Sally Hawkins Biography

Sally Hawkins was born Sally Cecilia Hawkins, on April 27, 1976, in the Lewisham Hospital in Dulwich, London, England. Her parents, Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, are both authors and illustrators of children's books. Hawkins had both English and Irish roots.

Her younger brother, Finbar, grew up to be a TV and film producer. Finbar pens children’s books too. Hawkins grew up in a gingerbread house in Blackheath, Southeast London, designed by Patrick Gwynne, that was protected by the National Trust.

She was of age 3 when she was inspired to pursue acting as a probable career path after visiting a circus. She also loved watching black-and-white films as a child.

She initially attended the James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich, where she competed in swimming, specializing in the butterfly stroke. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1998.

Hawkins began her acting career on stage, with plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream (2000), Much Ado About Nothing (2000), Country Music (2004), and The House of Bernarda Alba (2005). Hawkins made her breakthrough screen performance as Samantha in the 2002 British drama movie All or Nothing.

She was then seen as Slasher in the 2004 crime movie Layer Cake. She appeared as Zena Blake in the BBC adaptation of the 1998 Sarah Waters novel Tipping the Velvet (2002).

In 2005, Hawkins appeared in her first major TV role, as Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated 4-part BBC miniseries Fingersmith. It was an adaptation of a 2002 novel of the same name by Sarah Waters.

Hawkins then appeared in projects such as the 2003 BBC comedy series Little Britain and the 2005 BBC series Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, the latter based on a trilogy by British author Patrick Hamilton. She has also lent her voice to Concrete Cow and Ed Reardon's Week on BBC Radio 4.

In 2006, she went back to the stage and performed in Jez Butterworth's The Winterling at the Royal Court Theatre. The following year, she was seen as Anne Elliot in the TV film Persuasion, based on Jane Austen's iconic 1817 novel of the same name. The film fetched her the Golden Nymph Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Film and the Royal Television Award for Best Actress.

This was followed by the 2008 British comedy-drama Happy-Go-Lucky, which starred her in the critically acclaimed role of Poppy Cross. The role was apparently written especially for her.

Her gripping performance as Poppy got her several awards, such as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the Silver Bear for Best Actress (at the Berlin International Film Festival), the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and the Hollywood Film Award for Breakout Actress of the Year, among others. However, a lot of controversy followed when she was not nominated for an Academy Award for the same role. Tabloids were quick to point out how it was the first year since 2000-2001 that the Golden Globe for Best Actress winner had not received an Academy Award nomination.

In 2006, she was seen in uncredited roles in Richard Ayoade's British comedy chat show Man to Man with Dean Learner. Some of her other films include Desert Flower (2009), Happy Ever Afters (2009), and Never Let Me Go (2010).

In November 2010, Hawkins was seen as Vivie in the Broadway play Mrs. Warren's Profession. She also appeared in the coming-of-age drama Submarine (2010), the comedy drama Made in Dagenham (2010), the film adaptation of Jane Eyre (2011), the New Zealand romantic comedy Love Birds (2011).

The Woody Allen-directed 2013 comedy-drama Blue Jasmine featured her in the role of Ginger, the sister of Jasmine (played by Cate Blanchett) The film fetched Hawkins her first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress), along with nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. It also won her the Empire Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She was then seen as Julie Ellis in the 2014 British drama film X+Y, as Mrs. Brown in the 2014 live-action animation Paddington, as Dr. Vivienne Graham in Godzilla (2014), and as Canadian folk artist Maud Dowley/Lewis in the 2016 biographical drama Maudie. The film won her several awards, such as the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Feature Film and the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year.

In 2017, Hawkins appeared in the critically acclaimed role of Elisa, a mute janitor, in the Guillermo del Toro-directed fantasy drama The Shape of Water. Her performance in the film got her several major nominations, including those for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, among others. She also received several awards for the film, such as the Dorian Award for Film Performance of the Year – Actress, the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.

She also won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for her reprisal of the role of Mrs. Brown in the live-action animation Paddington 2 in 2017. In 2019, she won the British Animation Award for Best Voice Performance for The Snail and the Whale. The same year, she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress for the dark comedy Eternal Beauty and the AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2021 historical drama Spencer.

Sally Hawkins is unmarried. She is, however, known for her close friendship with actor James Corden. They once made a deal that if they both remained unmarried till 35, they would get married to each other. However, Corden married Julia Carey soon after.

In 2018, Hawkins revealed that she suffers from the autoimmune disease lupus and that the ailment makes it quite difficult for her to travel. Hawkins is also dyslexic since childhood. She once stated that acting helped her fight the condition and pronounce words correctly. She also suffers from ophidiophobia, or the fear of snakes.

A talented pianist, she performed her character’s piano act in the 2013 movie All Is Bright by herself. Hawkins also loves to paint. She has been a spokesperson for Oxfam's initiative East Africa Appeal, too.