Early life and education

Stirling is the daughter of actress Diana Rigg and theatre producer Archibald Stirling. Her parents married in 1982 and divorced in 1990. Through her father, she has a long line of ancestry from the Scottish parish of Lecropt, near her namesake city of Stirling.

Stirling attended Wycombe Abbey School. She earned a BA in art history from Edinburgh University, where she performed with the Edinburgh University Theatre Company.

Personal life

Stirling can speak Russian and is experienced in horse riding and jumping.

Until 2012, she was engaged to fellow actor Oliver Chris, whom she had been dating since 2007.

Since 2015, Stirling has been dating musician Guy Garvey.

Theatre

Stirling made her first major appearance on stage in 1996 as Desdemona in the National Youth Theatre revival of Othello at the Arts Theatre opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor in the title role. A year later, again at the Arts Theatre with the NYT, she played Olive in the female version of The Odd Couple; while in 1998, portraying Kate in Dancing at Lughnasa for NYT at the Arts, she gave what The Stage reviewer described as "a performance of exceptional promise and authority". She next appeared in diverse roles in plays such as Dusty Hughes' Helpless (Donmar Warehouse, 2000); A Woman of No Importance (Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2003); Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre, 2004); and Tamburlaine (Bristol Old Vic and Barbican, 2005), and she following her mother's footsteps as Lionheart's daughter in the National Theatre stage version of Theatre of Blood (2005). In 2006, for the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal, Bath, she played Helena in Peter Gill's revival of Look Back in Anger, while in 2007 at Wilton's Music Hall in London, she starred as Yelena in David Mamet's version of Uncle Vanya, and as Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew.

Stirling starred onstage in The Priory directed by Jeremy Herrin at the Royal Court Theatre in 2009. Her role as Rebecca earned her a nomination for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. In 2010 she appeared as Helena in Peter Hall's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. Stirling starred as Lady Chiltern in a 2010 production of An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre, for which she received her second nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award. From February to April 2012, she appeared as Sylvia alongside Mark Gatiss, Tobias Menzies, and Nancy Carroll in The Recruiting Officer, the acclaimed production at the Donmar Warehouse directed by newly appointed artistic director Josie Rourke.

Film

Stirling's first screen appearance was in the 1998 British comedy film Still Crazy.

Other film appearances include Maybe Baby, Redemption Road (2001), Complicity (with her Tipping the Velvet co-star Keeley Hawes), Another Life (with Vanity Fair actress Natasha Little), The Triumph of Love (with Mira Sorvino), as Mary Jones in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and as Anna in Snow White and the Huntsman.

Television

Stirling's first break in television was in the 2000 NBC miniseries In the Beginning, which was adapted from Genesis. Stirling played the young Rebeccah, with her mother, Diana Rigg, as the older Rebeccah. Her next notable role was Nan Astley in the 2002 BBC drama series Tipping the Velvet.

In 2011, Stirling starred in the BBC Four adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love as Ursula Brangwen. She portrayed Millie in both series of the ITV mystery drama The Bletchley Circle in 2012 and 2014.

Stirling appeared in a 2013 episode of Doctor Who titled "The Crimson Horror" alongside Rigg, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman. The episode had been specially written for Stirling and her mother by Mark Gatiss (marking the very first appearance of the two actresses together professionally) and was aired 4 May 2013 as part of Series 7.

In 2014, Stirling portrayed Kate Wilkinson in the Cold War spy thriller television series The Game, and appeared in the BBC Four comedy drama Detectorists as Becky, initially girlfriend, then wife, of Andy (played by Mackenzie Crook).

Stirling appeared as a guest on the BBC1 cookery programme Saturday Kitchen Live which was broadcast on 1 March 2014.

In 2015, Stirling played the part of Arabella Yount, the spendthrift wife of a banker, in the three-part BBCs series Capital based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name.

Other work

Stirling is an occasional interviewer on the BBC Radio 4 chat show Loose Ends, and presented the station's program Stage Door in December 2012. She also wrote a restaurant column for Diplomat magazine.

Stirling took part in Occupy London's reading of Dickens' A Christmas Carol on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, London in December 2011.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Still Crazy	Clare Knowles
2000	Maybe Baby	Joanna
	Complicity	Claire
	In the Beginning	Young Rebeccah	TV film
2001	Redemption Road	Becky
	Another Life	Avis Graydon
	The Triumph of Love	Corine
	Othello	Lulu	TV film
2002	Tipping the Velvet	Nan Astley	TV series (3 episodes) Dallas OUT TAKES—Best Actress
	Bait	Stephanie Raeburn	TV film
2003	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Caroline Crale	TV series (Episode: "Five Little Pigs")
2004	Freeze Frame	Katie Carter
	Agatha Christie's Marple	Griselda Clement	TV series (Episode: "The Murder at the Vicarage")
	The Final Quest	Young Annabelle	TV film
2005	Riot at the Rite	Marie Rambert	TV film
2006	Beyond	Guilean Hade	TV film
	The Truth	Martha
	Hotel Babylon	Nina Bailey	TV series (Episode: "Episode No. 1.1")
	The Haunted Airman	Julia Jugg	TV film
2007	Dangerous Parking	Kirstin
2008	Lewis	Zöe Kenneth	TV series (Episode: "Life Born of Fire")
2009	The Young Victoria	Duchess of Sutherland
	Minder	Eve Cornell	TV series (Episode: "Thank Your Lucky Stars")
	Boy Meets Girl	Veronica Burton	TV series (4 episodes)
2010	Centurion	Druzilla
2011	Women in Love	Ursula Brangwen	TV series
2012	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen	Mary Jones	Film
	Snow White & the Huntsman	Anna	Film
	The Bletchley Circle	Millie	TV series
2013	Doctor Who	Ada Gillyflower	Series 7 (Episode: "The Crimson Horror")
2014	Detectorists	Becky	TV series
	The Game	Kate Wilkinson	TV series
2015	Capital	Arabella Yount	TV series
2016	Their Finest Hour and a Half		Filming
	Churchill's Secret	Sarah Churchill	TV film

[ Source: Wikipedia ]