Ellie May Darcey-Alden is an English-American actress. She is best known for playing young Lily Potter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Francesca "Franny" Latimer in the Doctor Who series 7 Christmas special "The Snowmen". Before joining such large franchises as Harry Potter and Doctor Who, she appeared in minimal parts in British theatre and television. She has also done small-time modelling, commercials, voice over work and competitive dancing.
Early life[]
Darcey-Alden was born in Yarnton, Oxford, Oxfordshire to a middle-class family, the daughter of Sarah Dawn (née Darcey; b. 1975), a housewife, and Philip Rodney "Phil" Alden (b. 1966), a production senior director on Falcon 9 for SpaceX in Hawthorne, a former general manager at BMW Plant Automotive Group and technology manager at Jaguar Rover Automotive, and an owner of a charity website. Her father has a prominent political background through her paternal great-great-grandfather Leonard Henry Alden, Mayor of Oxford from 1936-37. Her parents legally wed in August 2003.
As a baby, her mother originally intended to name her "Annie" after the character Little Orphan Annie but decided against it, "as I'd probably be a curly red head!" Darcey-Alden explained.
She has a younger brother, Joseph (b. 18 February 2002) who is a former child actor and two older half-siblings, James Philip (b. 1990), a doctor at Colchester Hospital and Rebecca Charlotte "Becki" Alden (b. 1992), who is married, both from her father's first marriage.
She is a former pupil of Dance 10 Theatre School within Edward Feild Primary School in Kidlington which she attended from 2005 to 2011 and of Stagecoach Theatre Arts School under the instruction of Maya Sprigg in Oxford until 2013 where she moved to Elite Dance Studio in Los Angeles until 2015. In late August 2014, she began attending Palos Verdes High School and graduated on 7 June 2018. In Spring 2015 of her Freshman year, she joined her school's Choreo dance team, an advanced dance class that has students perform at pep rallies, community events, sporting events, and at their annual Spring Concert. She additionally divided her time with the drama department. In 2016, she joined the Be the Change leadership class as an admin assistant, dedicating her time to community services and events.
In July 2017, she joined the RADA Youth Company: Acting summer term, training under Trilby James in contemporary text and Shakespeare. In November 2018, she began youth acting classes with John Rosenfeld Studios in West Hollywood.
Roles[]
