Emerald Fennell

She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

Emerald Fennell
Fennell in 2013
Born	Emerald Lilly Fennell (1985-10-01) 1 October 1985 (age 38) Hammersmith, London, England
Education	Greyfriars, Oxford (BA)
Occupations	Actress filmmaker writer
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Chris Vernon
Children	2
Relatives	Theo Fennell (father)

Fennell first gained attention for her roles in period films, such as Albert Nobbs (2011), Anna Karenina (2012), and The Danish Girl (2015). She gained prominence for her starring role in the BBC One drama series Call the Midwife (2013–2017) and for her portrayal of Camilla Parker-Bowles in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2019–2020), the latter of which garnered her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

As a writer-director, Fennell is known as the showrunner for season two of the BBC spy thriller series Killing Eve (2019), which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She made her feature film directorial debut with the thriller Promising Young Woman (2020), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Fennell also wrote the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cinderella (2021) and directed her second film, the psychological thriller Saltburn (2023).

Fennell was born in Hammersmith in London to jewellery designer Theo Fennell and author Louise Fennell (née MacGregor). Her sister, Coco Fennell, is a fashion designer. Fennell's 18th birthday, documented by British high-society magazine Tatler, was attended by socialite Poppy Delevingne, Lady Alexandra Gordon Lennox (daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond) and Alice Rugge-Price (great-granddaughter of the 7th Rugge-Price baronet).

Fennell was educated at Marlborough College, a private school in Marlborough, Wiltshire. She then studied English at Greyfriars, Oxford, where she acted in university plays. Fennell was, writes journalist K.J. Yossman, "part of a rarefied...social set whose family names I recognized from gossip columns and history books… Balfour, Frost, von Bismarck, Guinness, Shaffer." At Oxford, Fennell was spotted by Lindy King of United Agents.

2007–2012: Early acting roles

Fennell made her acting debut in 2007, appearing in an episode of the crime drama series Trial & Retribution. In 2008, Fennell was commissioned to write a film script, co-produced by Madeleine Lloyd Webber. Titled Chukka, it was a romantic comedy about a group of teenagers who fight the closure of their school by taking on the rich kids at polo. She went on to guest star in episodes of the comedy drama New Tricks and the period drama Any Human Heart, both in 2010. Also that year, she made her feature film debut in the crime drama Mr Nice.

Fennell starred as Agnes in the Channel 4 sitcom Chickens (2011–2013), alongside Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet. She also had supporting roles in a number of period drama films, including Albert Nobbs (2011) and Anna Karenina (2012).

2013–2019: Rise to prominence

In 2013, Fennell appeared in the comedy series Blandings and the television film The Lady Vanishes. She then gained prominence for her starring role as Nurse Patsy Mount in the BBC One period drama series Call the Midwife (2013–2017), dyeing her blonde hair red for the role. Fennell's first novel, a children's fantasy titled Shiverton Hall, was published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in January 2013. It was first released as an ebook by Bloomsbury USA in December 2012. A sequel, titled The Creeper, was published mid-2014. ISFDB catalogues them as the Shiverton Hall series. The novel was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2014. She then released the novel Monsters in September 2015, her first adult horror book. Also in 2015, she appeared in the period drama film The Danish Girl and the fantasy film Pan.

In 2016, Fennell wrote two episodes of the sitcom Drifters and also appeared in an episode as Lizzie. She then guest starred as Ada Lovelace in an episode of the period drama series Victoria (2017) and starred as Vanessa Bell in the period drama film Vita & Virginia (2018).

In July 2018, it was announced that Fennell was hired by her close friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge as head writer for the second season of the BBC spy thriller series Killing Eve, replacing Waller-Bridge, who remained as a producer. Fennell wrote six episodes for the season and also became one of the show's executive producers. Speaking to The New York Times, Fennell said "Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] and I had worked together in the past, and we’ve been friends for nearly 10 years. We met on a film — Albert Nobbs — which we both had tiny parts in. I started in the very early days as a writer in the Season 2 writer's room. Because it's such an unusual show, they did a very loose writers' room for a week just to see, and then wonderfully and luckily for me they promoted me to head writer." The second season began broadcast in April 2019. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Fennell was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series as a producer and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "Nice and Neat".

On 23 October 2018, it was announced that Fennell would play Camilla Shand in the third season of the Netflix period drama series The Crown. She continued playing the role in the fourth season, which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

2020–present: Breakthrough and expansion

 

In January 2019, it was announced Fennell would produce, write and direct the comedy thriller film Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan. Production began in March 2019. Fennell was seven months pregnant during the 23-day shoot. The movie premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim with, as of August 2023, a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a critical consensus of: "A boldly provocative, timely thriller, Promising Young Woman is an auspicious feature debut for writer-director Emerald Fennell -- and a career highlight for Carey Mulligan." Fennell made a brief uncredited appearance in the film as the host of a 'blowjob lip' make-up tutorial video. She also produced the film with, amongst others, Margot Robbie and her LuckyChap Entertainment production company. The film went on to earn five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Fennell. She became one of only seven women, and the first British woman, to earn a nomination in the directing category. As well, Fennell's directing nomination alongside that of Chloé Zhao marked the first instance of two women earning directing nominations in the same year. For the film, she received Best Original Screenplay awards at the Critics Choice Awards, the Writers Guild of America Awards, and the Academy Awards.

In January 2020, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced he would collaborate with Fennell on the musical Cinderella, which opened in London in August 2021. The West End production received generally positive reviews from critics. It made the transfer to Broadway in 2023, entitled Bad Cinderella, with Fennell's original book adapted by playwright Alexis Scheer. Naveen Kumar for Variety criticized the revised book, writing, "[it's] an illogical head-scratcher, despite being based on a story most everyone knows". The show closed in June 2023.

On 22 March 2021, Fennell was attached to write a Zatanna film for Warner Brothers, set in the DC Extended Universe. On 18 May 2021, Mark Millar revealed that Fennell had written the latest screenplay of the film adaptation of his comic Nemesis. In 2023, Fennell told The New Yorker Radio Hour that she is no longer attached to either film.

In July 2022, Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas stated in an interview with Elle that Fennell was hired to contribute to the script of the John Wick spin-off film Ballerina as one of its writers. The film is slated for release in June 2024.

In 2023, Fennell had a brief role as Midge in Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy film Barbie. Also in 2023, Fennell wrote, produced, and directed her second feature film, Saltburn, a black comedy and psychological thriller starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant. The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival. It received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances and cinematography, while criticizing its ending. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film's critical consensus states: "Emerald Fennell's candy-coated and incisive Saltburn is a debauched jolt to the senses that will be invigorating for most."

Fennell's husband is film and advertising director and producer Chris Vernon. The couple have two children, the elder of whom is a son who was born in 2019. She confirmed that she was pregnant with their second child at the 93rd Academy Awards in April 2021.

Short film

Feature film

Acting roles

Television

Acting roles

Theatre

• Shiverton Hall. A&C Black. 2013. ISBN 978-1-4088-2778-9.
• Shiverton Hall: The Creeper. A&C Black. 2014. ISBN 978-1-4088-2779-6.
• Fennell, Emerald (2014). Rollercoasters Shiverton Hall. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-834086-7.
• Fennell, Emerald (2015). Monsters. Hot Key Books. ISBN 978-1-4714-0462-7.