Top 10 British Actresses

10. Rosamund Pike

England, actress Rosamund Pike is the only child of a classical violinist mother and an opera singer father. Due to her parents' work, she spent her early childhood travelling around Europe, and speaks fluent German and French as a result. Pike attended Badminton School in Bristol, England and began acting at the National Youth Theatre. While appearing in a National Youth Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet, she was first spotted and signed by an agent, although she continued her education at Wadham College, Oxford where she read English Literature, eventually graduating with an upper second class honors degree. She is really intelligent.

Rosamund Pike appeared in a number of UK television series, including "Wives and Daughters" (1999), before scoring an auspicious feature film debut as the glacial beauty Miranda Frost in the James Bond film, Die Another Day (2002); when the film was released, she was only 23. Though herdebut was a big-budget action film, the film work that followed was primarily in smaller, independent films including _Promised Land (II) (2004)_,The Libertine (2004), (for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at The British Independent Film Awards), and Pride & Prejudice(2005), as one of the Bennet daughters. A brief foray into Hollywood film followed with the action flick Doom (2005) and the thriller Fracture(2007), but she returned to smaller films with exceptional performances in three films: An Education (2009), the lead opposite Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version (2010) and Made in Dagenham (2010).

Rosamund Pike continued her stage work in England, Pike appeared in the spy spoof Johnny English Reborn (2011) and inhabited the role of Andromeda in the sci-fi epic Wrath of the Titans (2012).

9. Kaya Scodelario

At the age of 14 Kaya Scodelario auditioned for "Skins" (2007), the debut series for new channel E4 that would become known for casting real teenagers like her, who had no professional acting experience, rather than experienced adult actors. She won the role of "Effy Stonem" and joined the show in January 2007. After an challenging debut in which she never spoke, Scodelario and Effy made quite an impression on viewers. At the forefront of many disasters, including stalkers, death, and sexual pressures, Effy became a fan favorite for her ability to resolve testing life situations while keeping her head above water. As the character and the role grew, Scodelario enjoyed depicting what she described as the realistic trials and challenges Effy faced with friendships, relationships, and adolescence. After two seasons of "Skins" (2007), the series endured an overhaul at the end of 2007. Feeling that most of the characters had run their course, the writers wrote out every character except Effy. This put significantly more pressure on Scodelario because it meant that she would be the most recognizable face for season three. As Kaya Scodelario waited for the new season of "Skins" (2007) to begin, she took advantage of her recent clout to seek out additional career opportunities. Kaya Scodelario joined the elite agency Models 1 and soon was featured as the cover model for SuperSuper Magazine. She also made her feature film debut with a role in the 2009 film Moon (2009).

8. Kate Beckinsale

Kate Beckinsale’s mother is Judy Loe, who has appeared in a number of British dramas and sitcoms and continues to work as an actress, predominantly in British television productions. Her father was Richard Beckinsale, born in Nottingham, England. He starred in a number of popular British television comedies during the 1970s, most notably the series "Rising Damp" (1974), "Porridge" (1974) and "The Lovers" (1970). He passed away tragically early in 1979 at the age of 31. Kate Beckinsale was born on 26 July 1973 in England, and has resided in London for most of her life.

Kate attended the private school Godolphin and Latymer School in London for her grade and primary school education. In her teens she twice won the British bookseller W.H. Smith Young Writers' competition - once for three short stories and once for three poems. After a tumultuous adolescence (a bout of anorexia - cured - and a smoking habit which continues to this day), she gradually took up the profession of acting.

Acting on the stage consumed the first part of 1995; she toured in England with the Thelma Holts Theatre Company production of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull". After turning down several mediocre scripts "and going nearly berserk with boredom", she waited seven months before another interesting role was offered to her. Her big movie of 1995 was the romance/horror movie Haunted (1995), starring opposite Aidan Quinnand John Gielgud, and filmed in West Sussex. In this film she wanted to play "an object of desire", unlike her past performances where her characters were much less the siren and more the worldly innocent. Kate's first film project of 1996 was the British ITV production of Jane Austen's novel Emma (1996) (TV). Her last film of 1996 was the comedy Shooting Fish (1997), filmed at Shepperton Studios in London during early fall. She played the part of Georgie, an altruistic con artist. She had a daughter, Lily, in 1999 with actor Michael Sheen.

Her major acting debut came in a TV film about World War II called One Against the Wind (1991) (TV), filmed in Luxembourg during the summer of 1991. It first aired on American television that December. Kate began attending Oxford University's New College in the fall of 1991, majoring in French and Russian literature. She had already decided that she wanted to act, but to broaden her horizons she chose university over drama school. While in her first year at Oxford, Kate received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Kate worked in three other films while attending Oxford, beginning with a part in the medieval historical drama Royal Deceit (1994), cast as Ethel. The film was shot during the spring of 1993 on location in Denmark, and she filmed her supporting part during New College's Easter break. Later in the summer of that year she played the lead in the contemporary mystery drama Uncovered (1995). Before she went back to school, her third year at university was spent at Oxford's study-abroad program in Paris, France, immersing herself in the French language, Parisian culture and French cigarettes.

A year away from the academic community and living on her own in the French capital caused her to re-evaluate the direction of her life. She faced a choice: continue with school or concentrate on her flourishing acting career. After much thought, she chose the acting career. In the spring of 1994 Kate left Oxford, after finishing three years of study. Kate appeared in the BBC/Thames Television satire Cold Comfort Farm(1995) (TV), filmed in London and East Sussex during late summer 1994 and which opened to spectacular reviews in the United States, grossing over $5 million during its American run. It was re-released to U.K. theaters in the spring of 1997.

7. Janet Montgomery

Montgomery began her acting career at the age of 12, when she appeared on British children show Short Change, with her brother Jason. In 2008, she was cast as the love interest of Nicholas Hoult in an episode of the teen drama Skins. Montgomery appeared in both the critically acclaimed Dis/Connect and short film Flushed. After a few years of living in London, she moved to Los Angeles so she could chase the dreams she had as a child.

In September 2008, it was announced Montgomery had signed on to portray the role of Serina in Dark Castle Entertainment's slasher horror film "The Hills Run Red". Filming took place towards the star of 2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The film stars Sophie Monk and Tad Hilgenbrink. The film premiered at Horror film festival UK Frightfest. The film went straight to DVD. Despite Montgomery's performance being well received, critical reception was negative.

6. Esmé Bianco

Esmé was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. At 18 she moved to London to study for a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths College. Once in London, Esmé started to pursue a career in modeling, posing for lingerie label 'Agent Provocateur' in their 2003 campaign, and going on to record vocals for two tracks on their album Peep Show. While attending university, Esmé started performing in neo-burlesque and cabaret shows, and has performed in them across the globe. Her signature show was 'White Wedding' in which she burst out of a giant wedding cake.

Shoe designer Terry de Havilland, for whom Esmé has modeled, named a pair of his shoes after her.

Esmé has also posed for painters Christian Furr and Peregrine Heathcote. In 2008 she became the spokesmodel for lingerie label 'The Modern Courtesan'. She also stars as "Joy" in the United Kingdom's 2011 and 2012 advertisements for JackpotJoy.com, alongside Barbara Windsor. In 2012 she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her growing acting career.

Feature films parts include independent British feature Burlesque Fairytales in which she stars as "Mother" in one of the tales, Bruce Dickinson's Chemical Wedding, 'The Big I Am' (in which she acts opposite Steven Berkoff) and Dead Man Running.

In October 2009, it was revealed that Bianco would appear as the character "Ros" in HBO's pay cable television series Game of Thrones, based on the international best-selling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The character gained a certain amount of notoriety and was unintentionally involved in the coining of the term sexposition.

5. Sienna Guillory

Guillory's parents encouraged her to express herself artistically as she was growing up and this lead to her decision to become an actor. Sienna Guillory is the daughter of American folk guitarist Isaac Guillory and Tina Thompson, an English model. She was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk, England and appeared in school plays.

Guillory took up modeling and appeared in campaigns for such high profile companies as Armani and Dolce & Gabbana, as well as gracing many magazine covers. Her acting break came when she was 16, and was cast in the TV movie Riders (1993) (TV). To support her acting career, Further acting success followed in TV and films. Projects include The Time Machine (2002), Love Actually (2003) and the 'Resident Evil' film series.

4. Emma Watson

From the age of six, Emma knew that she wanted to be an actress and, for a number of years, she trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing and acting. By the age of ten, she had performed and taken the lead in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including "Arthur: The Young Years" and "The Happy Prince". In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), the film adaptation of British author J.K. Rowling's bestselling novel. Casting agents found Emma through her Oxford theatre teacher. After eight consistent auditions, producer David Heyman told Emma and fellow applicants, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, that they had been cast for the roles of the three leads, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weaslety.

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson was born in Paris, France to parents, Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson. When Emma was five her parents divorced, and she then moved to Oxfordshire, England with her mother and younger brother, Alexander. Since the divorce, Emma's extended family has grown as her parents both have new partners. Her father has a son named Toby, and identical twin daughters, Nina and Lucy, and her mother's partner has two sons. Emma spent much of her childhood residing in England with her mother and stepfather, younger brother, and two stepbrothers.

Since the release of the first film of the highly successful franchise, Emma has quickly become one of the most well-known actresses in the world. She continued to play the role of Hermione Granger for nearly ten years, in all of the following Harry Potter films: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). In addition, Emma has began to branch out into other films, with My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and the upcoming The Bling Ring (2013) and Noah (2014).

The release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) was Emma's cinematic screen debut. The film broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings and was the highest-grossing film of 2001. Critics praised the film and the performances of the three leading young actors. The highly distributed British newspaper, 'The Daily Telegraph', called her performance "admirable". Later, Emma was nominated for five awards for her performance in the film, winning the Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film.

3. Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke was born in England and grew up in Berkshire. Her father is a theater sound engineer and her mother is a businesswoman. Her father was working on a theater production of "Show Boat" and her mother took her along to the performance. This is when, at the age of 3, her passion for drama began. She attended St. Edward's School of Oxford from 2000-05, where she appeared in two school plays. She went on to study at the prestigious Drama Centre London, where she took part in 10 plays. During this time Emilia first appeared on television with a guest role in the BBC's "Doctors" (2000).

In 2010, after graduating from the Drama Centre London, Emilia got her first film role in the TV movie Triassic Attack (2010) (TV). Her breakthrough role came in 2011 when she replaced fellow newcomer Tamzin Merchant in "Game of Thrones" (2011) after the filming of the initial pilot. Emilia won the 2011 EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role.

2. Imogen Poots

British actress Imogen Poots is the daughter of Fiona and Trevor Poots, a television producer. She was educated at Bute House Preparatory School for Girls, Queen's Gate School for Girls and Latymer Upper School, all in London. When she was a teenager she began attending the Youngblood Theatre Company, and developed a love of acting.

Poots' screen debut came with a role in British medical drama "Casualty" (1986). She made her big screen debut as Young Valerie in V for Vendetta (2005), and went on to appear in various projects, including 28 Weeks Later (2007), Me and Orson Welles (2008), "Bouquet of Barbed Wire" (2010) and Fright Night (2011).

1. Gemma Arterton

Gemma Arterton was the winner of Empire's Best Newcomer Award. Gemma was born and raised in Gravesend, Kent, UK. She was born with extra fingers, which affects one child in a thousand. Gemma had surgery to correct this condition, known as polydactyly.

Her parents divorced when she was age 5, and so Gemma lived with her younger sister and her mother. Her father is a welder and her mother a cleaner. They encouraged their children to explore their creative abilities. Gemma's sister, Hannah, liked to sing, whereas Gemma chose acting.

During her teenage years, she was part of the Masquerade and Miskin theater companies, appearing in productions of The Massacre of Civitella and Guiding Star. In 2004, she won an award for Best Supporting Actress, which helped her to win a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Whilst studying at RADA, she landed her first professional role in Capturing Mary (2007) (TV), directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Maggie Smith. Gemma graduated from RADA in 2007 and won her first film role in St. Trinian's (2007). Her breakthrough role came in 2008, when she appeared in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008).