Sophia Myles () is an English actress. She is best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds (2004), Isolde in Tristan & Isolde (2006), Darcy in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Erika in Underworld (2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006) and Freya in Outlander (2008).
Initially hoping to study philosophy at University of Cambridge, for which she secured a place, Myles instead turned to acting after television writer Julian Fellowes saw her perform in a school play, casting her in his series The Prince and the Pauper (1996). After this, Myles continued to receive work in films such as Mansfield Park (1999), From Hell (2001) and The Abduction Club (2002), but her breakthrough role came in the form of Erika in Underworld (2003) before she won the role of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds (2004).
Myles moved to Hollywood where she played the main role of Isolde in the romantic film Tristan & Isolde (2006) before appearing in films including Underworld: Evolution (2006), Art School Confidential (2006), Dracula (2006), Hallam Foe (2007), Outlander (2008), The Damned (2013), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and Blackwood (2015).
Myles later has also received critical acclaim for her television work, particularly as Madame de Pompadour in the Doctor Who episode "The Girl in the Fireplace" (2006), Beth Turner in Moonlight (2007–2008), Beth Bailey in Spooks (2010) and Rebecca Bishop in A Discovery of Witches (2018–2021).
Myles won a BAFTA for Best Actress for her role as Kate in Hallam Foe (2007) and was also nominated for a BIFA at the British Independent Film Awards for the same film. She has also won several other awards at various other film festivals across the world.
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Early life
Sophia Myles was born in Hammersmith, London, England. Her mother, Jane (née Allan), works in educational publishing, and her father, Peter R. Myles, was a retired Church of England vicar in Isleworth, West London. Her paternal grandmother was Russian, and Myles refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill and attended Fox Primary School. At the age of 11, she moved with her family to Isleworth and attended The Green School. Following success at her A Levels she secured a place at the University of Cambridge to study philosophy, but chose to pursue an acting career after being spotted by Julian Fellowes in a school play and shortly after had a small role in his television production of The Prince and the Pauper in 1996.
Career
Since 1996, Myles has appeared in a number of films and television productions. Following her success in The Prince and the Pauper, Myles made her film debut in Mansfield Park (1999) and had a small role in Guest House Paradiso (1999). After roles in the television series Heartbeat and Foyle's War, Myles starred as Victoria Abberline in the thriller film From Hell (2001) alongside Johnny Depp, with Myles playing his wife. Myles played a main role in the comedy-romance film The Abduction Club (2002) before then playing the role of Erika in the 2003 vampire film Underworld with Kate Beckinsale, and reprised the character in its sequel, Underworld: Evolution (2006).
In 2003, she also starred in the thriller Out of Bounds and played Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds (2004), the film version of the classic television show of the same name. Myles initially had the choice to star in either Thunderbirds or Troy but she chose the former as she said "Lady Penelope is such an iconic character". In 2005, Myles starred in the two-part war drama miniseries Colditz with Damian Lewis and Tom Hardy. In 2006, she co-starred as Isolde in the epic romantic drama Tristan & Isolde opposite James Franco and produced by Ridley Scott.
Myles appeared as Madame de Pompadour in the 2006 Doctor Who episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", which is often referred to as one of the best episodes of the series. The episode was nominated for a Nebula Award and won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Myles also had roles as Gwenda Halliday in the British detective drama Agatha Christie's Marple: Sleeping Murder and Sophie Amsden in American thriller Covert One: The Hades Factor on television before starring in the 2006 comedy film Art School Confidential. Also in 2006, she appeared as Lucy Westenra in a BBC adaptation of Dracula.
In 2007, Myles was cast as Beth Turner in the popular CBS supernatural television drama Moonlight, a role she would play until the show's end in 2008. Moonlight won Best New Drama in the 2007 People's Choice Awards. Myles was nominated for the Best Actress Award in 2007 for her role as Kate in Hallam Foe from the British Independent Film Award committee, for which she also received a BAFTA Scotland Award. In 2008, she played Freya, the daughter of John Hurt's character, in the sci-fi action epic Outlander with Jim Caviezel and Ron Perlman.
After having a cameo role in the American comedy film Etienne! in 2009, in 2010 Myles joined the cast of Spooks, a BBC television series about a counter-terrorism unit in MI5, for its ninth series, playing Beth Bailey. Myles then had a starring role as Lauren in the 2013 American horror film The Damned with Peter Facinelli and Nathalia Ramos. In 2014, Myles starred as geologist Darcy Tirrel opposite Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci in the sci-fi action blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction which was directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg.
Personal life
From 2004 to 2005, Myles was in a relationship with actor Charles Dance, She has also dated Damian Lewis and musician Paul Wilson from the band Snow Patrol. Myles began dating David Tennant after they filmed an episode of Doctor Who together in 2006. By October 2007, they had separated.
In September 2014, Myles gave birth to a son fathered by her partner James Bell, who works for the Bank of England. Her son's godmother is Myles' friend and fellow actress Celia Imrie.
