Freya Allan

Freya Allan
Freya Allan at the world premiere of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Hollywood 2024
Born (2001-09-06) 6 September 2001 (age 23)[1]
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
EducationHeadington School
OccupationActress
Years active2017–present
Known forThe Witcher
Allan at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con

Freya Allan (born 6 September 2001) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Princess Cirilla of Cintra in the Netflix series The Witcher, for which she was nominated for two Saturn Awards. She also appears as young Sam in the 2021 film Gunpowder Milkshake, as the younger version of The Widow in the AMC series Into the Badlands, and as Mae in the film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024).

Early life and education

Allan was born on 6 September 2001 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, and attended Headington School in Oxford.[2][3] Allan starred in two short films, Bluebird and The Christmas Tree[3] produced by National Film and Television School[4] and later she performed the part of Linda in the short film Captain Fierce produced by Bournemouth Film School.

Career

Allan played a minor role in the first episode of the 2019 BBC drama The War of the Worlds.[5] The same year she appeared on the front cover of Schön! magazine, whilst they were celebrating their 10th anniversary.[6]

Since 2019, Allan has starred as Ciri in the Netflix original series The Witcher, alongside Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra.[7] This is a fantasy drama adapted by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich from The Witcher book series by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Allan was originally cast for a small role in the first episode but was later recast as Ciri, a main role.[5] Allan lived in Budapest, Hungary for eight months, while the first season of the series was filmed.[8] Allan starred in the second season of The Witcher, which was produced in London in early 2020 and released in 2021 on Netflix.[7][9] Allan was nominated for Best Performance by a Younger Actor on a Television Series for the 2021 Saturn Awards.[10] Allan's character Ciri appears together alongside Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia in season 2, training to become a fighter.[11]

In 2021, Allan was cast in the lead role of the Alberto Corredor directed horror film Baghead, alongside Ruby Barker.[12]

In 2023, Allan was selected to play Mae, a young woman who tags along with lead actor Owen Teague, in the 2024 film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.[13]

Filmography

Film

Freya Allan at the SDCC 2024
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 Bluebird Caitlin Short film
The Christmas Tree Christmas tree girl
Captain Fierce Linda
2021 Gunpowder Milkshake Young Sam
2024 Baghead Iris
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Mae / Nova

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018 Into the Badlands Young Minerva 1 episode
2019 The War of the Worlds Mary 1 episode [5]
2019–present The Witcher Princess Cirilla "Ciri" of Cintra Main role [14]
2020 The Third Day Kail Miniseries; 5 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2021 Saturn Awards Best Performance by a Younger Actor on a TV Series The Witcher Nominated [10]
2024 Nominated [15]

References

  1. ^ "Famous birthdays for Sept. 20: Idris Elba, Anika Noni Rose". UPI. 6 September 2022. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  2. ^ Didymus, John Thomas (20 December 2019). "Princess Cirilla of Cintra on Netflix's The Witcher: Who is the actress Freya Allan?". Monsters and Critics. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019. Freya Allan was born in September 2001 in Oxfordshire, England. She attended Headington School in Oxford
  3. ^ a b "Freya Allan". United Agents. 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Freya Allan Reveals Her Devastating Backstory for Mae in 'Apes'". Collider. 9 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Harp, Justin; Opie, David (19 December 2019). "The Witcher star says casting was "a really bizarre, confusing experience"". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Schön! 37 digital cover – Freya Allan". schonmagazine.com. 29 November 2019. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b Otterson, Joe (13 November 2019). "'The Witcher' renewed for Season 2 at Netflix ahead of Network premiere". Variety. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  8. ^ Smith, Josh (22 January 2020). "Netflix's The Witcher just broke a record with 76 million views (and people say it's the new Game of Thrones)". Glamour UK. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  9. ^ "'The Witcher' Season 2". instagram. 2020. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Saturn Award Nominations 2021". saturnawards.org. 2021. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021.
  11. ^ "'The Witcher': Freya Allan on Finally Working With Henry Cavill in Season 2, More Fighting in Season 3 (Video)". yahoo.com. 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Bridgerton star joins The Witcher's Freya Allan in new horror movie". MSN. 7 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  13. ^ Tulich, Katherine (9 October 2022). "'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Starts Shooting at Renamed Disney Studios Australia". Variety. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  14. ^ Chitwood, Adam (21 December 2021). "'The Witcher' Season 2: Kristofer Hivju Says Nivellen Was 95% Prosthetics, Explains the Design's Evolution". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Saturn Award Nominations 2024". saturnawards.org. 2023. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023.