Rose Leslie

Rose Eleanor Arbuthnot-Leslie (born 9 February 1987), known professionally as Rose Leslie, is a Scottish actress. After winning a Scottish BAFTA for Best Acting Performance for her role in New Town, she rose to fame as Gwen Dawson in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey and Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones.

Early life

Leslie was born to a noble family in Aberdeen, Scotland. She was raised at Lickleyhead Castle in Aberdeenshire, her family's 15th century ancestral seat. Her father, Sebastian Arbuthnot-Leslie, is the Aberdeenshire Chieftain of Clan Leslie. Her mother is Candida Mary Sibyl "Candy" Leslie (née Weld) of Clan Fraser, great-granddaughter of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat (a descendant of Charles II). Her family presently resides at the 12th century Warthill Castle in Scotland's Old Rayne. Her great-great grandfather was Don Guillermo de Landa y Escandon, who served as Mayor of Mexico City and she is also cousin-in-law to the British historian, William Dalrymple.

She is the third of five children and describes growing up together as "important. We are a big, close family". Jokingly, she recalls having middle child syndrome and being the family's only redhead and "the sole 'ginger' in a 40-mile radius at school" as the predispositions in her desire to become an actress where "different was O.K." She was educated at Rayne North School in Aberdeenshire and then the private school Millfield in Street, Somerset, before spending three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

Leslie was heavily involved in plays at LAMDA, starring in stage productions such as Uncle Vanya, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Country Wife, as well as a stint on BBC Radio narrating The British Slave Trade: Abolition, Parliament and People. Her experiences allowed her to receive a BASSC certificate in stage combat and master diction in various dialects, which would prove useful in later roles. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts hons in 2008.

Her leading on screen debut came at age 21 in the television film New Town (2009), for which she won the Scottish BAFTA for Best Acting Performance – New Talent Award.

In September and October 2010, she became the lead in Nell Leyshon's infamous play Bedlam held at Globe Theatre. Based on the Bethlem Royal Hospital, representative of the worst excesses of asylums in the era of lunacy reform, Leslie portrayed May, a beautiful country girl driven mad by lost love. The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer praised her performance, commenting, "Leslie proves genuinely poignant." Her break-through role came as Gwen Dawson, a housemaid, in the first series (2010–11) of the ITV television drama Downton Abbey.

In 2011, while on Downton Abbey, Leslie briefly appeared in two episodes of the British drama series Case Histories.

In 2012, she was cast in the popular HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. For her role as wildling Ygritte in seasons two, three and four, Leslie was met with major acclaim. The A.V. Club's Rowan Kaiser stated: "As Ygritte, [Rose] is both dangerous and flirtatious, and it's fun to watch." Den of Geek's David Crow exclaimed, "A complicated character [...] Rose Leslie devours the screen." In 2013, Vox.com's Todd VanDerWerff (under The A.V. Club) review for "The Climb" episode, "(In the books) Ygritte is a means to an end... (but) on screen, as embodied by Rose Leslie, she becomes something more," whilst The Atlantic's Christopher Orr summed her portrayal in 2014's episode "The Watchers of the Wall" by concluding: "Rose Leslie has been one of a handful of performers on the show who’ve really elevated their characters above what they were in the books."

While on Game of Thrones, Leslie appeared in the 2012 drama film Now Is Good alongside Dakota Fanning and in episodes of ITV detective television series Vera, Channel 4 conspiracy drama Utopia and BBC One's comedy series Blandings.

From October to November 2014, she top-billed in the four-part mini-series The Great Fire. She then starred in the horror film Honeymoon with Harry Treadaway. She has since played DS Emma Lane in the BBC detective drama Luther with Idris Elba with positive response and starred alongside Vin Diesel and Elijah Wood in the 2015 action adventure/fantasy film The Last Witch Hunter. In 2016, she will portray the character of Athena in Sticky Notes with Ray Liotta.

Personal life

Leslie is fluent in French, having lived in France for three years. While working as an actress, she resided in Battersea, London until relocating to North London. She often professes to miss her hometown, saying: "Aberdeen... in the middle of the countryside, all trees and nature. [...] My parents would send us out for the day, we had lots of freedom. Going back is still an escape! [...] I feel very much at peace in Scotland".

She is an avid runner and enjoys rock climbing, cooking, skiing, archery and tennis.

Leslie has been in an on-and-off relationship with Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington since 2012. They confirmed their relationship in 2016.

Rose Leslie declared her support in favour of Scotland remaining a devolved part of the United Kingdom during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. At the 2015 UK general election, Leslie campaigned with the Conservatives in her local constituency of Gordon, Aberdeenshire.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Ancestry

Leslie's ancestors include French Huguenot Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De Lisle, politician Charles March-Phillipps and MOP James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam. Her great-great grandfather was Guillermo de Landa y Escandón, who served as Mayor of Mexico City. She is cousin-in-law to the British historian William Dalrymple (FRAS).