Emily Rose Smith

Smith grew up in West Sussex and attended Bishop Luffa School Chichester. A keen ballet dancer, Smith devoted much time to classical ballet lessons as a teenager and was selected for the final audition (50 were chosen out of thousands) of the Royal Ballet School Upper School when she was 15. Smith attended Bristol University, reading English and Drama, gaining a First and then went on to Oxford University, Worcester College, gaining an MA in English. At 19, with the advice of a friend, Smith wrote to casting directors and received a call from the William Morris agent Vanessa Pereira who invited Emily to meet her in London and encouraged her to take her acting career seriously. Smith then co-founded the theatre company Open Door Productions to produce theatre shows and take roles in them. These shows were supported by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Red Pear Company in Antibes, Michael Sheen and Nick Jones of the Soho House Group. Rowan Atkinson attended one of the opening nights. At Oxford, Emily met esteemed West End producer Thelma Holt, who encouraged Emily and became a mentor figure. For her leading roles in the shows staged by Open Door, Smith gained positive reviews by The Times, The Stage and Metro (****). Smith has acted in Chichester at the Festival Theatre, opposite Sam West, and for the Festival, opposite Nick Moran.