Bel Powley

Early life

Powley was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, to British actor Mark Powley and casting director Janis Jaffa. Her mother is Jewish. Powley attended Holland Park School.

Career

From 2007 until 2008, Powley was one of the lead characters in M.I.High, starring in 23 episodes alongside Rachel Petladwala and Moustafa Chousein-Oglou. In addition to M.I.High, Powley has also appeared in several other productions such as Murderland (three episodes, 2009), Little Dorrit (2008), The Bill (2008) and The Whistleblowers (2007). In 2013, it was announced that Powley was joining the cast of the ITV series Benidorm for series six.

In 2015, Powley portrayed Princess Margaret in the biographical comedy-drama A Royal Night Out, alongside Emily Watson and Rupert Everett. Powley played the lead role of Minnie Goetze in the comedy-drama The Diary of a Teenage Girl, alongside Kristen Wiig and Alexander Skarsgård, for which she received rave reviews. On 5 August 2015, two days before the New York and Los Angeles premiere of The Diary of a Teenage Girl, it was announced that Powley will star in the upcoming indie film Carrie Pilby, taking over the role from Hailee Steinfeld. On 5 October 2015, it was announced that Powley would star opposite Liv Tyler in the elevated horror film Wildling, directed by Fritz Böhm.

Stage

Powley appeared as Maggie in Tusk Tusk at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in March 2009. On Broadway, she was Thomasina in the 2011 revival of Arcadia at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. In October 2011, she once again appeared at the Royal Court as Tilly in Jumpy, a role which she returned to in its West End transfer of Jumpy at the Duke of York's Theatre in August 2012.

Personal life

In an interview in 2011, Powley said she had a spot reserved to study history at the University of Manchester. Powley joined the protests against university fee rises in 2010.