Born on July 12, 1976 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, actress Anna Friel shot to fame at age 16 playing Beth Jordache, British television's first lesbian character, on the serial "Brookside.” Between 1993-95, her character was controversial, yet proved to be extremely popular in the UK, inspiring many "Free Beth Jordache" campaigns when the character was on trial for patricide. Despite her status as a household name, however, Friel was dropped from the show in 1995 when writers forced Beth to commit suicide off-screen. The petite beauty remained visible – in more ways than one – frequently appearing in semi-nude or nude shots in British magazines, while continuing to act in such ventures as an episode of HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" in 1996 and portraying Bella Wilfer in the 1998 BBC adaptation of "Our Mutual Friend.”
Friel continued to develop a sex symbol persona with her role in the BBC-2 movie "The Tribe" (1998), playing a seductive member of a cult-like Goth group – a role that required full frontal nudity. She segued to the big screen as the brazen flirt Prue in David Leland's World War II drama, "The Land Girls" (1998). A sprightly blonde, with mischievous eyes and a knowing smile, Friel brought a combination of innocence and vivacious charm to her portrayal of a working-class girl, amplifying the character to something more than a simple tart.
She continued to establish herself as a film actress as Ewan McGregor's wife in "Rogue Trader" (1998), the biopic of Nick Leeson, whose financial dealings brought about the collapse of Barings Bank. She joined a stellar cast that included Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christian Bale and Rupert Everett for another telling of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1999), playing Hermia, the love-torn daughter of an overly-controlling father (Bernard Hill) who wants her to marry another man (Bale).
Friel began making more of a name for herself in the United States, first by appearing in small independent films, followed by regular series work on television. She headlined the British-made “Mad Cows” (1999), playing a newly single mother who shoplifts and stages a prison break scheme with her best friend (Joanna Lumley) so she can find the couple who adopted her son. In “Sunset Strip” (2000), an affective and well-meaning film set in 1972 Los Angeles, Friel was a struggling fashion designer catering to the Strip’s myriad rock musicians. After playing the sultry nurse girlfriend of a barber (Barry McEvoy) who gets a job at an Irish insane asylum in “An Everlasting Piece” (2000), she traveled back to Napoleonic France to play a local woman in love with an army officer (Jean Marc Barr) in the swashbuckling romance, “St. Ives” (2001). Friel then gave a strong performance as the troubled and unpredictable Marina, lifelong best friend to the steady and bookish Holly, in “Me Without You” (2002).
After the failure of “Timeline” (2003), a sci-fi action flick about a group of modern day scientists trapped in 14th century France which starred Paul Walker and Frances O’Connor, Friel decided to try her hand at American television. She landed a regular gig on the short-lived legal drama, “The Jury” (Fox, 2004-05), Tom Fontana’s look at the deliberation process, as seen through the eyes of a different New York jury every week. In the CBS movie “Perfect Strangers” (2004), Friel played a junior ad rep in London who switches jobs with a New York executive – thanks to a company exchange program – and learns how much she has in common with her counterpart.
She finally scored a TV hit with “Pushing Daises,” an oddball, stylized tale of a man (Lee Pace) with the power to bring the dead back to life – unless he touches them again; sending them back to a permanent death. Friel played his childhood sweetheart Chuck, whom he revives after she is murdered on a cruise ship, only to fall hopelessly in love and never be able to touch her again. In 2008, Friel earned her first Golden Globe nomination for her role in the highly-acclaimed series. Friel earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2008 for her role in the highly acclaimed series. However, declining ratings led to its cancellation the following year. Not long after the final episode aired, Friel hit movie screens in “Land of the Lost” (2009), adapted from the 1970s Saturday morning series about a family who find themselves transported to pre-historic times. Despite the star power of leading man Will Ferrell, the film had tough competition at the summer box office and negative reviews aided in keeping moviegoers away.
Friel returned to Great Britain for her next pair of features, beginning with “Angel Makers” (2010), in which she starred as one of a farming community of World War I wives who task German POWs with replacing their husbands during wartime. In “London Boulevard” (2010), Friel appeared alongside Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley in the story of an ex-con struggling to distance himself from a violent past.