biography of Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Maria Hall 

(born 3 May 1982) is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of The Camomile Lawn, directed by her father, Peter Hall. Her professional stage debut came in her father's 2002 production of Mrs. Warren's Profession, which earned her the Ian Charleson Award. In 2006, following her film debut in Starter for 10, Hall got her breakthrough role in Christopher Nolan's thriller film The Prestige. In 2008, she starred in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

Hall has appeared in a wide array of films, including Ron Howard's historical drama Frost/Nixon (2008), Ben Affleck's crime drama The Town (2010), the horror thriller The Awakening (2011), the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man 3 (2013), the thriller The Gift (2015), and the fantasy film The BFG (2016). In 2016, Hall was praised by critics for her portrayal of news reporter Christine Chubbuck in the biographical drama Christine.^[1] She has since starred in the MonsterVerse films Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), and made her directorial debut with the period drama Passing (2021).

Hall has also had several notable performances on British television. She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2009 Channel 4 miniseries Red Riding: 1974. In 2013, she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her performance in BBC Two's Parade's End.

Hall was born on 3 May 1982 in London, the daughter of the American opera singer Maria Ewing and Peter Hall, an English stage director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her mother was born in Detroit, the daughter of an African-American mixed-race father and a Dutch mother. She is a descendant of the American Revolutionary War veteran Bazabeel Norman, a free African man 

Years later as a guest on Finding Your Roots, Hall discovered that, while her maternal grandfather, Norman Isaac Ewing, had performed as a Native American figure and was reported as a Sioux chief in newspapers, he was the son of mixed-race African-American parents, and had no Native American ancestry. His father, Hall's great-grandfather John William Ewing, had been born into slavery. After the American Civil War, he became a prominent figure in the black community of Washington, DC. Hall has 91% European DNA and 9% sub-Saharan African DNA, according to an Ancestry.com DNA test. Hall's parents separated when she was still young, eventually divorcing in 1990.  Hall has five paternal half-siblings: the stage director Edward Hall, the producer Christopher Hall, the actresses Jennifer Caron Hall and Emma Hall, and the set designer Lucy Hall. 

Hall attended Roedean School, where she became head girl.  She studied English literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, before dropping out in 2002, just before her final year During her time at Cambridge, she was active in the student theatre scene and also set up her own theatre company.  She was a member of the Marlowe Society and performed in several productions alongside her housemate Dan Stevens, an English literature student at Emmanuel College

MINI BIO : 

Rebecca Hall was born in London, England, the daughter of Peter Hall, a stage director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Maria Ewing, an opera singer. Her father was English. Her mother, who is American, is of Dutch and African-American origin. Her parents separated when she was still young, and they divorced in 1990. She has a half-brother, Edward Hall, who is a theatre director, and four other half-siblings, including theatre designer Lucy Hall, veteran TV drama producer Christopher Hall, and Jennifer Caron Hall, a writer and painter.

Career : 

Hall's first professional role came in 1992, when at the age of nine she appeared as young Sophy in her father's television adaptation of Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn. Her feature film debut came in 2006 as Rebecca Epstein in the film adaptation of David Nicholls's Starter for Ten.

She got her breakthrough with the role of Sarah Borden in Christopher Nolan's film The Prestige (2006). She appeared in Stephen Poliakoff's Joe's Palace in 2007,  in addition to appearing in several other television films, including Wide Sargasso Sea and Rubberheart.

Hall's Hollywood fame was sparked when she starred in the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) as one of the title characters, Vicky Her performance was well-received,  and she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2008, she appeared in Ron Howard's historical drama Frost/Nixon as the girlfriend of David Frost, played by Michael Sheen. The following year she was cast in the British fantasy-horror film Dorian Gray, based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Following a small role in the indie film Please Give, Hall starred in Ben Affleck's crime drama The Town (2010) opposite Affleck and Jon Hamm. In June 2010, she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Paula Garland in the 2009 Channel 4 production Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974. The following year she played the female lead in the British ghost film The Awakening, released in September 2011 

In 2012, she took on the role of Beth Raymer in the comedy-drama film Lay the Favorite, based on Raymer's memoir of the same title. One review commented that she "plays Raymer as an endearing force of nature who somehow manages to survive in a dangerous world through sheer force of character."  She starred in the BBC/HBO/VRT production of Parade's End (2012) opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, which earned her a BAFTA Television Award nomination for Best Actress.  In 2013, Hall replaced Jessica Chastain as Maya Hansen in the superhero film Iron Man 3. The same year she appeared in the political thriller Closed Circuit (2013). She starred opposite Johnny Depp in Wally Pfister's directorial debut Transcendence (2014).  In 2015, Hall starred in the romantic comedy Tumbledown and Joel Edgerton's directorial debut The Gift. In the 2016 biographical drama Christine, Hall played Christine Chubbuck, a real-life TV news reporter. Variety described her as "discomfitingly electric in the best role she's yet been offered". 

In 2017, she portrayed Elizabeth Holloway Marston, a psychologist who inspired the character of Wonder Woman, in Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. The same year, Hall joined the cast of A Rainy Day in New York, directed by Woody Allen. After re-reading accounts related to allegations of sexual abuse against Woody Allen, Hall in January 2018 donated her salary to Time's Up. She said, "I see not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed. I regret this decision and wouldn't make the same one today." 

In 2018 Hall provided English dubbing for the character Mother in Mirai. In 2021 Hall starred in and co-executive produced the well-reviewed horror-thriller The Night House. The same year, she appeared in the monster film Godzilla vs. Kong.

In 2021 she also made her directorial debut with the drama Passing, based on the 1929 American novel of the same name by Nella Larsen. Hall wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film, which was largely inspired by her own mixed-race heritage, as well as her African-American ancestors who passed as white. Passing premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim. Its distribution rights were acquired by Netflix for approximately $16 million.

TRIVIA : 

• Rebecca holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and the U.K.
• Her agent paid for the fares for their flight to New York to audition for The Town (2010) because she did not have the money.
• She grew to be 5'10 at the age of 11.
• Her father was English and her mother is American, from Detroit. Her maternal grandmother, Hermina Maria Veraar, was Dutch. Rebecca's maternal grandfather, Norman Isaac Ewing, was the son of African-American parents. He performed as a Sioux Native American, and had even been described as a Native American chief in newspapers. On Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012), a DNA test showed Rebecca to be of 91% European and 9% African genetic ancestry. Her great-grandfather, John William Ewing, who had been born into slavery, became prominent in D.C. circles in the 1870s, and her four times great-grandfather was Revolutionary War veteran Bazabeel "Basil" Norman, a free black man.
• Attended Roedean School in East Sussex, where she was head girl. Then read English at Cambridge University, but dropped out after her second year.
• Mother, with husband Morgan Spector, of one child (b. 2018).
• The film that most inspired her to become an actress was All About Eve (1950), especially Bette Davis's character Margo Channing.
• She is the daughter of English theatre director Peter Hall, who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company, and American opera singer Maria Ewing.
• Her childhood celebrity crush was actor Robert Mitchum.
• (September 26, 2015) Married Morgan Spector after they met while co-starring in a Broadway play Machinal the previous year.
• Her favorite film is Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979).
• For her professional stage debut in "Mrs Warren's Profession" (dir. Peter Hall), she won the 2002 Sunday Times/ National Theatre 'Ian Charleson' Award which recognises performances in classical roles for actors and actresses under 30 in Britain. She was nominated for the same award in 2004 for her performance in "As You Like It" (dir. Peter Hall).
• She contributed a doodle for Epilepsy Action's National Doodle Day on Friday 23 February 2007.
• Appeared in the National Theatre production of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", directed by her father, Peter Hall.
• Younger half sister of theatre director Edward Hall, theatre set designer Lucy Hall, producer Christopher Hall and Jennifer Caron Hall.
• Attended Cumnor House School in East Sussex from age 9 to 13.
• Rebecca Hall has appeared with many actors from the Marvel Universe in non Marvel films. She worked with Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)) and Hugh Jackman (the X-Men and Wolverine series) in The Prestige (2006). Hall worked with Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)), Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class (2011)) and Oliver Platt (X-Men: First Class (2011)) in Frost/Nixon (2008). She also worked with Jeremy Renner (The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Thor (2011)) in The Town (2010).
• Stepsister-in-law of Issy van Randwyck.
• Aunt of Stephanie Clive. 

SOURSE : wikipedia ,,,,,,,,,,, imdb