris Martin from August 2015 to August 2017. She did vocals on the song "Up&Up" which closes Coldplay's album A Head Full of Dreams.
In April 2018, it was revealed that she has been dating American actor Chris Pine.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005Dil Jo Bhi Kahey...Sophie BessonBollywood film
2006True True LiePaige
2007Steel TrapMelanie
2008Body of LiesHani's Girlfriend in Bar
2009Right Hand DriveRuth
2011W.E.Arabella Green
2011'Amy
2012Snow White and the HuntsmanSaraNot credited
2013Hello CarterKelly
2014AnnabelleMia Form
2015Sword of VengeanceAnnabelle
2016GrimsbyLina Smit
2016Come and Find MeClaire
2016MineJenny
2017'Maid Maggie
2017The MummyJenny Halsey
2017Mia FormArchival footage
2018TagRebecca Crosby
2020Boss LevelAlice
2020The SilencingSheriff Alice Gustafson
2020MalignantTBA
TBASilent NightTBA

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005JerichoLizzie WayEpisode: "The Killing of Johnny Swan"
2007'Kelly FisherTelevision film
2009Ghost TownSerenaTelevision film
2009–2010'Jane Seymour5 episodes
2010'DorelTelevision film
2011'Dana Van Rijn2 episodes
2011Pan AmBridget Pierce4 episodes
2013–2019Peaky BlindersGrace Burgess19 episodes
2014'Muriel Wright2 episodes
2014The MusketeersNinon de LarroqueEpisode: "A Rebellious Woman"
2018'ZoraVoice; Episode: "Calypso"
2019The Loudest VoiceLaurie Luhn6 episodes
2020Princess ButtercupMini-series

Music videos

Discography

YearAssociationCategoryWorkResult
2015MTV Movie & TV AwardsBest Scared-As-S**t PerformanceAnnabelle
2017Alliance of Women Film JournalistsMost Egregious Age Difference between the Lead and the Love Interest AwardThe Mummy

;Notes