Rachael Stirling
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{{Infobox actor
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| name = Rachael Stirling
| birthname = Rachael Atlanta Stirling
| birthdate = {{birth date and age|1977|5|30}}
| location = {{flagicon|UK}} [[London]], [[United Kingdom]]
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| yearsactive = [[1997]] - present
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| notable role = '''Young Rebeccah''' in ''[[In the Beginning (film)|In the Beginning]]'' ([[2001]])<br>'''Nancy Astley''' in ''[[Tipping the Velvet (TV serial)|Tipping the Velvet]]'' ([[2002]])
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'''Rachael Atlanta Stirling''' (born [[May 30]], [[1977]] in [[London]]) is an [[England|English]] stage, film and television actress best known for her performance as Nancy Astley in the [[BBC]] drama ''[[Tipping the Velvet (TV serial)|Tipping the Velvet]]''. She is the daughter of actress [[Diana Rigg|Dame Diana Rigg]] and [[Archibald Stirling|Archie Stirling]].
== Biography ==
Rachael Stirling was born to [[Diana Rigg|Dame Diana Rigg]] and [[Archibald Stirling|Archie Stirling]] on May 30, 1977. As the daughter of Archie Stirling, she has a long line of ancestry from the Scottish parish of [[Lecropt]], near her namesake city of [[Stirling]]. She attended [[Wycombe Abbey School]] and [[Edinburgh University]], where she gained a BA in the [[History of Art]].
Stirling can also speak [[Russian language|Russian]] and is highly skilled at [[horse-riding]] and [[showjumping|jumping]]
== Career ==
Stirling made her first major appearance on stage in 1996 as Desdemona in the [[National Youth Theatre]] revival of ''[[Othello]]'' at the [[Arts Theatre]] opposite [[Chiwetel Ejiofor]] in the title role. A year later, again at the Arts Theatre with the NYT, she played Olive in the female version of [[The Odd Couple]]; while in 1998, portraying Kate in ''[[Dancing at Lughnasa]]'' for NYT at the Arts, she gave what [[The Stage]] reviewer described as "a performance of exceptional promise and authority."
Her first screen appearance was in the 1998 British comedy film ''[[Still Crazy]]'' (starring [[Stephen Rea]], [[Billy Connolly]], [[Timothy Spall]] and [[Jimmy Nail]]).
Other film projects have included ''[[Maybe Baby]]'', ''[[Complicity (film)|Complicity]]'' (with her ''Tipping the Velvet'' co-star [[Keeley Hawes]]), ''[[Another Life]]'' (with ''Vanity Fair'' actress [[Natasha Little]]), ''[[The Triumph of Love]]'' (starring [[Mira Sorvino]]), and [[Redemption Road]].
Her first TV break was in 2000 when she played the young [[Rebecca]]h in the American made-for-television movie ''[[In the Beginning (film)|In the Beginning]]'', which charted God's creation of the universe and mankind, opposite [[Jacqueline Bisset]] and [[Art Malik]].
She continues to be active in the theatre, covering a diversity of roles in plays such as [[Dusty Hughes]]' ''[[Helpless]]'' ([[Donmar Warehouse]], 2000); ''[[A Woman of No Importance]]'' ([[Theatre Royal Haymarket]], 2003); ''[[Anna in the Tropics]]'' ([[Hampstead Theatre]], 2004); ''[[Tamburlaine]]'' ([[Bristol Old Vic]] and [[Barbican]], 2005); and she followed in her mother's footsteps, bringing an alluring erotic charge to her performance as Miranda Lionheart in the [[National Theatre]] stage version of ''[[Theatre of Blood]]'' (2005).
In 2006, for the Peter Hall Company at the [[Bath Theatre Royal]], she played Helena in Peter Gill's revival of ''[[Look Back in Anger]]''; while in 2007 at [[Wilton's Music Hall]] in London, she starred as Yelena in [[David Mamet]]'s version of ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'' [http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/15738/uncle-vanya], and as a fiercely intelligent Katherine in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article1560970.ece] [http://www.wiltons.org.uk/productions/].
She is an occasional interviewer on the Radio Four chat show Loose Ends.
== Television and Filmography ==
* ''[[Still Crazy]]'' (1998) — Clare Knowles
* ''[[Maybe Baby]]'' (2000) — Joanna
* ''[[Complicity (film)|Complicity]]'' (2000) — Claire
* ''[[In the Beginning (film)|In the Beginning]]'' (2000) — Young Rebeccah (TV)
* ''[[Redemption Road]]'' (2001) — Becky
* ''[[Another Life (film)|Another Life]]'' (2001) — Avis Graydon
* ''[[The Triumph of Love]]'' (2001) — Corine
* ''[[Othello (2001 TV film)|Othello]]'' (2001) — Lulu (TV)
* ''[[Tipping the Velvet (TV serial)|Tipping the Velvet]]'' (2002) — Nan Astley (TV)
* ''[[Bait (2002 film)|Bait]]'' (2002) — Stephanie Raeburn (TV)
* ''[[Agatha Christie's Poirot]]'': "[[Five Little Pigs]]" (2003) — Caroline Crale (TV)
* ''[[Freeze Frame (film)|Freeze Frame]]'' (2004) — Katie Carter
* ''[[Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage]]'' (2004) — Griselda Clement (TV)
* ''[[The Final Quest (film)|The Final Quest]]'' (2004) — Young Annabelle (TV)
* ''[[Riot at the Rite]]'' (2005) — Marie Rambert (TV)
* ''[[Beyond (2006 film)|Beyond]]'' (2006) — Guilean Hade (TV)
* ''[[The Truth (2006 film)|The Truth]]'' (2006) — Martha
* ''[[Hotel Babylon]]'' (2006) — Nina Bailey (TV)
* ''[[The Haunted Airman]]'' (2006) — Julia Jugg (TV)
* ''[[Dangerous Parking]]'' (2006) — Kirstin
* ''[[Lewis (TV series)]]'': "Life Born of Fire" (2007) — Zoe Kenneth (TV)
* ''[[The Young Victoria]]'' (2008) — Duchess of Sutherland
* ''[[Boy Meets Girl (TV serial)]]'' (2008) — Veronica
== External links ==
* {{imdb name|id=0830556|name=Rachael Stirling}}
* {{tv.com person|163219|Rachael Stirling}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, Rachael}}
[[Category:1977 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:Wycombe Abbey Seniors]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:English film actors]]
[[Category:English stage actors]]
[[Category:English television actors]]
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