Marli Siu

Marli Siu
Siu circa 2017
Born (1993-03-11) 11 March 1993 (age 31)
Alma materEdinburgh Napier University
OccupationActress
Years active2015–present

Marli Siu is a Scottish actress. Her films include Anna and the Apocalypse (2017), Our Ladies (2019), and Run (2019), the latter of which won her a Scottish BAFTA. On television, Siu has appeared in the spy thriller Alex Rider (2020–2024) and the BBC drama Everything I Know About Love (2022).

Early life and education

Siu was born on 11 March 1993 and lived in Lamma Island, Hong Kong until she was four years old, before moving to and growing up in Forres in Moray, north-east Scotland. She attended Forres Academy. Her mother is Scottish from Edinburgh and her father was Chinese. She has four sisters.[1][2]

Siu attended a youth theatre group in Elgin and joined the National Youth Theatre,[3] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting and English Literature from Edinburgh Napier University.[4][5]

Career

In 2015, Siu appeared in the short film Scoring, by Screen Academy Scotland, for which she was nominated for the ‘Under 25: Fresh Blood Award’ at the Underwire Film Festival.[4][6] Her theatre credits include Dead Letter Office, Some Company, (co-writer); Much Ado About Nothing, Dundee Repertory Theatre (Ian Charleson Awards commendation) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Royal National Theatre.[4]

Siu moved to London in 2017, where she played Echo for 38 episodes of the CBBC web series Dixi.[7] Her first major movie role came in 2017, when she played Lisa in John McPhail's zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, performing the song It's That Time of Year.[8] The film premiered at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and was released in the UK for Christmas 2018. Siu was named as one of the 15th Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow 2018 an annual talent showcase that spotlights up-and-coming British and Irish actors, writers, directors and producers from the UK and Ireland.[9][10]

In 2019, Siu starred in the film Run,[11] which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival on 26 April in New York City.[9][4][12] Later that year Siu starred in two films selected to be screened at the 2019 London Film Festival, Run and Our Ladies both due for an upcoming cinema release.[11]

In 2020, Siu starred as Kyra, a student from Point Blanc, in the IMDb television teen spy series Alex Rider. Kyra teams up with Alex (Otto Farrant) and plays an important role in all three series.[13]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Run (Short Film) Lily [14]
2015 Scoring Katja Short film [6]
2017 Anna and the Apocalypse Lisa
2019 Run [11] Kelly Note: feature length film
2019 Our Ladies[15] Kylah
2024 Apartment 7A Annie Leung

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Still Game Sally 1 episode
2017 Dixi Echo Web, 38 episodes
2019 Grantchester Karla Read 1 episode
2020–2024 Alex Rider Kyra Vashenko-Chao 18 episodes
2021 The Irregulars Susan Shipley Episode: "Chapter One: An Unkindness in London"
2022 Everything I Know About Love Nell 7 Episodes

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Misalliance Hytapia Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond
2016 Much Ado About Nothing Hero Dundee Repertory Theatre, Dundee
2019–2020 The Ocean at the End of the Lane Lettie Hempstock Royal National Theatre, London

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2014 Southampton International Film Festival Best Supporting Actress in a Short Film Run (Short film) Nominated [14]
2015 Underwire Film Festival Best Under 25 Award Scoring Nominated [6]
2016 Ian Charleson Awards Much Ado About Nothing Nominated [16]
2018 Screen International Stars of Tomorrow 2018 Won [10][9]
Toronto After Dark Film Festival Best Ensemble Cast (shared) Anna and the Apocalypse Won [14][17]
2019 CinEuphoria Awards (shared) Best Ensemble - International Competition Nominated [14]
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated [14]
2021 British Academy Scotland Awards 2021 Scottish BAFTA - Best Actress – Film Run Won [18]
2022 British Academy Scotland Awards 2022 Scottish BAFTA - Best Actress – Film Our Ladies Nominated [19]

References

  1. ^ Bausells, Marta (12 June 2022). "'I spent six years working to get to this place': Everything I Know About Love actor Marli Siu". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  2. ^ Christie, Janet (12 June 2020). "Marli Siu interview: the Forres actor on Alex Rider, Run and Our Ladies". The Scotsman. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Marli Siu". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "Marli Sui". dundeerep.co.uk. 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019.
  5. ^ Harkness, Alistair (24 February 2020). ""It's just so mad" - Scottish actress Marli Siu on starring in two films at this year's Glasgow Film Festival". The Scotsman. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Underwire Film Festival 2015 Programme". Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  7. ^ "CBBC Dixi credits- Marli Sui". bbc.co.uk. 2017.
  8. ^ "Every Song On The Anna And The Apocalypse Soundtrack". screenrant.com. 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Stars of Tomorrow 2018 – Marli Sui - Actor". screendaily.com. 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Marli Sui named as one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow". shepherdmanagement.co.uk. 2018.
  11. ^ a b c ""I didn't think I would get to make films in Scotland": An interview with Run's star Marli Siu". theupcoming.co.uk. 25 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Interview - Marli Sui shares her experience filming "Run" and explores her character". jumpcutonline.co.uk. 2019.
  13. ^ Scougall, Murray (9 June 2020). "INTERVIEW: Marli Siu on why she relished breaking into boys' school as she joins cast of Alex Rider TV adaptation". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Marli Siu Awards". imdb.com (Index source only). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  15. ^ "LFF 2019: Our Ladies". theskinny.co.uk. 2019.
  16. ^ "Marli Siu Nominated for Ian Charleson Award". Scottish Drama Training Network. 2017.
  17. ^ Fountain, Jeff (29 October 2018). "Award Winners Announced For Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2018". Geek Chic Elite. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  18. ^ Duffy, Elle (20 November 2021). "BAFTA Scotland: Full list of winners 2021". The Herald.
  19. ^ "BAFTA Scotland Awards 2022: Full List of Winners". bafta.org. 20 November 2022.