Daniela Lavender

Lavender was born in Bahia, Brazil, daughter of a policeman father and English teacher mother.^[1] At the age of eight, Lavender began training in ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Lavender studied Flamenco dancing under Roberto Amaral and received a journalism degree from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. She studied drama at Dirceu de Mattos school^[2] in Rio de Janeiro, studied English for a year and traveled to London. She auditioned for the London International School of Performing Arts, playing Queen Anne from Shakespeare's Richard III, and passed the audition in spite of the language barrier.^[1]

Lavender appeared in the low budget independent film Emotional Backgammon (2003)^[3] and was awarded "Best Actress" at the Denver Film Festival.^[4] She appeared in Ali G Indahouse and the BBC series Longitude, EastEnders,^[5] and Casualty.^[6] Lavender toured with the British Shakespeare Company production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2009, playing Hippolyta and Titania.^[7][8] She made her theatre debut at London's Tabard Theatre in March 2011 in A Woman Alone (produced by Jason Greer).^[9]

Lavender has supported Action for Brazil's Children Trust (ABC) as an ambassador, to raise awareness and funding to assist the disadvantaged.^[10]

In her professional life, Lavender uses the surname of her first husband, Ben Lavender, to whom she was married from 1996 to 2003.^[11] Her second husband is actor Ben Kingsley, who she married on 3 September 2007.^[12]