Imogen Poots
Imogen Gay Poots is an English actress. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Weeks Later, Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic , Debbie Raymond in the Paul Raymond biopic The Look of Love, and Julia Maddon in the American action film Need for Speed. In 2016 she starred as Kelly Ann in the Showtime series Roadies.
Early life
Poots was born at the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, the daughter of Trevor Poots, a current affairs television producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Fiona Goodall, a journalist and voluntary worker from Bolton. She has an older brother, Alex, who is a model.Raised in Chiswick, Poots was privately educated in west London, attending Bute House Preparatory School for Girls in Brook Green, Queen's Gate School in South Kensington, and Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. While intending to become a veterinary surgeon, she began spending Saturdays at an improvisation workshop hosted by the Young Blood Theatre Company at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. She abandoned her original career aspiration after fainting at the sight of veterinary surgery during work experience. Attaining three A grades at A-level, she won a place at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2008, but had it deferred for two years in order to pursue her acting career.
Career
Poots first appeared on-screen in an episode of Casualty and had a non-speaking role in V for Vendetta, but she was largely unknown when, at the age of 17, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo cast her in the horror film 28 Weeks Later. Since then, she has appeared in films such as Cracks, Centurion, and as the female lead in the 2011 remake of Fright Night alongside Anton Yelchin. Although Poots has never formally trained as an actress, according to Giles Hattersley, she developed her acting skills through a practical apprenticeship that may have served her well, as she is "compellingly natural" in front of the camera.In 2011, she was chosen by fashion house Chloé to appear in a campaign for its eponymous fragrance shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. In 2012, she was selected to star in a Sofia Coppola-directed advertising campaign for a collaboration between fashion label Marni and high street retailer H&M.
In 2012, Poots played the acrimonious young violinist Alexandra Gelbart opposite Catherine Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Late Quartet. In 2013, she appeared in Greetings from Tim Buckley, Filth, and The Look of Love. In 2014, Poots starred in the romantic comedy That Awkward Moment and action film Need for Speed, an adaptation of the video game series and played Jess in the film A Long Way Down. In 2015, she appeared in She's Funny That Way with Jennifer Aniston and Knight of Cups with Cate Blanchett, and has been cast in the adaptation of Jess Walter's novel Beautiful Ruins. She portrayed Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic , alongside André Benjamin as Hendrix. She reunited with Yelchin for Green Room in 2015.
In 2016, she starred as Kelly Ann in the Showtime series Roadies. In 2017, she played Honey in Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which was broadcast via National Theatre Live on 18 May 2017 from the Harold Pinter Theatre in the London West End. Also that year, Poots starred in the Amy Herzog play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse opposite James Norton.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2005 | V for Vendetta | Young Valerie Page | |
2007 | 28 Weeks Later | Tammy Harris | |
2007 | Wish | Jane | Short film |
2008 | Me and Orson Welles | Lorelei Lathrop | |
2009 | Cracks | Poppy | |
2009 | Waking Madison | Alexis | |
2009 | Solitary Man | Allyson Karsch | |
2010 | Centurion | Arianne | |
2010 | Chatroom | Eva | |
2011 | Jane Eyre | Blanche Ingram | |
2011 | Fright Night | Amy Peterson | |
2011 | Comes a Bright Day | Mary Bright | |
2012 | A Late Quartet | Alexandra Gelbart | |
2013 | Greetings from Tim Buckley | Allie | |
2013 | ' | Linda Keith | |
2013 | Filth | Amanda Drummond | |
2013 | The Look of Love | Debbie Raymond | |
2014 | That Awkward Moment | Ellie Andrews | |
2014 | A Long Way Down | Jess Crichton | |
2014 | Need for Speed | Julia Maddon | |
2014 | She's Funny That Way | Isabella Patterson | |
2015 | Knight of Cups | Della | |
2015 | Green Room | Amber | |
2015 | A Country Called Home | Ellie | |
2016 | Frank & Lola | Lola | |
2016 | ' | Ashley Wednesday | |
2016 | Killing for Love | Elizabeth Haysom | Voice role |
2017 | Have Had | Grace | Short film |
2017 | Sweet Virginia | Lila | |
2017 | Mobile Homes | Ali | |
2017 | I Kill Giants | Karen | |
2018 | Age Out | Joan | |
2019 | The Art of Self-Defense | Anna | |
2019 | Vivarium | Gemma | |
2019 | Castle in the Ground | Ana | |
2019 | Black Christmas | Riley Stone | |
2020 | The Father | Laura | |
TBA | French Exit | Post-production |