Actress

Anna, born in Kingston-upon-Thames and grew up in Oxfordshire, was involved in performing from a young age at The Theatre, Chipping Norton as part of local amateur groups.

She attended Cherwell Upper School, where she was actively involved in music, acting and dance, singing for the Oxford Girl's Choir and playing the Violin in the Thamesvale Youth Orchestra and as a guest soloist with the City of Oxford Orchestra.

In the Upper Sixth, she was awarded both the Music and Acting prizes.

During these late-teenage years, she was cast as "Eliza" in the school's production of My Fair Lady where she was spotted by Peter Malin, a stalwart of the Oxford Theatre Guild, Oxford's largest company of amateur players (established 1955).

He cast her as "Thomasina" in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

The run was hugely successful and, aged only 16, Anna played this taxing role to packed houses at Oxford's principal theatre, The Oxford Playhouse.

One of the most exciting moments for her at the time was looking inside the collar of her costume and finding the name Judi Dench scrawled in ink; her costume from the days that Dame Judi performed in Oxford as a member of the Playhouse's in-house company.

It was at this time that Anna began to take seriously the possibility of a career in the theatre.

She studied English Literature at Durham University where she became actively involved in student theatre and won a D'Oscar (Durham Oscar) for her portrayal of "Sylv" in Berkoff's East.

She later toured as "Adriana" in a production of The Comedy of Errors with the Castle Theatre Company around Southern England, a production featuring several young people who are now emerging talents in British theatre and film.

It was an intensely creative atmosphere which inspired Anna to apply for drama school on graduation.

Anna returned to Oxford for two years, during which time she worked as a Secretary and continued to perform with the Oxford Theatre Guild and with the Cakes and Ale Theatre Company, which fundraises for the Helen House Hospice in Oxford.

In this period she appeared as "Sybli" in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, "Portia" in The Merchant of Venice, "Puck" in A Midsummer Night's Dream and "Reynalda" in All's Well That Ends Well.

The incredibly high standards of both companies offered an early training in how to be a useful and considerate actor, irrespective of their amateur status.

Both companies performed in incredible locations including Broughton Castle, Banbury, Exeter College, Oxford and Troutbeck, Gloucestershire.

In 2005 Anna won a place at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting (GSA), who count Brenda Blethyn, Celia Imrie, Michael Ball and Bill Nighy amongst their alumni.

She was awarded a DADA scholarship to support her studies and won a second scholarship at the end of her second year; the Sir Michael Redgrave Award for Acting. At graduation, she was presented with the 2008 Principal’s Award for Acting, which was unanimously voted for by the GSA teaching staff. Anna gained representation by the fantastic TCG Agency at her Showcase and was the Spotlight’s Choice Female Graduate as voted for by industry professionals.

Anna left GSA with firm friendships, warm memories and an excellent training. Since then, she has appeared in the COI commercial Misplaced Questions, directed by Stephen Pipe, The King’s Head Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, directed by Joe Fredericks, starred in Seamus O’Rourke’s play The Trappe Family, which won the Croydon Warehouse’s International Playwrighting Festival in 2009, and spent five months on the Birmingham Stage Company’s No. 1 tour of Skellig. For future credits, watch this space.