Vanessa Kirby

Vanessa Nuala Kirby, born on 18 April 1987 or 1988, is a British actress. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2016–2017), winning the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She achieved further critical acclaim for starring in the film Pieces of a Woman (2020), which earned her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Kirby was raised in Wimbledon, London. Her mother, Jane Cooper Kirby, is a former magazine writer, and her father, Roger Kirby, is a retired surgeon and President of the Royal Society of Medicine. She attended Lady Eleanor Holles School and was turned down by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She then took a gap year to work in an AIDS hospice in South Africa before studying English at the University of Exeter.

Kirby made her professional acting debut on stage after signing to an agency and collaborating with theatre director David Thacker. In 2010, she starred in stage productions of All My Sons, Ghosts, and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Octagon Theatre Bolton, winning the BIZA Rising Star Award. Her subsequent stage performances included Women Beware Women, The Acid Test, Three Sisters, Edward II, and A Streetcar Named Desire, winning a Whatsonstage Award for the latter. On screen, she made her television debut in 2011 with roles in The Hour and Great Expectations, followed by film appearances in The Rise, About Time, Charlie Countryman, and Queen and Country.

From 2015 onward, Kirby expanded her work across television, film, and theatre. She appeared in films such as Jupiter Ascending, Everest, Genius, Kill Command, and Me Before You, while also appearing in the television drama The Dresser and the series The Frankenstein Chronicles. Following her breakthrough in The Crown, she returned to the stage in Uncle Vanya and Julie. She entered major film franchises with roles in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and appeared in the biographical drama Mr Jones.

In 2020, Kirby promoted The World to Come and gained wide critical acclaim for Pieces of a Woman, earning Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild award nominations alongside her Oscar nomination. In 2021, she co-founded the London-based production company Aluna Entertainment with her sister Juliet and starred in Italian Studies. Between 2021 and 2023, she co-hosted the podcast True Spies. She later starred in the drama film The Son (2022), portrayed Empress Joséphine in the historical drama Napoleon (2023), and reprised her role in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).

Kirby was cast as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four: First Steps, set for release on 25 July 2025, with future appearances scheduled for Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). In 2024, she was cast in the leading role in the Netflix adaptation of The Night Always Comes. In her personal life, Kirby was in a relationship with actor Callum Turner from 2015 to 2019. Since 2022, she has been in a relationship with Paul Rabil. The couple announced in May 2025 that they were expecting their first child and announced the birth of their child on 7 September 2025.