Rebecca Hall

The daughter of one of England’s most acclaimed theater and film directors, Rebecca Hall began making her first on-screen appearances in British television while still an adolescent. She honed her craft and reputation for the next decade in a series of award-winning performances on the international stage, before returning to films with supporting roles as willowy but tragic types in “The Prestige” (2006), among other projects. Hall was then thrust further into the spotlight with a co-starring role as one of two American tourists (the other being Scarlett Johansson) who fall for a married Spanish painter (Javier Bardem) in Woody Allen’s sexy comedy “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008).

Born to Peter Hall and Maria Ewing (who divorced when she was five), Hall attended Roedean School where she became head girl. She later read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, for two years before dropping out in 2002, prior to her final year. During her time there, she appeared in "nearly a dozen" plays and set up a theatre company. She also appeared in student stage productions alongside Dan Stevens, later her As You Like It co-star. Her half-brother Edward Hall is a theater director.

Hall's first role came in 1992 when she appeared as Young Sophy in her father's television adaptation of Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn. Her most recent appearance on the small screen was as Antoinette Cosway in an adaptation of Wide Sargasso Sea, screened on BBC Four in October 2006.

Her professional stage debut came in 2002 when she starred as Vivie in her father's production of Mrs Warren's Profession at the Strand. Her performance received such reviews as "admirable" and "accomplished" and was enough to earn her the Ian Charleson Award in 2003. In 2003 her father celebrated fifty years as a theatre director by staging a season of five plays at the Theatre Royal, Bath. Rebecca starred in two of these five plays performed by the Peter Hall Company. She appeared as Rosalind in her father's production of As You Like It, which gained her a second Charleson nomination. She also starred in the title role of Thea Sharrock's revival of D.H. Lawrence's The Fight For Barbara.

In 2004 she appeared in three plays for the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal, Bath, two of them under the direction of her father, namely Man and Superman in which she played Ann, and Galileo's Daughter in which she played Sister Maria Celeste and the third, Molière's Don Juan, in which she played the part of Elvira was directed by Sharrock. In 2005 she reprised her role of Rosalind in a touring production of As You Like It, again under the direction of her father. This tour took in the following venues: The Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames; The Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York; The Curran Theatre at San Francisco; and The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Hall’s feature film debut came in 2006 as Rebecca Epstein in the film adaptation of David Nicholls' Starter for Ten. This was followed by her role as Sarah Borden in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. Between 2003 and at least 2004, she was in a relationship with her As You Like It co-star Freddie Stevenson.

An unabashed fan of Woody Allen and who claimed that “Manhattan” was her favorite film of all time, Hall called on the director to give her a part during an interview for “Starter for 10.” Allen, who was working in London at the time, summoned her shortly thereafter and cast her as one of the leads in his 2008 film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Hall was reunited with her “Prestige” co-star Scarlett Johansson as the more thoughtful of two American tourists who are seduced by Bardem’s earthy artist, only to discover that his hot-tempered ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) was still very much in the picture. The critical acclaim that preceded the film’s release laid the groundwork for a great deal of focus on Hall in subsequent months, thanks to her participation in such high-profile projects as Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon” (2008). Hall continued making a name for herself with her first-ever Golden Globe nomination, earning a nod for Best Performance by an Actress for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”