Natalie Dormer

Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in Casanova as Victoria and as the ill-fated Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors. Dormer attended Chiltern Edge Secondary School, before moving to Reading Blue Coat School, an independent boys' school that admits girls in the sixth form. She grew up with her stepfather, mother, sister Samantha and brother Mark. She suffered from bullying problems during her childhood. She describes herself as the 'academic hopeful' of the family and was due to read history at university, but instead decided to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She is also a member of the London Fencing Academy. A self-proclaimed poker lover, Dormer took part in the 2008 PartyPoker.com Women's World Open in London, where she came in second to Emma Kennedy in the Celebrity Heat. Dormer has stated that Cate Blanchett has been an influence in her career as an actress.

Dormer made her film debut as Victoria in Casanova with Heath Ledger. After this performance, she secured a three-film deal with Disney Touchstone which was never exercised. In 2007 and 2008 she played Anne Boleyn in the first two seasons of The Tudors, for which she received positive reviews. Dormer's relative was Jane Dormer, a lady in waiting to Mary I. Jane Dormer's memoirs contain some evidence on the real Boleyn's age, which is still a source of much academic dispute. In 2008 she played Moira Nicholson in Miss Marple: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and appears in a number of forthcoming films: Fence Walker, Flying Lessons and City of Life. Dormer's Marple appearance aired in the US in the summer of 2009 as part of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery anthology series.

In March 2010 she made her stage debut at the Young Vic theatre in London as Mizi in the play Sweet Nothings. She returned as Anne Boleyn in a dream sequence to the Tudors for the fourth and final season in mid 2010, this was confirmed when the first promotional picture of the season showed Anne (along with King Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Katherine Parr) on the cover. Dormer earned in June 2010 the lead role for the movie adaption of the Peter Straub novel Shadowland. In July 2010 it was announced that Natalie had signed onto two new projects, the first being W.E, a two pronged love story about the love affair between Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII. Natalie will share the screen with the likes of Abbie Cornish and will play the much beloved Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The second project is a new legal drama titled Silk which will show on the BBC.