Claire Foy

Claire Foy first drew attention for her role as Anne Boleyn in BBC’s Wolf Hall, then played the life-changing role of young Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. Her compelling portrayal of the Queen won her a Golden Globe – and Hollywood’s full attention.

Her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in First Man, as the wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong, is drawing rave reviews. The unstoppable Foy is also winning accolades for her upcoming The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Critics say she has transformed dramatically from her image of the posh Queen and is “unrecognisable as Salander. She’s got the piercings, the choppy black haircut, the leather-daddy apparel, and the Swedish accent down pat, swinging into action mode to wreak the character’s very particular brand of havoc.”

AGAINST ALL ODDS : The youngest of three siblings, she was eight when her father, a salesman for Rank Xerox, and her mother, an administrator in pharmaceuticals, divorced. This left young Claire struggling with anxiety and a permanent sense of insecurity.

Her first love was ballet, and aged 13 she was training hard when ill health struck – inflammation, stiffness and pain – which was diagnosed as juvenile arthritis and put her on crutches for a while.