Anna Maxwell Martin

The striking actress Anna Maxwell-Martin is a rising star on both stage and screen. Anna had dreamed all her life of becoming an actress even though her family had no background in the arts. She starred in school plays and an acclaimed production of "Breezeblock Park" in the role of Betty.

At the age of 20, she auditioned for the prestigious Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art, the school she had dreamed of attending since childhood but unfortunately, she wasn't accepted. Undeterred, she applied for the London Academy Of Dramatic Art, where she was accepted. Alumni include Donald Sutherland, Rita Wilson, Anthony Head (aka Anthony Stewart Head), Natascha McElhone, plus hundreds more.

While she was training at LAMDA, her father died. Anna wanted to be strong and complete her training, as she was sure her father would have wanted. She used the emotions she felt to breathe life into the more emotional parts she was playing in the plays in which she performed while at drama school including the lead in "Romeo and Juliet," "Three Birds Alighting on a Field," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Mother Clap," and "The Way of the World".

Upon successful completion of the three-year acting program, Anna at age 24 embarked upon a career that has built up gradually over the past four years. She starred in the Trevor Nunn-helmed "Coast of Utopia" and "Dumb Show" at the Royal Court in London with Terry Johnson, but her moment of glory on stage so far has to be her Olivier award-nominated performance in the adaptation of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" as the 12-year-old heroine Lyra.

Though has worked extensively on stage, Anna has graced the big and small screen. Guest appearances in Midsomer Murders (1997) and opposite Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in Doctor Who (1963) and most recently she can be seen in the role of Esther Summerson in the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens's book Bleak House (2005) starring Denis Lawson, Johnny Vegas, and Gillian Anderson.

Her film credits include The Hours (2002) with Nicole Kidman, the four-parter BBC drama North & South (2004) as Bessie Higgins, and Penny in Enduring Love (2004) alongside James Bond star Daniel Craig and transatlantic star Rhys Ifans.