Emerald Fennell Trivia | 55 facts about the Oscar nominated director

Emerald Fennell is an English actor, writer, director and producer. Her first feature, “Promising Young Woman” garnered six Oscar nominations.

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about her life and career thus far.

1. Her full name is Emerald Lilly Fennell
2. She was born 1 October 1985
3. She is an English actress, writer, film director, and producer
4. She appeared in period drama films, such as Albert Nobbs (2011), Anna Karenina (2012), The Danish Girl (2015), and Vita and Virginia (2018)
5. She received wider recognition for her starring roles in the BBC One period drama series Call the Midwife (2013–17) and the Netflix period drama series The Crown (2019–20)
6. Fennell is also known as showrunner for season two of the BBC America thriller series Killing Eve (2019)
7. For the show she has earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations
8. She gained further acclaim for writing, directing, and producing the thriller film Promising Young Woman (2020)
9. For which she received three Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay
10. She is the first British woman to be nominated by the Academy for directing
11. She was born in Hammersmith in London
12. Fennell went to Marlborough College
13. She then studied English at Greyfriars, Oxford, where she acted in university plays
14. There she was spotted by Lindy King of United Agents
15. Her sister, Coco Fennell, is a fashion designer
16. Her parents are jewellery designer Theo Fennell and author Louise Fennell
17. Fennell appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Chickens with Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet
18. She then joined the cast of the BBC One series Call the Midwife as Patsy Mount, after dyeing her blonde hair red
19. On 23 October 2018, it was revealed that Fennell would play Camilla Shand in the third season of the Netflix series The Crown
20. Fennell made a brief appearance in her directorial debut film Promising Young Woman as the host of a ‘blow job lip’ make-up tutorial video
21. In 2008, Fennell was commissioned to write a film script (co-produced by Madeleine Lloyd Webber)
22. Titled Chukka, it’s a romantic comedy about a group of teenagers who fight the closure of their school by taking on the rich kids at polo
23. Her first novel was published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in January 2013: Shiverton Hall, a children’s fantasy
24. In December 2012, it was released as an ebook by Bloomsbury USA
25. The Creeper, a sequel, was published mid-2014
26. ISFDB catalogues them as the Shiverton Hall series
27. It was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2014
28. She then released Monsters in September 2015
29. This was her first adult horror book
30. In July 2018, it was announced that Fennell was hired by her close friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge as head writer for the second season of the BBC America series Killing Eve
31. Thus, replacing Waller-Bridge, who remains as a producer
32. Fennell wrote 6 episodes for the season
33. Fennell also become one of the show’s executive producers
34. Speaking to The New York Times, Fennell said “Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] and I had worked together in the past, and we’ve been friends for nearly 10 years. We met on a film — Albert Nobbs — which we both had tiny parts in. I started in the very early days as a writer in the Season 2 writer’s room. Because it’s such an unusual show, they did a very loose writers’ room for a week just to see, and then wonderfully and luckily for me they promoted me to head writer”
35. The second season began broadcast in April 2019
36. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Fennell was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the season 2 episode “Nice and Neat”
37. In January 2019, it was announced Fennell would write and direct the comedy thriller film Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan
38. Production began in March 2019
39. Fennell was seven months pregnant during the 23 day shoot
40. The movie premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim
41. As of April 2020, a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes
42. Its critics consensus reading “A boldly provocative, timely thriller, Promising Young Woman is an auspicious feature debut for writer-director Emerald Fennell — and a career highlight for Carey Mulligan”
43. She produced the film with, amongst others, Margot Robbie and her LuckyChap Entertainment production company
44. The film went on to earn five Academy Award nominations
45. The nominations include Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Fennell
46. Fennell became one of only seven women, and the first British woman, to earn a nomination in the directing category
47. Fennell’s directing nomination alongside that of Chloé Zhao marked the first instance of two women earning directing nominations in the same year
48. For the film, she also received Best Original Screenplay awards at the Critics Choice Awards and the Writers Guild of America Awards
49. In January 2020, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced he would collaborate with Fennell on the musical Cinderella
50. The musical is planned to open in London in May 2021
51. On March 22, 2021, it was revealed that Fennell was attached to write a Zatanna film for Warner Brothers
52. The film is set to be part of the DC Extended Universe
53. Fennell’s partner is film and advertising director and producer Chris Vernon
54. The couple have a son
55. He was born in 2019