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Rebecca Hall
Hall in 2024
Born	Rebecca Maria Hall (1982-05-03) 3 May 1982 (age 42) London, England
Alma mater	St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Morgan Spector ​(m. 2015)​
Children	1
Parents	Sir Peter Hall Maria Ewing
Relatives	Edward Hall (half-brother) Christopher Hall (half-brother) Jennifer Caron Hall (half-sister)

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 superhero 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. 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.

Early life and background

Hall was born on 3 May 1982 in London, the daughter of the American opera singer Maria Ewing and Sir Peter Hall, an English stage director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company. (He was knighted for his service to theatre.) Her mother was born in Detroit, the daughter of an African-American mixed-race father and a white Dutch mother. She is a descendant of the American Revolutionary War veteran Bazabeel Norman, a free black 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.

Career

Film and television

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. Passing premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim. Its distribution rights were acquired by Netflix for approximately $16 million.

Stage

Hall made her professional stage debut in 2002 when she starred as Vivie in her father's production of Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Strand Theatre in London. Her performance, described as "admirable" and "accomplished", earned her the Ian Charleson Award in 2003.

In 2003, Hall's father celebrated 50 years as a theatre director by staging a season of five plays at the Theatre Royal in Bath, Somerset. Hall starred in two of these plays; she appeared as Rosalind in her father's production of As You Like It, which gained her a second Charleson nomination and starred in the title role of Thea Sharrock's revival of D. H. Lawrence's The Fight for Barbara. In 2004, Hall appeared in three plays for the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal Bath, two of which her father directed: Man and Superman in which she played Ann, and Galileo's Daughter in which she played Sister Maria Celeste. The third, Molière's Don Juan, in which she played the part of Elvira, was directed by Sharrock.

In 2005, Hall reprised the role of Rosalind in a touring production of As You Like It, again under the direction of her father. This tour played the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames, the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. This was a second leg of the US tour that began in 2003 with venues at the Shubert Theater New Haven, Connecticut, Columbus, Ohio, and the Wilbur Theater in Boston.

In 2008–2009, Hall appeared in Sam Mendes's first instalment of the Bridge Project as Hermione in The Winter's Tale and as Varya in The Cherry Orchard. The project gave performances with the same cast in Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2010–2011, she played Viola in a production of Twelfth Night at London's National Theatre, directed by her father.

Hall made her Broadway debut in 2013 in Sophie Treadwell's expressionist play Machinal. The Roundabout Theater production, directed by Lyndsey Turner, began previews on 20 December 2013, with the official opening on 16 January 2014 at the American Airlines Theatre.

Personal life

In 2010, there was intense media speculation of an affair between Hall and director Sam Mendes, who was married to Kate Winslet at the time. Hall and Mendes were in a relationship from 2011 to 2013.

In 2014, Hall met the actor Morgan Spector while co-starring in a Broadway production. They married in 2015. Their daughter Ida was born in 2018.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

1. Smith, Nigel M. (24 January 2016). "Christine review: Rebecca Hall astonishes in real-life horror story". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
2. "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
3. Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005. Gives name at birth as "Rebecca Maria Hall".
4. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (12 June 2010). "Who, me? Why everyone is talking about Rebecca Hall". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
5. Isenberg, Barbara (8 November 1992). "MUSIC No-Risk Opera? Not Even Close Maria Ewing, one of the most celebrated sopranos in opera, leaps again into the role of Tosca, keeping alive her streak of acclaimed performances while remaining true to herself". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
6. McLellan, Joseph (15 November 1990). "Article: Extra-Sensuous Perception; Soprano Maria Ewing, a Steamy 'Salome'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
7. Marsh, Robert C. (18 December 1988). "Growth of Maria Ewing continues with 'Salome' // Role of princess proves crowning achievement". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
8. Stated on Finding Your Roots, 4 January 2022
9. "Rebecca Hall Relationships". TV Guide. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
10. "Former Cambridge student takes her first leading role" (PDF). The Cambridge Student. 3 November 2011. p. 06.
11. Farber, Jim (20 February 2005). "For Rebecca Hall, it's all in the family business". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
12. "The Prestige production notes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
13. "Macbeth". Marlowe Society. 2002. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
14. West, Naomi (29 October 2011). "Rebecca Hall takes the lead". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011.
15. "Hall of fame: Rebecca Hall". The Daily Telegraph. 23 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
16. Grant, Jules (9 November 2006). "BBC, HBO unite for Poliakoff copro". C21Media. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
17. ^ Nugent, Benjamin (30 April 2010). "Rated 'R' for Rebecca". gq. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
18. "Awards Database – The BAFTA site". Bafta.org. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
19. "It's Time for StudioCanal's Awakening". Dread Central. 16 September 2012.
20. "The Awakening". Optimum Releasing. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
21. Malcolm, Derek (2012). "Lay the Favourite – review". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 June 2012. plays Raymer as an endearing force of nature who somehow manages to survive in a dangerous world through sheer force of character
22. O'Donovan, Gerard (10 May 2013). "Baftas 2013: the contenders". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
23. "Rebecca Hall Joins Transcendence With Johnny Depp & Paul Bettany". Empire. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
24. McClintock, Pamela (30 January 2014). "Berlin: Rebecca Hall to Star Opposite Jason Sudeikis in 'Tumbledown'". The Hollywood Reporter.
25. Barton, Steve (25 March 2015). "Joel Edgerton Receives The Gift". Dread Central. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
26. Lodge, Guy (24 January 2016). "Sundance Film Review: 'Christine'". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
27. Kilday, Gregg (11 September 2017). "Diego Luna, Liev Schreiber Join Woody Allen's New Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
28. Stefansky, Emma (13 January 2018). "Rebecca Hall Donated Her Salary from Woody Allen's Next Movie to Time's Up". Vanity Fair. New York City: Condé Nast. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
29. "Passing Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
30. Bradshaw, Peter (28 October 2021). "Passing review – Rebecca Hall's stylish and subtle study of racial identity". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
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32. Rao, Mallika (1 September 2021). "'Imagine a Black Woman Just Wanting Something'". Vulture. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
33. Jackson, Angelique (3 February 2021). "Netflix Nears $16M Deal to Acquire Rebecca Hall's 'Passing'". Variety. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
34. Billington, Michael (11 October 2002). "Mrs Warren's Profession". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
35. Loveridge, Lizzie (October 2002). "Mrs Warren's Profession, a Curtainup review". CurtainUp. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
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38. Brantley, Ben (15 December 2003). "THEATER REVIEW; Actress Finds Shadows in Shakespearean Spunk". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
39. Paddock, Terri (29 March 2004). "Dillon Wins Ian Charleson Award for Master Builder". whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
40. Spencer, Charles (10 July 2003). "Long-lost – but no masterpiece". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
41. Cripps, Charlotte (15 July 2004). "Rebecca Hall: My art belongs to Daddy". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
42. Connema, Richard (15 April 2005). "Sir Peter Hall's Production of The Bard's As You Like It is Stimulating". talkinbroadway.com. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
43. Haithman, Diane (25 February 2005). "Taking the fast lane to success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
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48. Bridge project info at BAM Archived 14 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine bam.org
49. Benedict, David (23 January 2011). "Twelfth Night". Variety.
50. Gioia, Michael (20 December 2013). "Broadway Revival of Sophie Treadwell's Machinal, Starring Rebecca Hall, Begins Previews Dec. 20". Playbill. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013.
51. "Did Rebecca Hall Come Between Sam Mendes And Kate Winslet?". Huffington Post. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
52. Adams, Stephen (27 November 2011). "Sam Mendes: I am seeing Rebecca Hall". Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
53. ^ Mead, Rebecca (3 June 2017). "Rebecca Hall's Complicated Inheritance". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
54. ^ Soloski, Alexis (25 May 2017). "Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector: Together, Onstage and off". The New York Times.
55. "Celebrities attend Sir Peter Hall Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey". alamy.com. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
56. Sacks, Hannah; VanHoose, Benjamin (29 March 2024). "Rebecca Hall Explains Why Being a Working Mom in Her 'Crazy' Job Is a 'Blessing and a Curse' (Exclusive)". People. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
57. "Rebecca Hall Joins James L. Brooks' Next Film 'Ella McCay' For 20th Century". Deadline. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
58. "Don't Leave Me This Way (TV) (1993)". Filmaffinity.
59. "Rubberheart – Brian Crano". Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
60. ^ Han, Angie (24 February 2016). "Steve McQueen HBO Drama Codes of Conduct Stalls At HBO". SlashFilm.
61. "BBC announces new drama The Listeners starring Rebecca Hall". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
62. Sharf, Zack (21 October 2021). "Gotham Awards 2021 Nominations: 'Pig,' 'Green Knight,' 'Passing' Compete for Best Feature". IndieWire. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

External links

• Rebecca Hall at IMDb
• Rebecca Hall at the TCM Movie Database

• 1982 births
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from London
• Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
• Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners
• English child actresses
• English emigrants to the United States
• English film actresses
• English people of African-American descent
• English people of Dutch descent
• English people of Scottish descent
• English stage actresses
• English Shakespearean actresses
• English television actresses
• Ian Charleson Award winners
• Living people
• People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex
• Theatre World Award winners