Sophie Cookson

Early life and education

Cookson was raised in Sussex and later Suffolk where she attended Woodbridge School. She was involved in singing and musical theater since childhood. After being part of a theater company that had toured Japan, she decided to quit acting to study art history and Arabic. However, she soon dropped out to pursue an acting career and attended the Oxford School of Drama for three years, and graduated in 2013.

Career

While still attending Oxford Drama School in her senior year, she was cast as Grace Mohune in the Sky 1 miniseries Moonfleet, based on the J. Meade Falkner novel of the same name. In early 2014, she appeared in the film adaption of the Rosamunde Pilcher novel Unknown Heart produced by German television network ZDF, portraying Millie Lancaster. The same year, she also landed her first big screen role, beating out Emma Watson for the part of secret agent Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot in the spy film Kingsman: The Secret Service, based on the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. In 2016, she appeared in the film The Huntsman: Winter's War in a minor role as the female huntsman Pippa. Beginning in June 2017, she starred in the Netflix series Gypsy as troubled singer Sidney Pierce. However, the series was canceled in August after just one season due to negative reviews and low ratings, even though the second season had already been in development. In July, she appeared in the horror film The Crucification, playing a journalist investigating a lethal exorcism performed on a nun, and in September of the same year, she briefly reprised her role as Roxy Morton in the sequel to The Secret Service, The Golden Circle.