Natalie Press (born 15 August 1980) is an English actress.[1] She is known for her performance in the 2004 film My Summer of Love[2] and a number of short and feature-length independent films, including Wasp (2003), which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2008, her performance in Fifty Dead Men Walking earned her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. In 2010, she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work in the three-hour BBC miniseries Five Daughters.

Natalie Press
Press in 2014
Born (1980-08-15) 15 August 1980 (age 44)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active2001–present

Early life

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Press is from north London. After studying Fine Art at university, she worked as an office temp and as a video store clerk on Fulham Road until the success of My Summer of Love.

Career

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Press' first credited screen role was in a 2001 episode of the BBC television series Holby City. Her film debut and first lead role was in the short film Wasp (2003), which went on to win the Academy Award for best short film in 2005. She was recognised by the London Film Critics Circle and the Evening Standard British Film Awards for her work in My Summer of Love (2004) and nominated for a European Film Award in the category of Best European actress the same year. She made her professional stage debut in The Weather, a new play by Clare Pollard, performed as part of the Royal Court Theatre's 2004 Young Playwrights Season. In 2005, Press appeared as Caddy Turveydrop (née Jellyby) in the acclaimed BBC serialisation of Dickens' Bleak House. Also in 2005 she appeared in the BBC television drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle.

In 2006, Press starred in Josh Appignanesi's feature film Song of Songs, which won a commendation in the Michael Powell Award for best British film 2005 at the Edinburgh festival. Later that year she also starred in the same director's short film Ex Memoria - produced by Oscar-winning producer Mia Bays - a film about a woman with Alzheimer's disease. Press starred as the young version of the character Eva. The short was nominated in the category of Best UK short at the British Independent Film Awards.

In 2006 Press appeared in Red Road (also by Andrea Arnold, the director of Wasp) (the first film in the proposed Advance Party trilogy) which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and in the two-part drama series Damage which was broadcast on Irish television. In the same year she won the Glamour magazine award for best newcomer in association with Nokia.

Press appeared in the short film Son (2008) by BAFTA winner Daniel Mulloy, which went on to win a slew of international awards including Best British Short Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK. She also starred in Inseparable opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, and in In Transit, a World War II drama set in Russia which also features John Malkovich.

On 8 March 2007, Press performed in an Art Plus drama fundraising event at the Whitechapel Art Gallery opposite Rhys Ifans, Martine McCutcheon and Samantha Morton. In 2007 she was, alongside Cecilia Dean and Helena Christensen, one of the new faces of the Japanese clothing label Uniqlo and featured in the music video for Turin Brakes' single "Stalker". She made her radio debut in October 2007 in the BBC Radio play Wes Bell by Matthew Broughton.

In 2010 she was nominated for Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her film Fifty Dead Men Walking.

Press worked on period love story Where I Belong (2014) in the leading role of Rosemarie, starring opposite Johannes Krisch.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 The Gathering Female Van Pusher
2003 Spiritual Rampage Short film
2003 Wasp Zoë Short film
Stockholm Film Festival: Honorable Mention
2004 Mercy Alison Short film
2004 My Summer of Love Mona Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer (shared with Emily Blunt)
London Film Critics Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year
Motovun Film Festival: Special Mention (shared with Emily Blunt)
Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated—European Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
2005 Chromophobia Fiona
2005 Animal Pregnant Woman
2005 Song of Songs Ruth Cohen
2005 The Undertaker Young Woman Short film
2006 Ex Memoria Young Eva Lipschitz Short film
2006 Red Road April
2007 Inseparable Jean Short film
2007 Nightwatching Marieke
2007 Son Mother Short film
2008 In Transit Zina
2008 Cass Elaine
2008 The End Sarah Short film
2008 Fifty Dead Men Walking Lara Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
2009 Knife Edge Emma
2010 The Pit Rosie Short film
2010 Just Before Dawn Chloe Short film
2010 Donkeys April Hayley
2011 Island Nikki Black
2012 Ill Manors Katya
2014 Where I Belong Rosemarie
2015 Suffragette Emily Davison
2017 The Rules for Everything Agnes

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2001 Holby City Claire Bradley Episode: "Mother Knows Best"
2002 Is Harry on the Boat? Piggy Episode: "1.2"
2003 Peter in Paradise Maria TV movie
2004 Silent Witness Nicola Butler Episode: "Death by Water: Part 1"
Episode: "Death by Water: Part 2"
2004 Outlaws Laura Episode: "Sins of the Father"
2004 Lie with Me Sheena Cast TV movie
2005 Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle Helen Taylor TV movie
2005 Bleak House Caddy Turveydrop TV miniseries
2007 Damage Emma Cahill TV movie
Nominated—Monte-Carlo Television Festival: Television Films - Best Performance by an Actress
2010 Five Daughters Paula Clennell TV miniseries
Nominated—BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor (Female)
2011 The Jury II Lucy Cartwright 5 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (21 April 2011). "Island – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  2. ^ Pawlikowski, Pawel (5 November 2004), My Summer of Love (Drama, Romance), Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine, Dean Andrews, Apocalypso Pictures, The Film Consortium, BBC Films, retrieved 4 June 2021
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