Who is Emily Beecham?
Emily is an award-winning English actress, probably best known to the world as The Widow in the TV series “Into the Badlands” (2015-2019), and as Alice in the film “Little Joe” (2019), among several other notable roles.
Emily Beecham Wiki: Age, Childhood, and Education
Emily Beecham was born on 12 May 1984, in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England. Her father was an English airline pilot, while her mother was from Arizona, USA. She hasn’t revealed the names of her parents, but has said that she has a brother, whose name and age are also unknown.
Growing up, she enjoyed going to the theater with her mother, and at 13 years old, she already knew that she would become an actress. It was the production of the play “The Blue Room” that ignited her desire, which is burning even today as acting is her profession.
After high school, she enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), from which she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2006.
Career Beginnings
Beecham made her acting debut in 2006, with the role of Rachel Aldred in the TV thriller mini-series “Bon Voyage”, which starred Fay Ripley, Ben Miles and Daniel Ryan.
She continued her career by securing one-time appearances in such TV series as “The Innocence Project”, then “Party Animals”, and “Marple”, all in 2007, and landed the role of Karen in the horror action-adventure “28 Weeks Later”, starring Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne and Robert Carlyle.
Next, in 2008 Emily portrayed Retty Priddle in the TV mini-series “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”, about a girl that comes from the slums but realizes her family has noble roots, with Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne and Ruth Jones in the lead roles.
Rise to Prominence
She was handpicked by the director and writer Jan Dunn for the lead role of Joanna in the comedy-drama film “The Calling” (2009), about a student girl who drops out of her studies to become a nun. The film received mixed reviews, but Emily as Joanna was widely praised, and won the London Independent Film Festival award for Best Actress; her co-stars were Brenda Blethyn and Susannah York.
The same year, Emily starred in the TV crime-drama mini-series “Unforgiven”, alongside Suranne Jones and Matthew McNulty, about a young woman who spent 15 years in prison and is now out, desiring only to find her younger sister.
In 2010, Emily appeared as Anna Flannery in two episodes of the long-running crime-drama series “Silent Witness”, and then starred in the horror film “Basement” as Pru.
The following year, she was cast in the TV crime drama series “The Runaway”, while in 2012, she was Janey Beckett in three episodes of the TV thriller-crime mini-series “The Fear”, with Petter Mullan, Anastasia Hille and Harry Lloyd as its main stars.
Continued Success
Emily continued her career rather successfully as the years progressed. In 2013 she was announced as one of the main stars in the BBC’s historical drama series “The Village”, which covers the rural and turbulent life of people in an English village during the 20th century. The series earned three BAFTA nominations, and co-starred David Ryall, Maxine Peake and Charlie Murphy, among others.
The same year, Emily starred in the mystery drama movie “The Thirteenth Tale” about an aging writer with a mysterious and tragic past who hires a younger one to write her life story for her. The film is based on Diane Setterfield’s novel of the same name, and it starred Vanessa Redgrave, Olivia Colman and Alexandre Roach.
Thank you @edfilmfest for giving me this award 😊😆😆😆 @thebureaufilms @tristangoligher #edfilmfest https://t.co/zQlUBMMA1f pic.twitter.com/K5mUJuBEgI
— Emily_Beecham (@Emily_Beecham) August 6, 2017
‘Into the Badlands’
Emily’s perhaps most popular role to date is as The Widow in the postapocalyptic America-set action-packed TV adventure drama series “Into the Badlands”. Inspired by the novel “Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en, Emily has assumed the role of the mixed martial arts-skillful warrior, fighting against a supernatural enemy. She starred in all 32 episodes of the award-winning series with Daniel Wu and Orla Brady until 2019, upon which Emily emerged as a star actress.
Other Projects and Further Success
In 2016, she portrayed Diedre in Ethan and Joel Coen’s Academy Award-nominated mystery comedy-drama film “Hail, Caesar!”, about a Hollywood fixer of the 1950s who makes sure that all the studio’s stars are scandal free in the media. It starred some Hollywood greats, such as Josh Brolin, George Clooney and Ralph Fiennes, among many others, and grossed just over $63 million at the box office, on a budget of $22 million.
In 2017, Emily starred in the title role in the comedy-drama film “Daphne”, as a young woman stuck in existential limbo whose life changes one fateful night when she is in a store during a robbery. She received numerous nominations and awards, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival for Best Performance and the Prize of the City of Torino in the category for Best Actress at the Torino Film Festival. Her co-stars included Geraldine James and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor.
In 2019, Emily starred as Alice, in Jessica Hausner’s award-winning horror mystery-drama film “Little Joe”, co-starring Ben Wishaw and Kerry Fox. The film follows Emily, a plant breeder who works in a lab creating new flower species. When they create a new plant, she takes one of the seeds home, but things start changing as if the plant affects people and animals it comes into contact with. Emily was widely praised for her portrayal of Alice, and won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
The following year, Emily starred in the drama film “Sulphur and White” with Mark Stanley, while in 2021, she joined Emma Stone in the Disney live-action prequel “Cruella”, as Catherine/Maid.
The same year, Emily starred with Lily James in the romantic-drama mini-series “The Pursuit of Love”, alongside Lily James and Dominic West.
Currently, she’s working on the upcoming Netflix-produced historical horror-drama series “1899”, a story about the nightmarish sea voyage of London migrants seeking a better life in New York.
Moreover, Emily is set to star as Milla De Wet in the drama film “The Outside Room”, though the film is only in pre-production, and will appear in the sci-fi film “Slingshot” with Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, now in post-production, but without a premiere date set.
Net Worth
Emily Beecham’s net worth is estimated at $3 million as of mid- 2022. She has made over 45 film and TV appearances during her career, all of which have contributed to her wealth.
Personal Life, Dating, Married, Husband, Children
Emily is very private, and never talks about her personal endeavors. However, according to sources, Emily is in a romantic relationship with German actor Maximilian “Max” Befort, and some claim that the two are even married and living together in an East London flat. However, no official confirmation has been given by either of them.
Appearance and Vital Statistics
Beecham is known for her natural red hair and blue eyes. She stands at 5ft 5ins (1.66m) tall, weighs about 125lbs (57kgs), with vital statistics of 32-24-33, and bra size 30B.
Hobbies, Interests, and Trivia
As the daughter of an American mother and an English father, Emily holds citizenship of both countries.
Outside of acting, Emily enjoys listening to music, and her favorite artists are The Smiths, Nina Simone, Ladyhawke, and The Knife, among others.
