Chloe Pirrie is a Scottish actress who won the British Independent Film Award (2013) for Most Promising Newcomer for her debut film Shell, in which she played the lead role. She is known for her roles in the film Walking Invisible: The Brontës (2016), the web series The Crown (2017) and Troy: The Fall of a City (2018).
Wiki/Biography
Chloe Pirie was born on Tuesday, August 25, 1987 (33 years old in 2020) in Edinburgh, Scotland. She attended Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh. While at school, her drama teacher, Dr. Scott, asked her to play Anya in the school play “The Cherry Orchard”, which inspired her to pursue an acting career. She often went to the Edinburgh theater The Lyceum, where she was fascinated by the performance of Scottish actor David Tennant in the play “Looking Back”. In an interview, Chloe revealed that she wanted to move out of Edinburgh because she felt that life was depressing. She said,
I wanted to leave Edinburgh so badly, no offence to Edinburgh. That was where I grew up and I felt so trapped. I wanted to be free, away from it all, on my own.”
In 2009, she moved to London, England, and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After graduation, she was working in a bar in London when she was offered the lead role in the Scottish film Shell; her performance in the film became her major breakthrough in her acting career. In an interview, she said,
I continued to work in the pub and went on holiday – I didn’t believe it was happening until I arrived in the Scottish Highlands and was taken to set to start filming.”
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 8″
Hair color: dark brown
Eye color: dark brown
Family and Race
Her mother is from Epping, Essex, England, and her father is from Glasgow, Scotland.
Parents and siblings
Not much is known about her parents.
Relationships, husbands and children
Although Chloe Pirrie admitted in a 2018 interview with You Magazine that she has a boyfriend, she never revealed his name.
Profession
television
Chloe Pirrie made her television debut in 2013, playing the role of Gwendolyn Harris in the TV series Black Mirror. In 2014, she came into the spotlight for her role as Wendy Straw in the thriller series The Game (2014).
In 2015, she played the role of Kara in the French-British crime drama The Last Panther. In 2016, she played the role of Julie Karagena in the historical drama War and Peace.
Chloe Pirrie, War and Peace (2016)
In 2019, she starred in the TV series Temple, playing the role of police officer Karen Hall.
Chloe Pirrie, The Temple (2019)
Movie
In 2012, Chloe Pirrie made her film debut with the Scottish independent drama film Shell, in which she played the role of Shell, a 17-year-old girl who lives and works at a petrol station in the remote Scottish Highlands. The film won the Best Film Award at the Torino Film Festival (2012) and Chloe won the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer (2013). In an interview, speaking about her big break, she said,
I now know that’s how independent films work. No one has the money or the time. It makes me feel like it’s a miracle that any work gets made at all, let alone a successful, award-winning work. This was a very lucky break.”
In 2015, she starred in the films “A Visit from the Detective” and “Burn, Burn”. In the same year, she played a female screenwriter in the Oscar-nominated film “Youth”. In 2016, she played the British novelist Emily Brontë in the film “Walking Invisible: The Brontë Sisters”. Chloe’s Emily Brontë won the evaluation of “outstanding star in the film industry” and she became famous overnight.
In 2020, she starred as Isabella Knightley in the period comedy-drama Emma.
Short Film
In 2010, she made her acting debut in the short film Solstice, playing the role of Lily. In 2016, Chloe starred in the Oscar-winning short film The Stutterer, playing the role of Ellie, the lover of a man with a severe speech impediment. Since then, she has starred in many short films such as Reflections (2014), Gibberish (2016), Broken Meats (2018), etc.
OTT/Network Series
In 2017, Chloe Pirrie made her digital screen debut in Netflix’s The Crown, where she played the role of Eileen Parker, a woman who caused scandal and embarrassed the monarchy by daring to divorce her husband.
In 2018, she played Andromache, the wife of Trojan Prince Hector, in Netflix’s Troy: Fall.
In 2020, she played Alice Harmon, the mother of the main character Beth Harmon (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), in the American coming-of-age period drama miniseries The Queen’s Gambit.
The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Awards/Honors
- Nominated for Best British Newcomer Award at the British Film Institute London Film Festival (2012)
- Won the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer (2013)
- Named “Rising Star” by Screen International (2013)
Favorite Things
- TV shows: Gladiator (1992), Blind Date (1999)
Facts/Trivia
- While studying for her GCSEs and A-levels in Edinburgh, Chloe Pirrie suffered from severe anxiety and was skeptical about continuing her studies. In an interview, she said:
Academics weren’t for me…it got so bad that I thought, I can’t do it for another three years. I felt like I was done with college…I needed to find a professional job that didn’t require written tests. Acting felt like a way to make sense of the world.”
- Since childhood, she has been passionate about horse riding.
Chloe Pirrie (Chloe Pirrie) childhood horse riding photo
- Chloe Pirrie is the only child of divorced parents, which she believes shaped her character. In an interview, she shared a childhood memory and said,
You become very self-sufficient and good at entertaining yourself. I was constantly drawing imaginary worlds—spending hours in silence drawing. I was also a voracious reader. I read everything.”
- During her childhood, Chloe often imitated various accents and characters. In an interview, she said:
My mum is from Essex and my dad is from Glasgow, although they both lived in Edinburgh, so there were lots of accents in our house and I would soak them up like a sponge. I would go on holiday to Ireland with my dad and come back with a Cork accent…”
- Chloe Pirrie loves to cook and she finds it very relaxing.
- In an interview, Chloe Pirrie admitted that she had worked in countless restaurants, bars and cafes, serving burgers, pouring beer and baking cakes. She said,
I just stopped waiting tables about three years ago. And I would never trade this experience for anything. I’ve made some great friends and learned a lot about humility and hard work, which has served me well in my acting career.”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education