Background

Ethnicity: She is of Scottish, English, Welsh, 1/8th Mexican, and more distant Irish and French Huguenot, descent.

Leslie was born on February 9, 1987, in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised at Lickleyhead Castle in Aberdeenshire, her family's 15th-century ancestral seat, where she lived until the age of 10. Her father, Sebastian Arbuthnot-Leslie, is the Aberdeenshire Chieftain of Clan Leslie. Her mother is his wife Candida Mary Sibyl "Candy" Weld of Clan Fraser of Lovat, whose maternal great-grandfather was Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and a descendant of King Charles II. Another great-grandfather of "Candy" Leslie (née Weld) was Frederick Weld, the 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Her family currently lives at the 12th-century Wardhill Castle in Old Rayne. Her great-great grandfather was Guillermo Landa y Escandón, who served as Mayor of Mexico City, and she is cousin-in-law to the British historian William Dalrymple (FRAS). Leslie's ancestors include Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De Lisle, politician Charles March-Phillipps and MP James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam.

Education

Rose Leslie was educated at Rayne North School. At the age of 13, she studied at Millfield School in Somerset. To pursue her dream career, she later moved to London when she was 18 and went on to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art to study acting. At the academy, she was deeply involved in plays.

Career

While at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Rose Leslie appeared in a number of plays, including ‘Can-Can,’ ‘Pericles,’ ‘The Learned Ladies,’ ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ‘Antigone.’ She also starred in the stage productions of other theatrical companies like Nell Leyshon's play ‘Bedlam,’ staged at Globe Theatre. Leslie made her television debut in 2008, appearing in an episode of ‘Banged Up Abroad’. A year later, she made her onscreen debut as a leading lady in the TV film ‘New Town,’ which earned her the Scottish BAFTA for Best Acting Performance.

The actress was cast as Gwen Dawson in ITV’s ‘Downton Abbey,’ a British historical period drama in 2010. Around this period, she was also featured in two episodes of ‘Case Histories’. In the year 2012, Leslie joined the cast of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ as Ygritte, a fierce and headstrong warrior woman. She was associated with the series till 2014. During this time, the Scottish actress also starred in four episodes of ‘The Great Fire’ and the movies ‘Now Is Good’ and ‘Honeymoon’.

In 2015, she played Chloe in the dark fantasy action flick ‘The Last Witch Hunter’. That year, Leslie also guest-starred in BBC One’s ‘Luther’. A year later, she voiced the character of Red Riding Hood in the British-German animated movie ‘Revolting Rhymes’ and also played a role in Luke Scott’s sci-fi horror film ‘Morgan’. Since 2017, the actress has been playing the lead role of Maia Rindell in ‘The Good Fight,’ an American political and legal drama web television series. After three years on 'The Good Fight', it has been announced that Rose would not be returning for the fourth season airing in 2020.

Achievements

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  Rose Leslie is mostly famous for appearing in “New Town”, playing Gwen Dawson on “Downton Abby” and the wildling Ygritte in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones”. Her role in the TV film "New Town" was much appreciated; it won her a Scottish BAFTA award for Best Acting Performance.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Morgan

    (Morgan is about a corporate risk-management consultant wh...)

    2016
  • The Last Witch Hunter

    (Vin Diesel is an immortal witch hunter who clashes with t...)

    2015
  • Now Is Good

    (Given just a few months to live, Tessa (Dakota Fanning) c...)

    2012
  • Honeymoon

    (Newlyweds Paul (Harry Treadaway) and Bea (Rose Leslie) sp...)

    2014
  • Slow Dance With Me

    (Short Film. On the home front of World War II, a young wo...)

    2016

• TV series

  • Game of Thrones

    (Nine noble families fight for control over the mythical l...)

    2013
  • Downton Abbey

    (A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Craw...)

    2010

Politics

Leslie supported Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. At the 2015 UK general election, she campaigned with the Conservatives in her local constituency of Gordon, Aberdeenshire.

Views

Quotations: "Working on camera is a different ballgame in the sense that it's far more intimate work, but the basics and the foundations of being able to create something that isn't necessarily your own instincts - is a character that you have inside your head - whether you're talking about television or film or theater, that still has to be the grounding work."

"You always try to play it off cool, but even if I think I have a certain laidback body language when I'm meeting someone who I greatly admire, I still have this horrible tendency to go bright red."

"It's never fun to be scared (about stage fright) but I think that it is important and it's healthy to always push yourself."

"I certainly relate to Ygritte in the fact that she is so strong and also ruthless as well and I feel that especially within Game of Thrones, I think that as a show, it is one of the frontrunners for showing dominant female characters and making sure that men answer to women rather than the other way around."

"There's a lovely freedom of will when you approach a character that no one has really come across before, because it is your own interpretation."

"I think booze is a good ritual. I think knocking back a shot of whiskey does calm the nerves and helps a lot."

"The honeymoon phase always ends, for everyone."

Personality

Rose Leslie is very good in accents. She knows 1912 version of Yorkshire accent, Scottish accent, English accent, American accent, Welsh accent, Irish accent, etc.

Leslie knows various types of dance forms like historic, ballroom, tap, flamenco, and jazz.

She loves eating meat and has tried whale, and duck apart from other types of meat. But, she hates eating cucumber.

Rose enjoys doing horse riding, skiing, tennis, rock climbing, and stage combating.

Favorite character she played : Ygritte

Favorite clothing stores: Sandro, Maje

Favorite designers: Jonathan Saunders, Antonio Berardi

Favorite food: Avocados, sticky toffee pudding, baked beans on toast

Physical Characteristics: Height: 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)

Weight: 53 kg (117 pounds)

Hair color: red

Eye color: blue

Measurements: 34-24-35 in (87-61-89 cm)

Dress size: 6 (US) or 36 (EU)

Bra Size: 32B

Shoe Size: 7 (US)

Interests

• Favorite TV shows: Breaking Bad, Taboo, Stranger Things, True Detective
  
  Favorite movies: Gladiator, Gone With The Wind, Blue Valentine, The Shining
  
  Favorite directors: Mike Leigh, Steve McQueen
  
  Favorite animal: Penguins

• Writers

  These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

• Artists

  Favorite actors: Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance, Kate Winslet, Andrea Riseborough, Vivien Leigh, Helen McCrory
  
  Favorite playrights: Martin McDonagh, Mike Bartlett

• Sport & Clubs

  Horse riding, skiing, tennis, rock climbing, stage combating, archery and tennis

• Music & Bands

  Steve Mason, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, HAIM, Ludovico Einaudi, Beyonce

Connections

Leslie began a relationship with her Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington in 2012. They announced their engagement through The Times in September 2017. Their wedding was held on 23 June 2018. They married at Rayne Church in Aberdeenshire, and the reception was held at nearby Wardhill Castle, owned by Leslie's family.

Father:

Sebastian Arbuthnot-Leslie

He is the Aberdeenshire Chieftain of Clan Leslie.

Mother:

Candida Mary Sibyl Leslie

She is of Clan Fraser of Lovat, whose maternal great-grandfather was Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and a descendant of King Charles II.

Spouse:

Kit Harington

(born 26 December 1986)

He is an English actor and producer.

Brother:

William Arbuthnot-Leslie

Brother:

John Arbuthnot-Leslie

Sister:

Sofia Leslie

Sister:

Portia Leslie

colleague:

John Bradley

(born 15 September 1988)

He is an English actor, best known for his role as Samwell Tarly in the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones.

colleague:

Mark Stanley

Mark Stanley is an English actor. He portrayed Grenn in the HBO series Game of Thrones. He is also known for his roles in Kajaki, Our Kind of Traitor and Dickensian.

colleague:

Ian Whyte

(born 17 September 1971)

He is a Welsh actor, stuntman and former professional basketball player.

colleague:

Brenock O'Connor

Brenock Grant O'Connor is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Olly in the HBO fantasy TV series Game of Thrones (2014–2016).

colleague:

Ben Crompton

Ben Crompton is an English actor mostly known for his portrayals on British TV. He has had many roles in various series along the years. He is best known for the BBC sketch show “Man Stroke Woman” and his role of Eddison Tollett on HBO’s “Game of Thrones”.

colleague:

Kristofer Hivju

Kristofer Hivju is a Norwegian actor who is best known for his appearance in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” He has mostly stared in Norwegian and Scandinavian movies and shows and owes his commercial success to this show. It has introduced him to a much wider array of audiences. He plays one of the leaders of the wildlings, Tormund Giantsbane. Kristofer is also a producer and also finds time to write as well.

Friend:

Emilia Clarke

(born 23 October 1986)

She is an English actress.

References

• Watch magazine january/ february 2018{Rose Leslie Cover}