Biography of Claire Foy
Claire Foy is a British actress who shot to fame through her starring role in "The Crown" and acclaimed performances in films like "Season of the Witch", "Breathe", and "Unsane".
Childhood and Youth
Claire Elizabeth Foy was born on April 16, 1984, in Stockport, England, just outside Manchester. Claire is the youngest of three children born to David Foy, a Rank Xerox salesman, and Caroline, a pharmacist from a "large Irish family". The actress's older brother is named Robert, and her older sister is Gemma.Claire's parents divorced when she was 8 years old. According to Foy, she remembers little about this period - she handled the divorce relatively easily, unlike Robert and Gemma. The children stayed with their mother; the family first moved to Manchester, then to Leeds. Their father continued to see the children and maintained a good relationship with their mother.
Claire showed creative potential at an early age. She loved putting on plays, dancing, and playing piano for anyone willing to watch her perform. She especially enjoyed "singing and impersonating animals." At the time, Foy hadn't even considered an acting career.
At 17, Claire faced health problems again. Doctors discovered a tumor in her right eye, but fortunately it was benign. After surgery, her right eye looked slightly different from her left.
Money was tight in the family, so from age 14, Claire balanced her studies at Aylesbury High School for Girls with part-time work at a local pub. This continued until she enrolled at Liverpool John Moores University (after an unsuccessful attempt at journalism), where Foy studied drama and film theory before her teachers convinced her to focus on acting.
Acting Career
Claire's acting career began in 2008 when she appeared on screen for the first time in a role as a werewolf's ex-fiancé in an episode of the fantasy series "Being Human," which centered around three neighbors: a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost. She was lucky - she landed this role without an agent, which she didn't have at the time. Looking back, Claire admitted that she considered this role terrible, but it was like a rite of passage that every actor goes through.
In 2010, Claire appeared in the TV movie "Pulse" and Dominic Sena's American adventure film "Season of the Witch", starring Nicolas Cage. Released in 2011, the film was universally panned by critics.
Steven Soderbergh's 2018 American thriller "Unsane" starred Claire Foy as Sawyer Valentini, who finds herself trapped in a psychiatric institution where she must confront her inner demons. The film also stars Matt Damon and Juno Temple.
Personal Life of Claire Foy
Claire Foy met English actor Stephen Campbell Moore, seven years her senior, on the set of "Season of the Witch" in 2011. The couple hit it off, marrying in December 2014. Soon after, Foy became pregnant but continued working on "Wolf Hall." Just four months after the birth of their daughter, Ivy Rose, the actress returned to work.
Claire Foy Now
In 2021, the biographical drama "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain" hit theaters, telling the largely tragic story of the famous artist. Foy played Wain's wife, Emily Richardson, and the artist himself was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. "Emily was a breath of fresh air for me — I really enjoyed playing a character who wasn't weighed down by trauma and struggles," Foy said.