Romola Garai who was born on 6 August 1982 in Hong Kong is an award-winning English actress. She is popularly known by the nickname “Romster” and has one brother named Ralph and two sisters named Rosie and Roxy. Her mother, Janet, was a journalist and her father, Adrian Garai, was a high-ranked bank manager. Romola Garai is of Hungarian descent and her great grandfather was Bert Garai, the founder of the Keystone Press Agency in London in 1924. She completed her A-levels from the City of London School for Girls. She later joined Queen Mary, University of London to complete her degree in English Literature.
Romola Garai was fond of drama and acted in several plays at school level. She also made contribution to the National Youth Theatre until the age of 18. Her budding acting skill was spotted by an agent who offered her the role of a younger version of Judi Dench’s character in the television series The Last of the Blonde Bombshells. Her professional career in the field of acting began during her first break from the University. Romola Garai got an opportunity to act in the BBC television series named, Attachments. In 2002, she acted in the television series, Perfect and also starred in Daniel Deoranda, a TV series in which she played an important role along with Hugh Dancy and Hugh Bonneville. In the same year, Romola Garai got her first major break in the silver screen, when she acted in the film Nicholas Nickleby, in which she played the character Kate Nickleby. The National Board of Review appreciated the work of the entire cast and honoured them with the Best Ensemble award.
In 2003, her work in the movie I Capture the Castle was appreciated, in which Romola Garai played a role of a 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The movie scored 80% at Rotten Tomatoes and Romola Garai was nominated for the ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ award in BIFA. Romola Garai was looked as the next Julie Christie, a legendry actress, by her fans because of her acting talent and similar resemblance. In 2004, two of her movies, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and Vanity Fair hit the theatres. In 2005, Romola Garai again earned nomination from the British Independent Film Awards under the Best Supporting Actress category, for her performance as Siobhan in the film Inside I'm Dancing. For the same film, she was awarded ‘British Supporting Actress of the Year’ by the London Film Critics Circle. Romola Garai later acted in an Australian miniseries called The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant. She signed the project for up to $15 million, which was the highest pay given to any actress for a miniseries. Her impressive performance in the miniseries earned her nominations for ‘Best Lead Actress in Television’ from Australian Film Institute and ‘Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series’ from the Logie Awards.
In 2006, her two films, Woody Allen’s Scoop and Kenneth Brannagh’s As You Like It were released. In 2007, Romola Garai played the role of Ioan Gruffudd’s wife in a drama called Amazing Grace. She also starred in the film Angel, directed by Francois Ozon, a renowned film director and screenwriter, in which she played the character Angel Deverell. Romola Garai worked in projects under the Royal Shakespeare Company productions as Cordelia in King Lear and as Nina in The Seagull, along with famous actors like Ian McKellen, Frances Barber, Sylvester McCoy, Jonathan Hyde and William Gaunt. Besides acting, Romola Garai enjoys cooking and travelling in her spare time.
