Sienna Guillory
Encyclopedia
Sienna Tiggy Guillory is an English actress, and former model. She is known for playing the title role in the TV miniseries, Helen of Troy
, her portrayal of Jill Valentine
in the science fiction
action
horror film
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
, and as elf princess Arya Dröttningu in fantasy
-adventure film
, Eragon
. She resumed her role as Jill Valentine in the action horror film Resident Evil: Afterlife
in 2010, and in Resident Evil: Retribution
scheduled for release September 14, 2012.
friend to the London modelling agency Select
and was soon signed. She modelled solely to support her acting career. As a model, she worked in campaigns for Armani, Dolce & Gabbana
, Burberry
, and Paul Smith
and appeared on the covers of British, German and Italian Vogue
, among other fashion magazines. In 1999, she became the face of the Hugo Boss
fragrance campaign, succeeding model Karen Ferrari and continuing the campaign for three years. After modelling for a few years, Guillory returned her focus to acting in 2000. She is signed to Independent Models in London.
In 1993, Guillory made her screen debut in a TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper
's Riders
, for which the casting directors needed a young actress who was able to ride a horse. Her performance landed her in another small role in the miniseries The Buccaneers
, opposite Mira Sorvino
.
Before becoming a model to support her acting career, Guillory waited tables at a club. In an interview in 2000, she said about the experience "Supporting my acting habit with waitressing was probably the most useful thing I've done." During her time as a model, she studied acting at the New World School of the Arts
and the Paris Conservatoire, also taking small television and film roles in The Future Lasts a Long Time (1996), The Rules of Engagement (1999), Star! Star! (1999), Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2000), The 3 Kings (2000), and Two Days, Nine Lives (2000). During this time, Guillory decided to go on with her acting career because "I was so scared of going to university and being with people my own age again, having been with that tiny little sect of girls in Norfolk whose daddies were farmers and politicians, who didn't trust me and didn't know where I was coming from."
She returned to film with a more substantial role in the thriller Sorted (2000). Guillory went on to appear in the BBC
production Take a Girl Like You
, a television adaptation of Kingsley Amis
's novel of the same name. She portrayed Jenny Bunn, the story's virginal heroine, and gained critical attention for her part in the period piece. Guillory was pleased to have played a more innocent character, saying "I've played floozies, psychopaths, assassins, crackheads.... It's nice to do something with a lighter touch." The production did not fare well in the ratings.
In 2001, Guillory continued with other roles in predominantly British films, including Oblivious, Late Night Shopping
(with husband Enzo Cilenti), The Last Minute, and Superstition. 2002 saw Guillory appear in The Time Machine
, alongside Guy Pearce
and Jeremy Irons
. She was pleased to take on a larger scale film, after having worked on low-budget independent films, and compared the experience with "finding an unicorn in your sock drawer." She played Emma, the fiancée of Pearce's character, who was killed early in the film and whose death set off its main events.
In 2003, after a friend had received a script for The Principles of Lust, Guillory claims she "read it and couldn't put it down, and begged to read for the part". She was impressed by director Penny Woolcock
's unconventional style of shooting, without rehearsing the actors, using raw takes and improvisational performances. For the role of Juliette, Guillory performed nude in the film's sex scenes which were filmed during the first week of filming, making her somewhat nervous. She later went on to say that it was one of her favourite acting experiences. Afterwards, Guillory had a small role in the romantic comedy Love, Actually before taking the starring role in the television miniseries Helen of Troy
. The series was mostly based on Homer
's epic poem Iliad
and focuses on the mythological life of Helen. Helen of Troy was nominated for best miniseries at the Satellite Awards
.
In May 2004, Guillory starred in a new stage production of The Shape of Things
at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London, with husband Cilenti. 2004 also saw Guillory in her first big Hollywood role. She was cast as Jill Valentine
, one of the lead characters in the video game adaptation sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse
. The film makers had searched widely for an actress to portray the video game character and found her in Guillory, who had to "please not only the movie-going audience but also the gamers". She was, however, "a dead ringer for Jill Valentine." Guillory was reported to have studied the original character's movements by watching playthroughs of the video game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
. Before getting the script for the film, she had not been familiar with the video games or seen Resident Evil
. She said about her role:
Resident Evil: Apocalypse, although it was not well received by critics, grossed $
23,036,273 on its opening weekend (10–12 September 2004) and took a total of $51,201,453 in the United States and $129,394,835 worldwide.
After the success of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Guillory went on to appear in other film and television roles, including Beauty (2004), Marple: A Murder Is Announced (2005), In the Bathroom (2005), The Virgin Queen
(2005), Silence Becomes You
(2005), and Rabbit Fever (2006).
In 2006, Guillory was a lead in the ensemble cast of the fantasy Eragon
, the film adaptation of the novel by Christopher Paolini
; the role had reunited her with The Time Machine co-star Jeremy Irons. She portrayed Arya Dröttningu, an elf princess. She had not read the novels before filming, but after accepting the role she soon became a fan of Paolini's work. Although Arya is a key character in the film, Guillory had little screen time and went on to say jokingly: "I've been trying to explain to friends who've seen the trailer [...] I'm like, "[...] but that's my whole part!"" Eragon was not well received by the critics, but was nominated as Best Fantasy Film at the 2006 Saturn Awards. The film went on to gross approximately $
75 million in the US and $173.9 million elsewhere, totalling $249 million worldwide. Guillory was also invited to reprise her role as Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Extinction
, the sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but could not accept due to scheduling conflicts with Eragon.
In 2007, she starred in the Spanish production El Corazón de la tierra, or The Heart of the Earth, and later in the year finished filming the horror/thriller Victims and the fantasy novel adaptation Inkheart
. In Inkheart, she plays Resa, the wife of Brendan Fraser
's character and the mother of Eliza Bennett
's. Inkheart sees Guillory acting alongside Helen Mirren
, a friend of the Guillory family who was a role model when she first had aspirations towards acting.
Guillory will be a lead in the forthcoming television series The Oaks
, expected to begin airing in 2008. She joins Bahar Soomekh
, Matt Lanter
, Romy Rosemont
, Jeremy Renner
, Michael Rispoli
and Shannon Lucio
in the series which follows the intertwining stories of three families—a young couple in 1968 that have lost a child, a family of four in 1998, and a pregnant couple in 2008—who are haunted by the same spirit in their house. The television series began filming on 5 November 2007 on location in Pasadena, California
. Guillory will play Jessica, the 2008 couple's neighbour, a woman who has Asperger syndrome
who went to school with the husband (and father-to-be) and shares a secret with him.
In May 2010, Shock Till You Drop.com confirmed the return of Jill Valentine in the Resident Evil film franchise's fourth instalment, Resident Evil: Afterlife
, with Guillory reprising the role. On 31 May, Jovovich also confirmed that Guillory will return as Jill. Guillory reappears in the film in a mid-end credit scene.
UK voted Guillory "Britain's Most Eligible Woman" and featured her in a pictorial in the magazine. Guillory was photographed for the cover and shoot by photographer Jonathan Glynn Smith. In 2002, she was number 89 on Maxim
' s list of "The 100 Sexiest Women", and in 2007 Guillory was voted number 54 at Askmen.com
's Top 99 Countdown.
Guillory has also been quoted as disliking the Hollywood culture, saying she does not wish to be part of it:
, Northamptonshire
, England, Guillory is the daughter of the American folk guitarist Isaac Guillory
and his first wife, English model Tina Thompson, whom he married in 1973. Isaac Guillory was of Jewish heritage and born at the Guantanamo
naval base in Cuba.
Her parents moved to Fulham
, London when Guillory was two, then later to Norfolk
when she was eleven. At the age of ten, she went to stay with cousins in Mexico to learn Spanish. She has a half-brother named Jace, whom her father had adopted and with whom she shares the same mother. Her parents divorced in 1990 when she was fourteen, and in 1993, her father married Vickie McMillan, which resulted in a much younger half-sister and half-brother, Ellie and Jacob. Guillory attended Gresham's School
in Holt, Norfolk
, where she took part in numerous school productions. She was later expelled from the school for stealing.
Guillory has been an equestrian
since the age of two. At fourteen, she was given a horse, which she named The Night Porter, or "Porty", after the film The Night Porter
; Guillory was a fan of its leading actress Charlotte Rampling
.
In December 2000, Guillory's father died of cancer
at the age of fifty-three.
, and the couple married in 2002. In February 2011, Guillory gave birth to twin daughters, Valentina and Lucia Cilenti, named after her grandmother and great aunt who were also twin sisters.
to raise money for charity.
Helen of Troy (TV miniseries)
Helen of Troy is a 2003 television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, Iliad. This TV miniseries also shares the name with a 1956 movie starring Stanley Baker...
, her portrayal of Jill Valentine
Jill Valentine
is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror series by Capcom.Jill is one of the two protagonists of the original Resident Evil game, where she was introduced as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service , trapped in a secret research complex of...
in the science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
action
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a Canadian-British 2004 science fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt, from a screenplay written by producer Paul W.S. Anderson...
, and as elf princess Arya Dröttningu in fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
-adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
, Eragon
Eragon (film)
Eragon is a 2006 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by author Christopher Paolini. The cast includes Edward Speleers in the title role, Jeremy Irons, Garrett Hedlund, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou, Alun Armstrong, Joss Stone, and the voice...
. She resumed her role as Jill Valentine in the action horror film Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
in 2010, and in Resident Evil: Retribution
Resident Evil: Retribution
Resident Evil: Retribution is an upcoming 2012 3D science-fiction action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the fifth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil.The film has many returning actors and...
scheduled for release September 14, 2012.
Modelling
In 1997, Guillory accompanied a ballerinaBallerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
friend to the London modelling agency Select
Select Model Management
Select Model Management is a modelling agency based in London. Founded by Tandy Anderson and sisters Claire and Chrissie Castagnetti, they opened the agency over 25 years ago, and still own the agency today.-Models represented:...
and was soon signed. She modelled solely to support her acting career. As a model, she worked in campaigns for Armani, Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....
, Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
, and Paul Smith
Paul Smith (fashion designer)
Sir Paul Smith jr, RDI, is an English fashion designer, whose business and reputation is founded upon his menswear. He is both commercially successful and highly respected within the fashion industry....
and appeared on the covers of British, German and Italian Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, among other fashion magazines. In 1999, she became the face of the Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...
fragrance campaign, succeeding model Karen Ferrari and continuing the campaign for three years. After modelling for a few years, Guillory returned her focus to acting in 2000. She is signed to Independent Models in London.
Acting
Guillory explained that she "became an actor because I wanted to know what it was like to be other people. Because possibly I don't like myself," and later said "I hate acting, really hate it. I kind of fell into it sideways ... I started acting because I got offered a job when I was 16, and they wanted to pay me £8,000, and we'd always lived on Family Support..." She went on to say that her frustration with later film roles left her bitter, but after seeing Helen Mirren onstage she was inspired again.In 1993, Guillory made her screen debut in a TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper
Jilly Cooper
Jilly Cooper OBE is an English author. She started her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. She is most famous for writing the Rutshire Chronicles.-Early life:Jilly Sallitt was born in Hornchurch,...
's Riders
Riders (novel)
Riders is an international best-selling novel, written by the English author, Jilly Cooper. It is the first of a series of romance novels known as the Rutshire Chronicles, which are set in the fictional English county of Rutshire. The story focuses on the lives of a group of top show jumping...
, for which the casting directors needed a young actress who was able to ride a horse. Her performance landed her in another small role in the miniseries The Buccaneers
The Buccaneers
The Buccaneers is the last novel written by Edith Wharton. It was unfinished at the time of her death in 1937, and published in that form in 1938. Wharton's manuscript ends with Lizzy inviting Nan to a house party to which Guy Thwarte has been invited too...
, opposite Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
.
Before becoming a model to support her acting career, Guillory waited tables at a club. In an interview in 2000, she said about the experience "Supporting my acting habit with waitressing was probably the most useful thing I've done." During her time as a model, she studied acting at the New World School of the Arts
New World School of the Arts
New World School of the Arts is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida with dual-enrollment programs in visual arts, dance, theatre, musical theatre, instrumental music, and vocal music. Both the college and the high school are accredited by the Southern Association of...
and the Paris Conservatoire, also taking small television and film roles in The Future Lasts a Long Time (1996), The Rules of Engagement (1999), Star! Star! (1999), Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2000), The 3 Kings (2000), and Two Days, Nine Lives (2000). During this time, Guillory decided to go on with her acting career because "I was so scared of going to university and being with people my own age again, having been with that tiny little sect of girls in Norfolk whose daddies were farmers and politicians, who didn't trust me and didn't know where I was coming from."
She returned to film with a more substantial role in the thriller Sorted (2000). Guillory went on to appear in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production Take a Girl Like You
Take a Girl Like You (TV series)
Take a Girl Like You is a 2000 British television comedy series adapted by Andrew Davies from the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis. It starred Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Hugh Bonneville, Robert Daws, Leslie Phillips, Emma Chambers, Ian Driver and Deborah Cornelius. It was...
, a television adaptation of Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
's novel of the same name. She portrayed Jenny Bunn, the story's virginal heroine, and gained critical attention for her part in the period piece. Guillory was pleased to have played a more innocent character, saying "I've played floozies, psychopaths, assassins, crackheads.... It's nice to do something with a lighter touch." The production did not fare well in the ratings.
In 2001, Guillory continued with other roles in predominantly British films, including Oblivious, Late Night Shopping
Late Night Shopping
Late Night Shopping is a comedy funded by FilmFour Productions. The film is about four young friends who all work the graveyard shifts in various soul-killing jobs then meet up in a cafe after their shift to talk about nothing and generally kill time.- Synopsis :Each of...
(with husband Enzo Cilenti), The Last Minute, and Superstition. 2002 saw Guillory appear in The Time Machine
The Time Machine (2002 film)
The Time Machine is a 2002 American science fiction film loosely adapted from the 1895 novel of the same name by H. G. Wells, and the 1960 film screenplay by David Duncan...
, alongside Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
and Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
. She was pleased to take on a larger scale film, after having worked on low-budget independent films, and compared the experience with "finding an unicorn in your sock drawer." She played Emma, the fiancée of Pearce's character, who was killed early in the film and whose death set off its main events.
In 2003, after a friend had received a script for The Principles of Lust, Guillory claims she "read it and couldn't put it down, and begged to read for the part". She was impressed by director Penny Woolcock
Penny Woolcock
Penny Woolcock is a British filmmaker, opera director, and screenwriter. She was raised in a British community in Montevideo, speaking English and going to English schools...
's unconventional style of shooting, without rehearsing the actors, using raw takes and improvisational performances. For the role of Juliette, Guillory performed nude in the film's sex scenes which were filmed during the first week of filming, making her somewhat nervous. She later went on to say that it was one of her favourite acting experiences. Afterwards, Guillory had a small role in the romantic comedy Love, Actually before taking the starring role in the television miniseries Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy (TV miniseries)
Helen of Troy is a 2003 television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, Iliad. This TV miniseries also shares the name with a 1956 movie starring Stanley Baker...
. The series was mostly based on Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's epic poem Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
and focuses on the mythological life of Helen. Helen of Troy was nominated for best miniseries at the Satellite Awards
Satellite Awards
The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...
.
The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things is a 2001 play by American author and film director Neil LaBute and a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film. It premièred at the Almeida Theatre, London in 2001 with Paul Rudd as Adam, Rachel Weisz as Evelyn, Gretchen Mol as Jenny, and Fred Weller as Phillip. The play was...
at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London, with husband Cilenti. 2004 also saw Guillory in her first big Hollywood role. She was cast as Jill Valentine
Jill Valentine
is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror series by Capcom.Jill is one of the two protagonists of the original Resident Evil game, where she was introduced as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service , trapped in a secret research complex of...
, one of the lead characters in the video game adaptation sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a Canadian-British 2004 science fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt, from a screenplay written by producer Paul W.S. Anderson...
. The film makers had searched widely for an actress to portray the video game character and found her in Guillory, who had to "please not only the movie-going audience but also the gamers". She was, however, "a dead ringer for Jill Valentine." Guillory was reported to have studied the original character's movements by watching playthroughs of the video game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released in Japan as is a survival horror video game and the sequel to Resident Evil 2, developed and published by Capcom. The game was released for the PlayStation, and was subsequently ported to the Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo GameCube...
. Before getting the script for the film, she had not been familiar with the video games or seen Resident Evil
Resident Evil (film)
Resident Evil is a British-German 2002 horror film written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, and James Purefoy...
. She said about her role:
Resident Evil: Apocalypse, although it was not well received by critics, grossed $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
23,036,273 on its opening weekend (10–12 September 2004) and took a total of $51,201,453 in the United States and $129,394,835 worldwide.
After the success of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Guillory went on to appear in other film and television roles, including Beauty (2004), Marple: A Murder Is Announced (2005), In the Bathroom (2005), The Virgin Queen
The Virgin Queen (TV show)
The Virgin Queen is a 2005 BBC and Power co-production, four-part miniseries based upon the life of Queen Elizabeth I, starring Anne-Marie Duff...
(2005), Silence Becomes You
Silence Becomes You
Silence Becomes You is a 2005 British thriller film starring Alicia Silverstone, Sienna Guillory and Joe Anderson.- Plot :The film tells the tale of two sisters, Violet and Grace, who live a sheltered life within a secluded New England mansion, inherited from their parents...
(2005), and Rabbit Fever (2006).
In 2006, Guillory was a lead in the ensemble cast of the fantasy Eragon
Eragon (film)
Eragon is a 2006 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by author Christopher Paolini. The cast includes Edward Speleers in the title role, Jeremy Irons, Garrett Hedlund, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou, Alun Armstrong, Joss Stone, and the voice...
, the film adaptation of the novel by Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini is an American author. He is best known as the author of the Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance...
; the role had reunited her with The Time Machine co-star Jeremy Irons. She portrayed Arya Dröttningu, an elf princess. She had not read the novels before filming, but after accepting the role she soon became a fan of Paolini's work. Although Arya is a key character in the film, Guillory had little screen time and went on to say jokingly: "I've been trying to explain to friends who've seen the trailer [...] I'm like, "[...] but that's my whole part!"" Eragon was not well received by the critics, but was nominated as Best Fantasy Film at the 2006 Saturn Awards. The film went on to gross approximately $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
75 million in the US and $173.9 million elsewhere, totalling $249 million worldwide. Guillory was also invited to reprise her role as Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Extinction
Resident Evil: Extinction
Resident Evil: Extinction is a Canadian-British 2007 science fiction action horror film also categorized as a doomsday and zombie film, and is the third installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil...
, the sequel to Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but could not accept due to scheduling conflicts with Eragon.
In 2007, she starred in the Spanish production El Corazón de la tierra, or The Heart of the Earth, and later in the year finished filming the horror/thriller Victims and the fantasy novel adaptation Inkheart
Inkheart (film)
Inkheart is a 2008 fantasy film directed by Iain Softley and starring Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the novel with the same name by Cornelia Funke...
. In Inkheart, she plays Resa, the wife of Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
's character and the mother of Eliza Bennett
Eliza Bennett
Eliza Hope Bennett is an English teen actress and singer. Her most notable roles were that of Meggie Folchart in the film Inkheart and Susan in From Time to Time.-Early life:...
's. Inkheart sees Guillory acting alongside Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, a friend of the Guillory family who was a role model when she first had aspirations towards acting.
Guillory will be a lead in the forthcoming television series The Oaks
The Oaks (TV series)
The Oaks was an American Supernatural drama television pilot, created by David Schulner for the Fox network's 2008/2009 season. The addition to the Fox line up was speculated to be a much needed high concept drama, purportedly to compete in ratings with ABC's Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's...
, expected to begin airing in 2008. She joins Bahar Soomekh
Bahar Soomekh
Bahar Soomekh is an Iranian-American actress and environmental activist. She began acting in the early 2000s, and is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Crash , Mission: Impossible III , and Saw III .-Early life:...
, Matt Lanter
Matt Lanter
Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark...
, Romy Rosemont
Romy Rosemont
Romy Rosemont is a television actress who has appeared in multiple TV series, including Shark, Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Prison Break and Private Practice. She got her break in 2010, playing Carole Hudson in the musical series Glee...
, Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner is a two-time Academy-Award-nominated American actor and musician. Renner appeared in films throughout the 2000s, mostly in supporting roles. He came to prominence in films such as Dahmer , S.W.A.T. , Neo Ned , 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker...
, Michael Rispoli
Michael Rispoli
Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was formerly part of the HBO television series The Sopranos as Jackie Aprile, Sr...
and Shannon Lucio
Shannon Lucio
Shannon Lucio is an American actress who played Lindsay Gardner on The O.C..Lucio is a graduate of the University of Southern California and was cast in the lead female role of the CBS television drama Moonlight , but was replaced by Sophia Myles in April 2007...
in the series which follows the intertwining stories of three families—a young couple in 1968 that have lost a child, a family of four in 1998, and a pregnant couple in 2008—who are haunted by the same spirit in their house. The television series began filming on 5 November 2007 on location in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. Guillory will play Jessica, the 2008 couple's neighbour, a woman who has Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
who went to school with the husband (and father-to-be) and shares a secret with him.
In May 2010, Shock Till You Drop.com confirmed the return of Jill Valentine in the Resident Evil film franchise's fourth instalment, Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
, with Guillory reprising the role. On 31 May, Jovovich also confirmed that Guillory will return as Jill. Guillory reappears in the film in a mid-end credit scene.
Media
In 2001, readers of EsquireEsquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
UK voted Guillory "Britain's Most Eligible Woman" and featured her in a pictorial in the magazine. Guillory was photographed for the cover and shoot by photographer Jonathan Glynn Smith. In 2002, she was number 89 on Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
AskMen.com
AskMen.com is a free online men’s web portal, with international versions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.-History:...
's Top 99 Countdown.
Guillory has also been quoted as disliking the Hollywood culture, saying she does not wish to be part of it:
Early life and family
Born in KetteringKettering
Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England, Guillory is the daughter of the American folk guitarist Isaac Guillory
Isaac Guillory
Isaac Guillory was an American folk guitarist. He wrote over 70 songs during a career that spanned 30 years.-Personal life:...
and his first wife, English model Tina Thompson, whom he married in 1973. Isaac Guillory was of Jewish heritage and born at the Guantanamo
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
naval base in Cuba.
Her parents moved to Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, London when Guillory was two, then later to Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
when she was eleven. At the age of ten, she went to stay with cousins in Mexico to learn Spanish. She has a half-brother named Jace, whom her father had adopted and with whom she shares the same mother. Her parents divorced in 1990 when she was fourteen, and in 1993, her father married Vickie McMillan, which resulted in a much younger half-sister and half-brother, Ellie and Jacob. Guillory attended Gresham's School
Gresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
in Holt, Norfolk
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
, where she took part in numerous school productions. She was later expelled from the school for stealing.
Guillory has been an equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
since the age of two. At fourteen, she was given a horse, which she named The Night Porter, or "Porty", after the film The Night Porter
The Night Porter
The Night Porter is a controversial 1974 film by Italian director Liliana Cavani, starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling.- Synopsis :...
; Guillory was a fan of its leading actress Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling, OBE is an English actress. Her career spans four decades in English-language as well as French and Italian cinema.- Early life :...
.
In December 2000, Guillory's father died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at the age of fifty-three.
Relationships
In 2000, Guillory began dating Enzo CilentiEnzo Cilenti
Enzo Cilenti is an English actor.He was born in Bradford to Italian parents. He is married to the actress Sienna Guillory, with whom he has appeared in several films.-Partial filmography:* Wonderland...
, and the couple married in 2002. In February 2011, Guillory gave birth to twin daughters, Valentina and Lucia Cilenti, named after her grandmother and great aunt who were also twin sisters.
Charity
In August 2004, Guillory and Cilenti cycled five stages of the Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
to raise money for charity.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Blue | |||
| 1997 | Denise | |||
| 1997 | Star! Star! | Lu | ||
| 2000 | Sorted Sorted (film) Sorted is a 2000 British thriller film directed by Alexander Jovy.-Plot:Carl has travelled to London to clear up the details of his brothers death. Although Carl finds that there is another side to his brothers life. A group of all-night rave junkies accept him into their family, as the brother of... |
Sunny | ||
| 2000 | Two Days, Nine Live | Kate | ||
| 2000 | Roxana | |||
| 2000 | Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) Kiss Kiss is a 2000 English comedy film written and directed by Stewart Sugg. It features Stellan Skarsgård, Chris Penn, and Paul Bettany.- Plot :Felix is a hit-man who wants out of the business... |
Kat | ||
| 2001 | Oblivious Oblivious (film) Oblivious is a 2001 short film written and directed by Ozgur Uyanik. It won the Canal+ Prize for Best European Short Film at the Brussels European Film Festival, 2001.... |
Jessica | ||
| 2001 | Late Night Shopping Late Night Shopping Late Night Shopping is a comedy funded by FilmFour Productions. The film is about four young friends who all work the graveyard shifts in various soul-killing jobs then meet up in a cafe after their shift to talk about nothing and generally kill time.- Synopsis :Each of... |
Susie | ||
| 2001 | Kayak Girl | |||
| 2001 | Superstition | Julie | ||
| 2002 | Emma | |||
| 2003 | Juliette | |||
| 2003 | Love, Actually | Jamie's girlfriend | ||
| 2003 | Helen of Troy Helen of Troy (TV miniseries) Helen of Troy is a 2003 television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, Iliad. This TV miniseries also shares the name with a 1956 movie starring Stanley Baker... |
Helen | ||
| 2004 | Resident Evil: Apocalypse Resident Evil: Apocalypse Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a Canadian-British 2004 science fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt, from a screenplay written by producer Paul W.S. Anderson... |
Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror series by Capcom.Jill is one of the two protagonists of the original Resident Evil game, where she was introduced as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service , trapped in a secret research complex of... |
||
| 2005 | In the Bathroom | The Woman | ||
| 2005 | Silence Becomes You Silence Becomes You Silence Becomes You is a 2005 British thriller film starring Alicia Silverstone, Sienna Guillory and Joe Anderson.- Plot :The film tells the tale of two sisters, Violet and Grace, who live a sheltered life within a secluded New England mansion, inherited from their parents... |
Grace | ||
| 2006 | Rabbit Fever | Newscaster | ||
| 2006 | Eragon Eragon (film) Eragon is a 2006 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by author Christopher Paolini. The cast includes Edward Speleers in the title role, Jeremy Irons, Garrett Hedlund, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou, Alun Armstrong, Joss Stone, and the voice... |
Arya Dröttningu | Also voice of Arya in game adaption Eragon (video game) Eragon is a third-person video game released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios. Also released are unique versions of Eragon for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, and mobile phone handheld gaming systems, primarily developed by Amaze... . |
|
| 2007 | El Corazón de la tierra | Katherine | English title: The Heart of the Earth |
|
| 2008 | Inkheart Inkheart (film) Inkheart is a 2008 fantasy film directed by Iain Softley and starring Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the novel with the same name by Cornelia Funke... |
Resa | ||
| 2010 | Perfect Life | Anne | AKA Perfect Victims -USA DVD title | |
| 2010 | Gunless Gunless Gunless is a 2010 Canadian western comedy film directed by William Phillips and released by Alliance Films.- Plot :A hardened American gunfighter arrives in a small town in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, a place that doesn't understand or appreciate the brutal code of the American Wild... |
Jane | ||
| 2010 | I'm Here I'm Here (film) I'm Here is a 2010 sci-fi romance short film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The film is a love story about two robots living in a Los Angeles where humans and robots coexist... |
Francesca | ||
| 2010 | Resident Evil: Afterlife Resident Evil: Afterlife Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in... |
Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror series by Capcom.Jill is one of the two protagonists of the original Resident Evil game, where she was introduced as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service , trapped in a secret research complex of... |
||
| 2011 | The Big Bang The Big Bang (2011 film) The Big Bang is a 2011 American thriller written by Erik Jendresen and directed by Tony Krantz. The film stars Antonio Banderas and Sienna Guillory.- Plot :... |
Julie Kestral | ||
| 2012 | Resident Evil: Retribution Resident Evil: Retribution Resident Evil: Retribution is an upcoming 2012 3D science-fiction action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the fifth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil.The film has many returning actors and... |
Jill Valentine Jill Valentine is a fictional character in the Resident Evil survival horror series by Capcom.Jill is one of the two protagonists of the original Resident Evil game, where she was introduced as a member of the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service , trapped in a secret research complex of... |
Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Riders | Fenella Maxwell | TV series |
| 1995 | Lady Felicia | TV miniseries | |
| 1999 | Out of Sight Out of Sight Out of Sight is a 1998 American crime film. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It was the first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and star George Clooney. The film was released on June 26, 1998. It was nominated for two... |
Ingrid | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Dzvirpaso M | 4 episodes | |
| 2000 | Take a Girl Like You Take a Girl Like You (TV series) Take a Girl Like You is a 2000 British television comedy series adapted by Andrew Davies from the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis. It starred Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Hugh Bonneville, Robert Daws, Leslie Phillips, Emma Chambers, Ian Driver and Deborah Cornelius. It was... |
Jenny Bunn | TV miniseries |
| 2003 | Helen of Troy Helen of Troy (TV miniseries) Helen of Troy is a 2003 television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, Iliad. This TV miniseries also shares the name with a 1956 movie starring Stanley Baker... |
Helen | TV miniseries |
| 2004 | Beauty | Cathy Wardle | TV film |
| 2005 | Marple: A Murder Is Announced | Julia Simmons | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Lettice Knollys Lettice Knollys Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying... |
TV miniseries | |
| 2008 | Jessica | FOX TV Pilot | |
| 2008 | Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime... |
SSA Kate Joyner | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Virtuality Virtuality (TV series) Virtuality is a television pilot co-written by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor and directed by Peter Berg that aired on the Fox network. Since the show was never picked up as a television series, the two-hour pilot episode aired as a movie on June 26, 2009.- Plot :The story is set aboard the... |
Rika Goddard | FOX TV pilot |
| 2010 | Covert Affairs Covert Affairs Covert Affairs is a USA Network television series starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The one-hour drama premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The show concluded its first season on September 14, 2010 and was renewed for a second season on August 19, 2010. The second season began airing on... |
guest star | 1 episode |
| 2010 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer... |
Kacey Monahan | 1 episode |