Aisling Loftus

Personal and early life

Loftus was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. She is the daughter of Irish parents, Paddy and Eileen, and has an older sister, Aoife. She began acting at age nine at the Carlton Workshops, and later took her A-Levels at the Becket School in Nottingham. She played several small roles in television dramas and films, including This Is England.

Acting career

Loftus made her mainstream television debut in 2000, when she appeared in an episode of Peak Practice. Subsequently, Loftus has appeared in various television series, including Casualty, Doctors, The Bill, and in the ITV comedy drama The Fattest Man in Britain, starring Timothy Spall and Bobby Ball.

In 2008 Loftus was described as a "star of tomorrow" in Screen International magazine. She also appeared in Daniel Elliott’s short Jade, which won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009.

In 2010 Loftus starred in the BBC drama Five Daughters, as murder victim Gemma Adams. In July of the same year she took the leading female role in another BBC drama, Dive, by BAFTA award winning Dominic Savage and Simon Stevens, in a cast that included Skins actor Jack O'Connell, Eddie Marsan, Gina McKee, Joseph Mawle and Ewen Bremner. Dive was critically acclaimed, Euan Ferguson of The Observer predicting that Aisling "Ash" Loftus will be a "phenomenon."

Loftus played Leonie Fowler in the summer box office hit Spur of the Moment by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010 in London where she has received favourable reviews with Dominic Cavendish of The Daily Telegraph calling her "superb."

In 2011, Loftus starred in a new BBC TV film version of The Borrowers broadcast on Boxing Day, as Arrietty. This was followed up in 2012 with roles in two BBC series : Jade in Public Enemies and Cassandra in Good Cop and in 2013 by the role of Agnes Towler in ITV's Mr. Selfridge. In 2016, she played Sonya Rostova in the BBC prime-time drama War & Peace.