Background and career
Vanessa Nuala Kirby (born 18 April 1987 or 1988) is a British actress. She began her career on stage, giving acclaimed performances in the plays All My Sons (2010), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2010), Women Beware Women (2011), Three Sisters (2012), and A Streetcar Named Desire (2014) as Stella Kowalski. Kirby's screen breakthrough came with portraying Princess Margaret in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2016–2017), earning the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actress and a nomination for the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Further acclaim came for headlining the melodrama film Pieces of a Woman (2020), receiving the Volpi Cup for Best Actress and nominations for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actress. Kirby developed her career with starring roles in the action films Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and two Mission: Impossible films (2018–2023), and in the historical drama Napoleon (2023) as Empress Joséphine. She also portrays Sue Storm / Invisible Woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
Kirby was raised in Wimbledon, London. Her parents are Jane Cooper Kirby, a former Country Living magazine writer, and Roger Kirby, a retired surgeon and President of the Royal Society of Medicine. She has two siblings: Joe, a school teacher, and Juliet, a theatrical agent. After attending Lady Eleanor Holles School and being turned down by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Kirby took a gap year to travel and work in an AIDS hospice in South Africa. She then studied English at the University of Exeter.
Kirby signed to a talent agency and met the theatre director David Thacker, who gave her three starring roles in 2010 at the Octagon Theatre Bolton: All My Sons, Ghosts, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. For All My Sons, she won the BIZA Rising Star Award at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, worth £5,000. She also starred as Rosalind in As You Like It at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. Alfred Hickling of The Guardian described her as a "significant new talent", and stated: "Kirby gives a performance of statuesque distinction as Helena". In 2011, Kirby appeared at the National Theatre in Women Beware Women, directed by Marianne Elliott, alongside Harriet Walter and Harry Melling. She also appeared in the play The Acid Test by Anya Reiss at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Simon Godwin. For her performance, Kirby earning praise from Paul Taylor of The Independent, who described her as "a star if ever I saw one". That same year, Kirby made her television debut in two BBC series: The Hour and as Estella in Great Expectations. Kirby filmed the British crime movie The Rise in early 2012. The film premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival to favourable reviews. She played Masha in the stage production by Benedict Andrews of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in September 2012, earning good reviews. Matt Trueman of Time Out wrote: "In a super cast given licence to shine, Kirby stands out as Masha". In 2013, Kirby returned to the Royal National Theatre to play the Queen of England Isabella of France in Edward II opposite John Heffernan. Michael Billington for The Guardian said that Kirby delivers a "strong performance". Kirby had a supporting role in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy film About Time, starring Rachel McAdams. She appeared in the American film Charlie Countryman, and in one episode of the British TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot. In the summer of 2014, Kirby played Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, again collaborating with Benedict Andrews at the Young Vic, alongside Gillian Anderson as Blanche Dubois and Ben Foster as Stanley. She won Best Supporting Actress category at the 2014 Whatsonstage Awards. Also in 2014, Kirby appeared in Queen and Country, written and directed by John Boorman.
In 2015, Kirby appeared in Everest as American socialite Sandy Hill Pittman, and in the space opera film Jupiter Ascending by The Wachowskis. On television, Kirby made appearances in the British television drama film The Dresser, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen; and had a main role in the series The Frankenstein Chronicles. In May 2015 Kirby was cast as Princess Margaret in Netflix's The Crown, a historical drama series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. For her performance, Kirby was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in 2017, and won the award for the season two in 2018. For this role, she received praise from critics and rose to international prominence. In 2016, Kirby played Elena in Robert Icke's production of Uncle Vanya at the Almeida Theatre, for which she received highly positive reviews, with Matt Trueman of Variety writing that her performance: "confirms her as the outstanding stage actress of her generation, capable of the most unexpected choices". During this year, Kirby had three screen roles: she played Zelda Fitzgerald in Genius; she played the leading role in the sci-fi film Kill Command; and featured in the romantic drama film Me Before You.
In 2018, Kirby returned to the stage and played the title character in Polly Stenham's Julie, an adaptation of August Strindberg's Miss Julie, at the Royal National Theatre. On the big screen, she starred in two action franchise films: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) opposite Tom Cruise and Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. For her role in Hobbs & Shaw, Kambole Campbell thought that: "Vanessa Kirby steals the show with wry wit and casual lethality". Kirby also appeared in the biopic Mr Jones, who loosely tells the story of Gareth Jones. The film was directed by Agnieszka Holland and competed for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. During 2019, Kirby was cast in the French thriller Suddenly ("Soudain Seuls"), alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, but following a disagreement between the director Thomas Bidegain and Gyllenhaal, the film was rewritten and recast. The same year, Kirby was one of the favourites for the role of Black Canary in Birds of Prey, but the role went to Jurnee Smollett. In 2020, Kirby portrayed Martha, a grief-stricken woman, in Kornél Mundruzcó's Pieces of a Woman, a film revolving around the trauma and grief surrounding baby loss. The film received positive reviews, with Kirby garnering critical acclaim. Peter Debruge wrote for Variety that "[...] this is ultimately Kirby's movie, as the stage marvel [...] delivers her most impressive screen performance to date". David Fear from Rolling Stone called her performance "transcendent". Kirby won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered. She went on to receive various nominations, notably for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. Also at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, Kirby promoted The World to Come, directed by Mona Fastvold and also starring Katherine Waterston. The film won the Queer Lion award for best LGBTQ-themed film during the festival. In his review for The Guardian, Xan Brooks note that: "Kirby gives a fine, charismatic turn as the free-spirited Tallie". For The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey said: "Kirby’s performance is thrillingly, seductively, alive".
In 2021, Kirby co-founded, with her sister Juliet, the London-based production company Aluna Entertainment which has a first look deal with Netflix. The same year, she played the leading role in the drama film Italian Studies. David Fear from Rolling Stones wrote that Kirby delivers a: "completely raw, guileless, ego-less performance". Between 2021 and 2023, Kirby was one of the hosts of the True Spies podcast, alongside Hayley Atwell, Sophia Di Martino, and Daisy Ridley. In 2022, she appeared in the drama film The Son with Hugh Jackman, which had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the performances of Jackman and Kirby were praised. Clayton Davis, for Variety, said: "Kirby is reinventing the wheel of acting with a masterfully executed physical portrayal". She replaced Jodie Comer as Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, in the historical drama film Napoleon (2023) with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, and directed by Ridley Scott. Kirby also reprised her role of Alanna Mitsopolis, alias the White Widow, in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). In February 2024, Kirby was cast as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four: First Steps which was released on 25 July 2025. She will reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). In March 2024, it was announced that Kirby would be playing Lynette, the leading role in the Netflix adaptation of The Night Always Comes based on the Willy Vlautin novel. Filming took place in Portland during spring 2024.
