Sophie Skelton

Skelton was born and raised in Woodford, Stockport, the daughter of entrepreneurial children's toy inventors.^[2][3] She began dancing at the age of three, eventually training in ballet at the Royal Academy in London, before moving into musical theater and stage productions.^[4][1] Her first professional television role, in series two of the British crime drama DCI Banks (2012), was a two-episode stint as schoolgirl Becca Smith.^[5][6]

Skelton attended Stockport Grammar School, completing her A-levels in 2012. She was going to study English Literature at King's College London the following year but ended up turning down her offer to pursue acting instead.^[7][8]

In 2013, Skelton guest-starred as Esme Vasquez-Jones in series one of CBBC's award-winning children's drama The Dumping Ground.^[9][10] That same year, she went on to portray Nikki Boston's (Heather Peace) estranged daughter Eve in the ninth series of BBC One's school-based drama series, Waterloo Road, and Yasmin Carish in a series thirteen episode of the long running medical series Doctors.^[11][12]

Transitioning into feature films, Skelton's first role was in 2014's The War I Knew. She portrayed Margaret in director Ian Vernon's tale of a WWII paratrooper lost behind enemy lines.^[13][14]

2015 saw a return to episodic television for Skelton. She again appeared in the BBC series Doctors, portraying Ellen Singleton in the series sixteen episode "Revenge".^[15][16] Next, she guest starred in a series nine episode of ITV's period crime drama Foyle's War.^[17] Later that year, Skelton appeared in a twelve-episode stint as Sofia Matthews on So Awkward, CBBC's sitcom revolving around three socially awkward school-age friends, and a two episode guest starring role as Gemma Holt on BBC One's medical drama Casualty.^[18][19]

Skelton's first leading film role was in Charlotte Stente Nielsen's 2016 fantasy-horror short Blackbird.^[20] Her breakout role, in the British fantasy action-adventure series Ren: The Girl with the Mark, came later that year.^[6] She won Best Lead Actress at the Hyperdrive Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival for her role in the series.^[21] 2016 also saw Skelton cast in the role of Brianna Fraser in the Starz TV series Outlander.^[22][23] The role, opposite Scottish actor Richard Rankin as Roger MacKenzie is recurring, becoming a main cast member from Season 4 onwards, and will continue throughout their story arc as outlined in Diana Gabaldon's genre-bending book series.^[22][24]

In 2017, Skelton portrayed Jess in Christopher Menaul's film Another Mother's Son, the true story of Louisa Gould, a widow living in Nazi-occupied Jersey during WWII.^[25] From there she went on to star in Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2017), a remake of the 1985 George A. Romero zombie film^[13] and alongside Nicolas Cage in the bank heist film #211 (2018), based upon the real-life "Battle of North Hollywood" in 1997.