Vanessa Kirby
Birthdate: April 18, 1988 (38 Years Old)
Birthplace: London, England, UK
Vanessa Kirby (birthname: Vanessa Nuala Kirby) is perhaps best known for her expressive portrayal of Princess Margaret in Peter Morgan’s series for Netflix, The Crown (2016-2018), and she has been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her lead performance in director Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman (2020), co-starring Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Benny Safdie, and Ellen Burstyn.
After an early phase to a serious acting career alternating between quality television drama (including a 2011 miniseries version of Great Expectations) and a range of distinguished theater performances (including Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Miller productions at the Octagon Theatre, multiple productions at the Royal National Theatre, the Young Vic, and the Royal Court Theatre), Kirby gradually gained more work in movies, starting notably with writer-director John Boorman’s Queen and Country, his sequel to 1987’s Hope and Glory, and co-starring Callum Turner, David Thewlis, and Richard E. Grant, and premiering at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors Fortnight.
After supporting roles in the sci-fi box-office disaster, Jupiter Ascending (2015), and in writer-director Graham Henman’s indie British film, Bone in the Throat (2015), with Tom Wilkinson and Rupert Graves, Vanessa Kirby was cast in her first Hollywood studio movie, the adventure Everest (2015), directed by Baltasar Kormákur and starring Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, and Emily Watson, and grossing $203 million worldwide.
Kirby portrayed Zelda Fitzgerald in the poorly received John Logan-written drama about editor Maxwell Perkins and author Thomas Wolfe, Genius (2016), starring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Guy Pearce, and Dominic West, followed by a leap into genre movies with the little-seen British sci-fi thriller, Kill Command (2016) and a supporting role in the well-received Jojo Moyes romantic drama, Me Before You (2016), starring Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, and Charles Dance, earning ten times expenses with a global take of $208 million.
Vanessa Kirby’s movie profile expanded considerably with her appearance as Alann/White Widow in writer-director Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible—Fallout (2018), starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Sean Harris, Anglea Bassett, Michelle Monaghan, and Alec Baldwin, grossing $791 million worldwide. Kirby revived her role in the double-movie sequel to Fallout, Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning (2023 and 2024), both also written and directed by McQuarrie.
Kirby’s work with European directors continued with Agnieszka Holland in Poland/Ukraine/U.K.-produced true-life thriller, Mr. Jones (2019), with James Norton and Peter Sarsgaard. Kirby jumped into Hollywood blockbuster moviemaking with the top female role in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), co-starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Cliff Curtis, and Helen Mirren, scoring a strong global box office take of $760 million.
Kirby came off of this hit with her prestigious triumph in Pieces of a Woman, followed by a stunning performance in director Mona Fastvold’s expressive American period drama, The World to Come (2020), based on Jim Shepard’s novel and starring Katherine Waterston, Christopher Abbott, and Casey Affleck, winning the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Vanessa Kirby reached star status when she performed in writer-director Adam Leon’s intimate independent film, Italian Studies (2021), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Kirby joined the ensemble of Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Zen McGrath, and Anthony Hopkins for writer-director Florian Zeller’s screen version of his 2018 play, The Son (2022), premiering at the Venice Film Festival.
In one of her biggest serious roles to date, Kirby was cast as Josephine (replacing Jodie Comer) in Ridley Scott’s production for Apple Studios of Napoleon (date to be announced), starring Joaquin Phoenix and Tahar Rahim. Kirby was a lead writer-director in Brady Corbet’s biopic on architect Laszlo Toth, The Brutalist (date to be announced), co-starring Joel Edgerton, Sebastian Stan, Mark Rylance, Marion Cottilard, Alessandro Nivola, Stacy Martin, and Isaach de Bankolé.
Kirby co-starred in director/co-writer/producer Ron Howard’s Galapagos Islands-set survival thriller, Eden (2024), with the colorful cast of Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney, produced by Imagine Entertainment/AGC Studios/Library Pictures (marking it one of Howard’s few non-studio productions) and released by Vertical after its Toronto Film Festival premiere to extremely poor box office (just over $825,000) before its 2025 U.S. release, against an estimated $50 million budget.
Kirby then co-starred as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of the rebooted franchise, The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), starring Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser and Ralph Ineson under Matt Shakman’s direction, and released wide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and marking the first film in “Phase Six” of MCU.
Vanessa Kirby resumed her prominent role as Susan in Marvel Studios’ anticipated epic sequels from directors/producers Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), co-written by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely, and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), co-starring Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, Kelsey Grammer, David Harbour, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Robijn, James Marsden, Channing Tatum, Padro Pascal and Robert Downey Jr., and with both movies released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Personal life
Vanessa Kirby was born and raised in the Wimbledon community of greater London by parents Roger (urologist) and Jane Kirby (Country Living magazine editor). Kirby’s brother is Joe and her sister is Juliet. Kirby graduated from the girls’ school, Lady Eleanor Holles School, but her application to study acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School was rejected.
After a year of traveling, Kirby studied English at the University of Exeter. She was accepted to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but didn’t attend when she landed an agent and contracted for three starring roles at the Octagon Theatre Bolton. She was in a relationship with actor Callum Turner from 2015 to 2019. Kirby’s height is 5’ 7”.
Awards
Nominated, Best Actress, Academy Awards (2021); Winner, Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Awards (2018); Nominee, Best Supporting Actress—Drama Series, Emmy Awards (2018); Nominee, Best Actress, Golden Globes Awards (2021); Three-time Nominee, Best Ensemble-Drama Series/Best Female Actor in a Leading Role, Screen Actors Guild Awards (2017-2018, 2021); Winner, Volpi Cup-Best Actress, Venice Film Festival (2020).
Vanessa Kirby Movies
Actor
Collapse
Previous (17)
- 2025 |
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
- 2023 |
- 2023 |
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
- 2023 |
- 2022 |
Italian Studies
asAlina Reynolds
A writer loses her memory. Adrift in NYC, she connects with a group of teenagers - in conversations both real and imagined - and searches for a way home.
- 2021 |
The World to Come
asTallie
Somewhere along the mid-19th century American East Coast frontier, two neighboring couples battle hardship and isolation, witnessed by a splendid yet testing landscape, challenging them both physically and psychologically.
- 2019 |
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
asHattie
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Lawman Luke Hobbs and outcast Deckard Shaw form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain threatens the future of humanity.
- 2018 |
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
A group of terrorists plans to detonate three plutonium cores for a simultaneous nuclear attack on different cities. Ethan Hunt, along with his IMF team, sets out to stop the carnage.
- 2016 |
Me Before You
asAlicia
A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of.
- 2016 |
- -- | Mr. Jones
- -- | as Sue Storm
- -- | About Timeas Joanna
- -- | as Dore
- -- | as Sue Storm, Invisible Woman
- -- | as Sue Storm, Invisible Woman
- -- | as Martha
Facts About Vanessa Kirby
Wimbledon Life: Vanessa Kirby grew up adjacent to the famed Wimbledon tennis complex.
Bullying Victim: Kirby suffered from frequent bullying attacks during her school years.
Acting Evolution: Vanessa Kirby has commented that while she began her career as purely a stage actor, she has changed her perspective to appreciate the skill and craft involved in acting for the camera.
AKA: Kirby’s nickname is “Noola Noo.”
