Natasha Little

Early life

Little was born in Liverpool, Lancashire. Her mother is a teacher and her father an NHS manager. For the first ten years of her life she lived in the Middle East where her father set up immunisation clinics for the World Health Organisation, and her mother taught at an English speaking school. Her family then moved back to the UK and settled in Loughton in Essex. She attended the local comprehensive school, Loughton County High School for Girls and joined a Saturday drama group called the Epping Youth Theatre.

She originally planned on a career in law, but was persuaded to apply to drama school by her teacher after she starred in a school production of the musical Chicago. She attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduated in 1994 with a BA Hons in drama.

Acting career

Little's first acting role after graduating was a part in the play The Tenth Man at the New End Theatre. She was talent-spotted whilst performing a play at the Latchmere pub theatre and subsequently won the role of Jenny in the successful ITV drama London's Burning in 1995. She had roles in the Lynda La Plante televised series Supply & Demand in 1997 and that same year she won the role of Rachel in the critically acclaimed BBC drama This Life (series 2).

Other television credits include The Bill (1998); Big Women (1998); Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair (1998); Cadfael (1998); The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999); Man and Boy (2002 film); Far from the Madding Crowd; Murder in Mind (2003); playing Vicki Westbrook in the spy drama, Spooks (2003); The Crooked Man (2003); Angell's Hell (2005) and playing Lady Hamilton in the Ricky Gervais comedy Extras (2005).

Film credits include The Clandestine Marriage (1999); The Criminal (1999); Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000); Greenfingers (2000); Another Life (2001); Byron (2003); Vanity Fair (2004), where she played Lady Jane Sheepshanks Crawley; The Queen of Sheba's Pearls (2004) and A Congregation of Ghosts 2009) among others.

Theatre roles include Voyage Round My Father; The Vagina Monologues; Les Mains; The Alchemist and the Richard Eyre play The Novice. Little took her role in The Novice at the last minute. She was originally contracted to star in the film Enigma (2001), but the role was subsequently given to the actress Kate Winslet, who had previously turned the part down due to her pregnancy, but changed her mind. Little was paid her full fee of £300,000 and appeared in The Novice at the Almeida Theatre instead.

Little won the award for Best Actress in a Drama Series at the 1999 Biarritz International Television Festival for her role as Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair and she also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series for the same role. In 2001, Little won the award for Best Actress at the Cherbourg Film Festival for her role in Another Life.

She also played Ann Shapland in Agatha Christie's Poirot (Cat Among the Pigeons), Megan Hudson in Mistresses, Nemo's mother in Mr. Nobody, Flick in The Boys Are Back and Allanah Mountstuart in Any Human Heart.

In 2008, she appeared as a guest star in Foyle's War. In 2011 she portrayed the wife of hostage negotiator Dominic King (played by Trevor Eve) in the three-part drama Kidnap and Ransom, a role which she reprises in the 2012 second series, and played Elspeth Munro in the BBC drama Young James Herriot.

In 2013 she appeared in the premiere production of the play Longing. In 2015 she played Liz Cromwell in the BBC production of Wolf Hall.

In 2016, she appeared in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.

Personal life

Little lives in Leytonstone with her husband, the actor Bo Poraj. The couple married in May 2003 and have two sons.

Little is a trained singer with a mezzo-soprano voice and is trained in basic jazz, ballroom and period dance. Her hobbies include dancing, flute and singing.