Eliza Hope Bennett

ELIZA HOPE BENNETT

Date of Birth: March 17, 1992

If you're a Jane Austen fan, hearing the name Eliza Bennett might immediately bring to mind the character Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. As it happens, that's exactly who Eliza Bennett was named after. Born in Reading, Berkshire, England, Bennett was bitten by the acting bug after appearing in school plays. In 2002 she became a professional, playing the role of Jemima Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Paladium.

Desperate to make acting her career, Eliza convinced her parents to take her to the Sylvia Young Theatre School, which also runs an acting agency. She joined the school and was taken on by the agency, and soon made her feature film debut playing Princess Arabella in The Prince & Me (2004). A role in Hallmark Entertainment's miniseries Supernova (2005) followed, then she gained even more attention playing one of Colin Firth's children in Nanny McPhee (2005), also starring Emma Thompson. Other roles include Nora in the TV movie Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006) and Young Anne in the 2006 film Victims.

However, her biggest break came when she beat out hundreds of other girls in an open audition for the coveted role of Meggie in New Line Cinema's big budget flick Inkheart (2009), based on the best-selling novel by Cornelia Funke and starring Brendan Fraser as her father. A talented singer as well, Bennett also performs a song on the film's soundtrack.

Filmography:

From Time to Time (2009)
Inkheart (2009)
Perfect Life (2008)
Nanny McPhee (2005)
The Prince & Me (2004)