Orla Hill

Hill was born at Homerton Hospital, East London to parents Dave Hill, a London journalist, and Sheila Fitzsimons, who worked as a journalist and the Director of Transformation at The Guardian, and grew up in the Lower Clapton area with her two sisters and three brothers.^[1][2] Her maternal grandparents are Irish; her grandmother was born in Cootehill, County Cavan before moving to Glasgow and then London.^[3]

From the age of 8, Hill took classes at the Anna Fiorentini Theatre and Film School. She attended Millfields Community Primary School and then Mossbourne Community Academy.^[4] In 2025, she will graduate from Emmanuel College, Cambridge with a Master of Engineering (MEng).^[5] She is a researcher at Cambridge's Centre for Climate Repair.^[6]

Hill began her career as a child actress, making her feature film debut at age 10 as Jennifer in the 2012 comedy-drama Song for Marion. This was followed by a role as Susan Walker in the 2016 family adventure film Swallows and Amazons.^[7] The next year, Hill made her television debut when she joined the cast of the CBBC adaptation of Hetty Feather for its third series as Emily Calendar.^[8] She would reprise her role as Emily in Hetty Feather's fourth series. She also played Jennifer in the 2019 ITV true crime miniseries A Confession.^[9]

In 2023, Hill appeared in the ITVX 3-part miniseries Stonehouse as the titular character's (Matthew Macfadyen) daughter Jane Stonehouse.^[10] She had a recurring role as Ruby Foxcroft in the 2024 BBC Three adaptation of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.^[11] Announced in 2024, she portrayed Deborah Mitford in the 2025 UKTV historical drama Outrageous.^[12]