Imogen Poots

Imogen Poots
Poots in 2020
Born	Imogen Gay Poots (1989-06-03) 3 June 1989 (age 35) Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present

Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Weeks Later (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013), Debbie Raymond in the Paul Raymond biopic The Look of Love (2013), and Julia Maddon in the American action film Need for Speed (2014). Also in 2014, she portrayed Jess Crichton in A Long Way Down, alongside Pierce Brosnan and Aaron Paul. She appeared as Isabella "Izzy" Patterson in Peter Bogdanovich's She's Funny That Way. In 2016, she starred as Kelly Ann in the Showtime series Roadies. In 2019, she co-starred with Jesse Eisenberg in the films Vivarium and The Art of Self-Defense. In 2020, she played Laura in The Father (2020). In 2022, she began playing the role of the mysterious Autumn in the Prime Video science fiction neo-Western series Outer Range.

Early life and education

Imogen Gay Poots was born in June 1989^[1] at the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, the daughter of Trevor Poots, a current affairs television producer from Belfast, and Fiona Goodall, a journalist and voluntary worker from Bolton.^[2][3] She has an older brother.^[4][5]

Raised in Chiswick, West London, Poots was privately educated, attending Bute House Preparatory School for Girls in Brook Green, Queen's Gate School in South Kensington, and Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. While intending to become a veterinary surgeon, she began spending Saturdays at an improvisation workshop hosted by the Young Blood Theatre Company at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. She abandoned her original career aspiration after fainting at the sight of veterinary surgery during work experience.^[2]

Attaining three A grades at A-level, she won a place at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2008, but had it deferred for two years in order to pursue her acting career.^[3][6]

Career

Poots at the Fright Night panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2011

Poots first appeared on-screen in a 2004 episode of Casualty and had a non-speaking role in 2006's V for Vendetta, but she was largely unknown when, at the age of 17, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo cast her in the horror film 28 Weeks Later, released in 2007. Since then, she has appeared in films such as Cracks (2009), Centurion (2010), and as the female lead in the 2011 remake of Fright Night alongside Anton Yelchin.^{[7][8][9][10]} Although Poots has never formally trained as an actress, according to Giles Hattersley, she developed her acting skills through a practical apprenticeship that may have served her well, as she is "compellingly natural" in front of the camera.^[6]

In 2011, she was chosen by fashion house Chloé to appear in a campaign for its eponymous fragrance shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.^[11] In 2012, she was selected to star in a Sofia Coppola-directed advertising campaign for a collaboration between fashion label Marni and high street retailer H&M.^[12][13]

In 2012, Poots played the acrimonious young violinist Alexandra Gelbart opposite Catherine Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Late Quartet. In 2013, she appeared in Greetings from Tim Buckley, Filth, The Look of Love, and portrayed Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic Jimi: All Is by My Side, alongside André Benjamin as Hendrix.^[14] In 2014, Poots starred in the romantic comedy That Awkward Moment and the action film Need for Speed, an adaptation of the video game series, and played Jess in the black comedy A Long Way Down. In 2015, she appeared opposite Owen Wilson in She's Funny That Way with Jennifer Aniston and Knight of Cups with Cate Blanchett,^[15] has been cast in the adaptation of Jess Walter's novel Beautiful Ruins,^[16] and reunited with Yelchin for Green Room. In 2016, she starred as Kelly Ann in the Showtime series Roadies.

In 2017, she played Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which was broadcast via National Theatre Live on 18 May 2017 from the Harold Pinter Theatre in the London West End. Also that year, Poots starred in the Amy Herzog play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse opposite James Norton.^[17]

She played Lady Rose Dugdale, a wealthy and cultured member of the British upper class-turned-Provisional IRA member, in the 2023 film Baltimore.^[18]

Personal life

Poots was engaged to actor James Norton, but they later ended their relationship after six years.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	V for Vendetta	Young Valerie Page
2007	28 Weeks Later	Tammy Harris
	Wish	Jane	Short film
2008	Me and Orson Welles	Lorelei Lathrop
2009	Cracks	Poppy
	Waking Madison	Alexis
	Solitary Man	Allyson Karsch
2010	Centurion	Arianne
	Chatroom	Eva
2011	Jane Eyre	Blanche Ingram
	Fright Night	Amy Peterson
	Comes a Bright Day	Mary Bright
2012	A Late Quartet	Alexandra Gelbart
2013	Greetings from Tim Buckley	Allie
	Jimi: All Is by My Side	Linda Keith
	Filth	Amanda Drummond
	The Look of Love	Debbie Raymond
2014	That Awkward Moment	Ellie Andrews
	A Long Way Down	Jess Crichton
	Need for Speed	Julia Maddon
	She's Funny That Way	Isabella Patterson
2015	Knight of Cups	Della
	Green Room	Amber
	A Country Called Home	Ellie
2016	Frank & Lola	Lola
	Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping	Ashley Wednesday
	Killing for Love	Elizabeth Haysom	Voice; documentary
2017	Have Had	Grace	Short film
	Sweet Virginia	Lila
	Mobile Homes	Ali
	I Kill Giants	Karen
2018	Age Out	Joan
2019	The Art of Self-Defense	Anna
	Vivarium	Gemma	Also executive producer
	Castle in the Ground	Ana
	Black Christmas	Riley Stone
2020	The Father	Laura
	French Exit	Susan
2023	Baltimore	Rose Dugdale
	The Teacher	Lisa
2024	All of You	Laura
TBA	Hedda †	TBA	Post-production
	The Chronology of Water †	Lidia Yuknavitch	Post-production[20]

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Casualty	Alice Thornton	Episode: "Love Bites"
2008	Miss Austen Regrets	Fanny Austen-Knight	TV movie
2010	Bouquet of Barbed Wire	Prue Sorenson	Main cast, miniseries
	Christopher and His Kind	Jean Ross	TV movie
2016	Roadies	Kelly Ann Mason	Main cast
2020	I Know This Much Is True	Joy Hanks	Main cast, miniseries
2022–2024	Outer Range	Autumn	Main cast

Stage

Year	Play	Role	Theatre	Ref.
2017	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey	Harold Pinter Theatre	[21]
	Belleville	Abby	Donmar Warehouse	[22]

Awards and nominations

Year	Accolade	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2007	British Independent Film Award	BIFA Most Promising Newcomer	28 Weeks Later	Nominated	[23]
2011	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award	Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest (shared with Michael Douglas)	Solitary Man	Won	[24]
2012	Hamptons International Film Festival Award	Breakthrough Performer	Knight of Cups	Won	[24]
2013	British Independent Film Award	BIFA Best Supporting Actress	The Look of Love	Won	[24][25]
2016	Fright Meter Award	Best Supporting Actress	Green Room	Nominated	[24]
2017	The Stage Awards	The Joe Allen Best West End Debut	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Nominated	[26]
	WhatsOnStage Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a play		Nominated	[27]
2018	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role		Nominated	[28]
2019	Sitges Film Festival	Best Actress	Vivarium	Won	[29]

References

1. "POOTS, Imogen". British Film Institute. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
2. Mottram, James (10 December 2010). "Imogen Poots – A blooming English Rose". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
3. Shields, Rachel (2 May 2010). "Imogen Poots: A bright young thing who won't suffer for her art". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
4. "Union Pack". Interview. March 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
5. Barker, Lynn (16 August 2011). ""Fright Night's" Leading Lady". Teen Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
6. Hattersley, Giles (11 September 2001). "She's got the look". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
7. Clements, Pip (16 April 2010). "Imogen Poots: a starlet is born". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
8. Power, Chris (29 April 2007). "Rising star". The Observer. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
9. Newman, Sara (21 May 2007). "The 5-Minute Interview: Imogen Poots, Actress". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
10. Aftab, Kaleem (26 December 2009). "Talent 2010: The actress, Imogen Poots". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
11. Forrester, Sarah (27 May 2011). "Chloe's New Signings". Vogue. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
12. Bergin, Olivia (30 January 2012). "Imogen Poots lands Marni for H&M campaign". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
13. Behind the scenes of the Marni at H&M commercial on YouTube
14. "All Is by My Side (2013)". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
15. Dang, Simon (12 June 2012). "Imogen Poots Spotted Shooting 'Knight Of Cups' With Christian Bale; Terrence Malick Meeting With Benicio Del Toro?". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
16. Kroll, Justin (15 November 2013). "Imogen Poots to Star in Todd Field's 'Beautiful Ruins' (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
17. Cavendish, Dominic (15 December 2017). "Riveting and troubling insights on the frailty of human relationships – Belleville, Donmar Warehouse, review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
18. Ide, Wendy (24 March 2024). "Baltimore review – Imogen Poots excels as British aristocrat turned IRA volunteer Rose Dugdale". The Observer. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
19. Edmonds, Lizzie (9 February 2024). "James Norton and Imogen Poots 'split' after six years together". The Standard. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
20. Teneyro, Tatiana. "Kristen Stewart Directing First Film in Latvia Because She Needs "Radical Detachment" From Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
21. "Imogen Poots gets her claws into Woolf role". BBC News. 8 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
22. "Belleville review – James Norton and Imogen Poots gleam amid Paris gloom". the Guardian. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
23. "British Independent Film Awards nominations list 2007". variety.com. 23 October 2007.
24. "Imogen Poots Awards". imdb.com (Index source only). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
25. Kemp, Stuart (8 December 2013). "'Metro Manila' Wins Big at British Independent Film Awards". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
26. "The Stage Nominees and winners 2017". thestage.co.uk. 22 September 2022.
27. "Nominees announced for the 18th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards". whatsonstage.com. 1 December 2017.
28. "Olivier awards 2018: complete list of nominations". The Guardian. 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
29. "Siteges - 52ed. Festival Internacional de Catalunya 2019 - List of winners". sitgesfilmfestival.com. 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2021.

External links

• Imogen Poots at IMDb