Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller was born in New York on the 28th December 1981, the youngest daughter of Ed and Jo Miller. She spent the majority of her childhood in London and Wiltshire. She was educated at Heathfield School in Berkshire where she showed a keen interest in the theatre, both recreationally and as part of her A Level curriculum.

After a year out travelling she went on to study drama at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. In 2000 she starred in the off-Broadway production of Independence at the Neighbourhood Playhouse. Miller’s breakthrough came in 2001 with a role in the BBC series Bedtime. She then went on to land the female lead role alongside Mark Valley, in “Keen Eddie,” created by J.H. Wyman, a sitcom about a New York City policeman who is sent to London and ends up sharing a flat with a beautiful young woman named Fiona.

Sienna’s film debut came in Layer Cake the Matthew Vaughn hit film based on JJ Connelly’s London crime novel about a successful cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) who earned a respected place among England’s Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business.

Sienna’s next role was ‘Nikki,’ a beautiful but unstable party girl, in Charles Shyer’s high profile remake of the1960’s classic Alfie. She stars alongside Jude Law, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei, Jane Krakowski and Nia Long. Charles Shyer says of Sienna, ‘I filmed a screen test with her and Jude and when he and I watched it, we were just blown away: not just by her breathtaking beauty on screen but also by her real, rare acting ability.’ Critics have written about her ‘impressive big-screen debut.’ (David Garmain, The Associated Press).

Having completed filming Alfie Sienna travelled to Venice to star opposite Heath Ledger in Lasse Halstrom’s production of Casanova (2005). She plays the part of Francesca, the only woman Casanova fails to seduce! Lasse Halstrom says he cast Sienna after ‘a couple of really classy auditions.’ He comments on her role saying that ‘Francesca is an early feminist, and I wanted someone with a strong personality and intelligence, Sienna has the kind of charisma and charm that makes you believe in a character. I think she is a natural talent.’ The film was released in the UK and US in 2006.

In her West End debut Sienna played Celia in the Young Vic’s production of William Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like it,’ at the Wyndhams Theatre in London. She starred alongside Helen McCrory, Dominic West and Reece Shearsmith. The production ran for four months and received rave reviews. Victoria Seagul from The Times commented on Sienna’s performance saying that ‘Sienna Miller’s fine comic turn is the icing on the cake in David Lan’s As You Like It.’

Immediately after finishing the play Sienna went on to film Factory Girl (2006), directed by George Hickenlooper, a biopic telling the story of the short and tragic life of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol’s muse. Sienna “delivers a powerful performance” (Hollywood Reporter) as Edie opposite Guy Pearce and Hayden Christiansen. This film provided the “most demanding role of Miller’s career and easily her best performance.” (Alan Hunter, Daily Express). Sienna’s efforts on the set created Oscar buzz, and her portrayal of the troubled Sedgwick affords her a “springboard into a new league.” (Alan Morrison, Daily Record). David Edwards writes that Sienna gives “as good a breakthrough performance as I can remember seeing.” (Ticket)

Her next role was that of Katya in the indie film Interview. Sienna was approached directly by Steve Bushemi, who both stars in and directs the film, to play this role. It is a remake of the controversial Dutch film maker, Theo Van Gogh’s film Interview. It tells the story of when a fading political journalist (Bushemi) is forced to interview America’s most popular trashy soap actress (Miller). Sienna has received amazing reviews for this film which has also earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination in 2008. The Sunday Express said ‘Sienna Miller shines in Interview…she is completely captivating.’ And BBC London wrote that it was ‘A mesmerising performance from Sienna Miller. Truly outstanding!.’

Sienna was next seen as ‘Victoria’ in Stardust alongside Claire Danes, Michelle Pheiffer, Charlie Cox , Robert DeNiro and was directed by Michael Vaughn, this movie went on to win an Empire award for best sci-fi/fantasy. Sienna has recently been seen as Caitlin in John Maybury’s new film ‘The Edge of Love’ which tells the story of the life of Dylan Thomas. Her co-stars include Keira Knightly, Matthew Rhys and Cillian Murphy. The film was released in Summer 2008 and Sienna received a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Sienna has three unreleased projects at this time, The Mysteries of Pittsburg, which will be released in the US in March 2009. It is based on the novel by Michael Chabon and Sienna stars alongside Peter Sarsguard and Mena Suvari. The second is Working Title’s Hippie Hippe Shake which tells the controversial story of the Oz Trials in the revolutionary 1960’s in London. Sienna stars alongside Cillian Murphy and Chris O Dowd. The film is set for release later this year. Her third project is G.I Joe: Dark Sky which has a worldwide release in August 2009. Sienna plays ‘The Baroness.’ For this role she was recently awarded ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at the ShoWest Awards in Las Vegas.