about anna popplewell
Anna Katherine Popplewell was born on December the 16th, 1988 in London, England, UK. Her parents named Anna after the character Anna Arkadyevna Karenina of Russian author Leo Tolstoy's famous 1877 novel, Anna Karenina. Her parents - Andrew (a lawyer) and Debra (an immunologist) - had two other children besides Anna, Laura "Lulu" (b. 1991) and Freddie (b. 1994), who are also actors. In 1994, Anna began taking classes at the Allsorts Drama School. The school was one of the few that offered classes in dramatic theatre for children, so Anna's parents put her into the program. After a short time of study, Anna was lucky enough to get an agent in the acting business, and in 1998, she had her first professional acting job as Henrietta in the television production Frenchman's Creek (1998). It may have been a small role, but it was enough to get Anna noticed and exposed to other potential parts in the future.1999 saw the release of Mansfield Park - based on the book by Jane Austen - and the filming of The Little Vampire, which was released in 2000. From 2001 to 2002, Anna starred in small roles in Me Without You and Thunderpants, which subsequently landed her a role in the film Girl with a Pearl Earring along side Scarlett Johansson. Anna's big break came in 2004 after 18 long months of auditioning for a role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. From hundreds of girls who auditioned, Anna was cast as Susan Pevensie in the film, and the movie went on to gross over $740,000,000 (USD) over the course of its theatre release in 2005 and 2006. The second installment of the Narnia films, Prince Caspian, was widely received by critics after its release in 2008 and went on to earn over $400,000,000 (USD) in theatres.
After the worldwide releases of Prince Caspian from May to August 2008, Anna began to refocus her time on furthering her education. Anna previously attended the North London Collegiate School, a girls-only International Baccalaureate World School that is known for its academic success. Famous alumni include fellow actress Rachel Weisz, and Anna Wintour, editor of the American branch of Vogue magazine. In 2007, Anna was admitted to the University of Oxford and has been studying English Literature at the Magdalen College, south of the main campus grounds. Oxford has been ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom for the past eight years by Times Good University Guide.
Even though Anna has been more so active in her educational career in the past several years, she has not let her dramatic ambitions pass her by. Before heading to Oxford, Anna began doing dramatic theatrical productions. Her first was as the title character in Bugsy Malone at North London Collegiate School for an all-girls reworking of the 1976 musical. In fall of 2007, Anna's performance in a student-produced version of Five Kinds of Silence by British playwright Shelagh Stephenson earned her the praise of not only the media, but also her peers at the University of Oxford. She won the Cuppers Prize (Best Supporting Actress) in the 2007 "competition" between undergraduate freshmen involved in theatre/drama. The student Cuppers Prize is most known for being awarded in sporting events, such as soccer/football, lacrosse, and cricket, but has expanded into other fields such as drama and ballroom dancing in recent years. Late 2007 brought Anna's portrayal of Lady Macbeth, wife to the title character of Macbeth, in a student production of the famous William Shakespeare play that was performed for a 5-day run at the OFS Studio. Another play Anna performed at the OFS Studio was Indian Ink, written by Sir Tom Stoppard, as the character Flora Crewe in 1930's India. The play was performed in February 2008.
Spring of 2008 was perfect timing for Anna's next theatrical role as Wendla Bergmann in the controversial play Spring's Awakening (or Fruhlings Erwachen in German) by Frank Wedekind. The production was staged at Oxford Playhouse during a four-day run from May 28th to May 31st. After Spring's Awakening, Anna then took a small break from stage but soon returned on March 3rd - March 7th, 2009 in an Oxford production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Buried Child by Sam Shepard. Anna portrayed the matriarch, Halie, of a dysfunctional and disillusioned 1970's farming family caught up in the expectations of what the "American Dream" should be in Illinois, USA.
Anna is still continuing her studies at Oxford, and splits her time between Oxfordshire (for university) and the Highbury area in the London Borough of Islington, which is about 4.5 miles away from the center of London at Charing Cross. With her interest in acting still going strong, we sincerely hope Anna will return to the big screen once she finishes her schooling. Until then, we will have to keep looking and listening for Anna with her theatre productions and any other endeavors she chooses. Good luck, Anna!
Information gathered from online sources and compiled by the webmistress.