CLAIRE FOY

Claire Foy has had a busy 12 months since graduating from drama school. Following small roles on television, she joined the ensemble cast in the acclaimed National Theatre triptych DNA/The Miracle/Baby Girl, playing a teenage bully. Her big break will be the BBC's Andrew Davies-penned Dickens adaptation Little Dorrit, due to screen later this year, in which she plays the lead. 'It's a massive learning curve,' Foy says of the production, which features a huge cast of A-list UK talent including Matthew Macfadyen, Mackenzie Crook and Tom Courtenay. But if she is at all intimidated by such a formidable set of co-stars, her meticulous preparation and hard work - not to mention her considerable screen presence - are seeing her through. 'She's bright and witty and I was beguiled by her when she came to do a reading,' says one UK casting director.