Saffron Burrows

A Londoner, Saffron Burrows was born in St Pancras in central London and grew up in Stoke Newington. Her mother is a trade unionist and primary school teacher in Hackney and her father is an architect and teacher. Her parents and stepfather were Socialist Workers Party members, and Burrows was politically active from a young age.{{cite web|url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_1_29/ai_53567017|title= A surprise called Saffron – British actress Saffron Burrows – CSIVTR|first=Ingrid|last=Sischy|via=Find Articles |date=January 1999| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012195358/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_1_29/ai_53567017 |archive-date=12 October 2007}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/oct/24/gabywood|title=Swimming with sharks|journal=The Guardian|first=Gaby|last=Wood|date=24 October 1999|accessdate=8 November 2021}}

Burrows attended William Tyndale Primary School in Islington and then Stoke Newington School in Stoke Newington. When asked for her preference of a school in Hackney or Hampstead, she said she wanted to be in a multicultural and inclusive environment. She enrolled in acting classes at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington when she was 11.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tes.com/news/my-best-teacher-104|title=My best teacher|website=Tes|first=Helen|last=Barlow|date=28 September 2001|accessdate=8 November 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/strong-intent-57238/|title=Strong 'Intent'|website=Backstage|first=Simi|last=Horwitz|date=11 May 2010|accessdate=8 November 2021}}

Burrows had a successful modelling career after she was discovered at age 15 in Covent Garden by fashion photographer Beth Boldt.{{cite news|last=Walsh|first=John|title=Not Just A Pretty Face|work=The Independent|date=1 August 2000|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/not-just-a-pretty-face-696703.html|access-date=13 May 2012}}{{cite news|last=Cooper|first=Tim|title=A Hint of Saffron|work=The Observer|date=5 May 2002|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/may/05/features.magazine|access-date=28 May 2011}} For five years she divided her time between London and Paris, where she learned French.{{cite web|title =Saffron Burrows – Burrows Learns Spanish in Three Weeks|publisher=Contactmusic.com|date=29 January 2004|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/burrows-learns-spanish-in-three-weeks|access-date=22 May 2012}} She found the modelling world's "obsession with the ideal of the body" troubling.

Burrows made her film debut in 1993 with a small role in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father. Her first significant acting roles came in 1995, as an ambitious young Irishwoman in Circle of Friends, and in Ngozi Onwurah's Welcome II The Terrordome.{{cite web|title=Welcome II The Terrordome|date=28 April 1995|publisher=IMDb| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111681|access-date=25 September 2007}} In 1996 she starred in the BBC production of Dennis Potter's Karaoke{{cite web|title=Burrows profile at|work=AskMen.com|url=http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress_150/199_saffron_burrows.html|access-date=25 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429194921/http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress_150/199_saffron_burrows.html|archive-date=29 April 2012|url-status=dead}} and in Hotel de Love; the next year she was seen in Lovelife, Nevada, The Matchmaker and Mike Figgis' One Night Stand.{{cite web|title=Saffron Burrows profile| publisher=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004787|access-date=25 April 2012}} In 1999 she appeared in Figgis' experimental film The Loss of Sexual Innocence, in which she played twins – one raised in England, the other in Italy.{{cite news|title=Movie Review: The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999): The Story of Adam and Eve, Sort Of|work=The New York Times|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C05E5DC1F31F93BA15756C0A96F958260|first=Stephen|last= Holden|date=28 May 1999}} In 1999, she appeared in the thriller Deep Blue Sea, and had the title role in Figgis' film adaptation Miss Julie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite news|title=UA falls in love with Figgis' 'Miss Julie'|work=Variety| url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/ua-falls-in-love-with-figgis-miss-julie-1117750674/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029215559/http://variety.com/1999/film/news/ua-falls-in-love-with-figgis-miss-julie-1117750674/|url-status=live|archive-date=29 October 2013|access-date=25 April 2012}} She starred for Figgis again alongside Stellan Skarsgård in Timecode (2000), a split-screen digital experimental film shot in a single take with no edits. She followed it with Gangster No. 1, starring Malcolm McDowell, Paul Bettany and David Thewlis. She next co-starred with Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott in Michael Apted's 1940s drama Enigma{{cite news|title=Saffron Burrows: "Enigma"|publisher=BBC|date=22 August 2001|first=James |last=Mottram|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/08/22/saffron_burrows_interview.shtml}}{{cite news|title=Enigma (2001)|publisher=BBC|date=27 September 2001|first=Neil| last= Smith|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/08/31/enigma_2001_review.shtml}} and starred in Tempted, an improvised thriller set in New Orleans, with Burt Reynolds and Peter Facinelli.{{cite news|title='Word comes through that another punch-up has taken place. Blimey. It's only day three...': Saffron Burrows' film diary of Tempted|work=The Guardian|date=18 January 2001|first=Saffron|last= Burrows|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jan/19/culture.features}}

Figgis' ensemble feature Hotel followed, reuniting Burrows with colleagues from Timecode including Salma Hayek and Danny Huston on location in Venice, where she played the Duchess of Malfi. She had a cameo in Frida, Hayek's 2002 biopic of artist Frida Kahlo.

Burrows performed in Spanish in The Galindez File, a film written by Spanish novelist Vazquez Montalban, about a woman seeking the truth about the disappearance of a critic of the Dominican dictator Trujillo.{{cite web|title=The Galindez File|date=26 September 2003|publisher=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347037|access-date=13 May 2012}} In 2004, she played the role of Andromache, the wife of Trojan Prince Hector, played by Eric Bana, in Troy.

Burrows dedicated herself to stage work in the early 2000s. She appeared at the Royal National Theatre in Jeanette Winterson's The Powerbook, directed by Deborah Warner; the play also went on tour, visiting the Theatre National Du Chaillot in Paris and the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

In January 2005, she created the role of Janey Morris in the world premiere of Earthly Paradise at the Almeida Theatre.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/review/VE1117925812.html?categoryid=33&cs=1|title=Earthly Paradise|first=Matt |last=Wolf|work=Variety|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207001035/https://variety.com/review/VE1117925812.html?categoryid=33&cs=1|archive-date=7 December 2008|date=3 January 2005}} The play centered on the love triangle of Janey, her husband William Morris (the writer and proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement), and the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.{{cite news|title=Earthly Paradise, Almeida Theatre|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/nov/25/theatre2 | first=Michael|last=Billington|date=25 November 2004}} London theatre critic Nicholas De Jongh said of her performance: "Burrows takes to the stage like a swan to water... She deserves no end of watching."{{cite web|title=The Road to Paradise Lost|work=Evening Standard|location=London|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/theatre/the-road-to-paradise-lost-7383166.html|date=25 November 2004|first=Nicholas|last=De Jongh}} On 30 October 2005, she appeared on stage at the Old Vic theatre in London in a rehearsed reading of the 24-hour play Night Sky, alongside Christopher Eccleston.{{cite news|last=Calvi|first=Nuala|title=Old Vic Seeks Fresh Talent for 24 Hour Plays|work=The Stage|publisher=The Stage Newspaper Limited|date=30 May 2006|url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/12769/old-vic-seeks-fresh-talent-for-24-hour-plays|access-date=28 May 2011}}{{cite news|author=The Literator|title=Cover Stories: Alwaleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince; Caroline Michel; Index on Censorship|work=The Independent|publisher=Independent Print Limited|date=28 October 2005|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-alwaleed-businessman-billionaire-prince-caroline-michel-index-on-censorship-322684.html|access-date=28 May 2011}} Burrow has since participated in the "24 Hour Plays" in New York and Los Angeles.{{cite news|title=The 24 Hour Plays come to Los Angeles|work=Yahoo! News|date=10 June 2011|url=http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/the-24-hour-plays-come-to-los-angeles-2499057.html|access-date=22 May 2012|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190333/http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/the-24-hour-plays-come-to-los-angeles-2499057.html|url-status=dead}}

In 2006, Burrows was the female lead in the New Zealand thriller Perfect Creature, appeared in Hal Hartley's film Fay Grim, and co-starred in Klimt, Chilean director Raoul Ruiz' cinematic portrait of Gustav Klimt. Burrows played opposite John Malkovich as the artist's lover, a woman of many personalities and nationalities. Onstage in 2006, she starred opposite David Schwimmer in the world premiere of Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) at the Gielgud Theatre, London.{{cite news|title=Some Girl(s), Gielgud Theatre, London|work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/some-girls-gielgud-theatre-london-6145420.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925013716/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/some-girls-gielgud-theatre-london-6145420.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 September 2015 | first=Paul|last=Taylor|date=25 May 2005}} She then appeared in Mike Binder's film Reign Over Me with Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. Burrows also had lead roles in the Indian thriller Broken Thread and in director Peter Howitt's drama Dangerous Parking. On television, she played attorney Lorraine Weller on ABC's Boston Legal (season 4) from 2007 to 2008. She starred in the NBC series My Own Worst Enemy in 2008.

Also in 2008, Burrows starred in the independent film The Guitar as a woman who suffers several life setbacks all at once, including a cancer diagnosis and bankruptcy, and survives them all. Amy Redford's directorial debut, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/movies/07guit.html|work=The New York Times|title=Shopping a Life Away|first=Stephen|last=Holden|date=6 November 2008|access-date=4 July 2019}} She also had a starring role in Roger Donaldson's heist film The Bank Job,{{cite web|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news/burrows-becomes-latest-actress-to-sing_1061400|title=Burrows Becomes Latest Actress To Sing|publisher=Contactmusic.com|date=4 March 2008|access-date=22 May 2012}} and appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in Jonas Pate's Shrink. She contributed to an Actors Come Clean for Congo video for the Enough Project's campaign in support of conflict mineral issues.{{cite video|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?sq=actors+come+clean|title=Actors Come Clean for Congo}} In 2010, she starred as Detective Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent,{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20100226usa01|title=USA Network Kicks Off Action-Packed Spring Lineup with New Seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and in Plain Sight|publisher=TheFutonCritic.com|date=26 February 2010|access-date=26 February 2010}} departing at the end of the ninth season. In September 2010, she took part in the documentary feature The People Speak, televised on the History Channel. The film was directed and produced by Colin Firth and Anthony Arnove. Burrows modelled for Marks & Spencer's autumn 2010 campaign for their Portfolio range.{{cite web|title=Saffron Burrows interview with|work=Marks & Spencer TV|via=YouTube|date=13 August 2010|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s29hZnC0G0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825111717/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s29hZnC0G0 |archive-date=2012-08-25 |url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2011}} In 2012, she performed opposite Rob Lowe in the political comedy Knife Fight.

In 2013 and 2014, Burrows joined the ABC television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She played agent Victoria Hand in a recurring role.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/agents-shield-victoria-hand-saffron-burrows/|title=Saffron Burrows Cast as Victoria Hand in 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'?|last=Vieira|first=Anthony|work=Screen Rant|date=27 October 2013|access-date=22 October 2020}} She also starred in the Amazon Video series Mozart in the Jungle as Cynthia Taylor, a cellist with the New York Symphony. The series ran for four seasons from 2014 to 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/04/06/amazon-cancels-mozart-jungle/495548002/|first=Bill|last=Keveney|title=Amazon cancels 'Mozart in the Jungle' after four seasons|work=USA Today|date=6 April 2018|access-date=4 August 2018|language=en}} In 2019, Burrows starred in the recurring role of Dottie Quinn on the second season of the Netflix thriller You.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/feb/19/saffron-burrows-i-was-raised-to-feel-like-i-could-love-who-i-wanted|title=Saffron Burrows: 'I was raised to feel like I could love who I wanted'|last=Hayes|first=Martha|work=The Guardian|date=19 February 2020|access-date=22 October 2020}} She reprised her role in the third season, which was released in October 2021.{{cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=18 November 2020|title='You': Saffron Burrows Upped To Series Regular, Dylan Arnold, Tati Gabrielle Among 12 Cast in Netflix Series|url=https://deadline.com/2020/11/you-saffron-burrows-promotedseries-regular-dylan-arnold-tati-gabrielle-among-12-cast-in-netflix-series-1234617425/|access-date=19 November 2020|website=Deadline Hollywood|language=en-US}}

Burrows has written diaries, book reviews and newspaper and magazine articles for The Guardian, The Independent, and The Times and the New Statesman.{{cite web|title=Saffron Burrows speaks about a lack of justice in Mexico – Amnesty's Write for Rights video|work=The Guardian|date=26 November 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/nov/27/saffron-burrows-justice-mexico-video|access-date=22 May 2012}}{{cite news|title=My Secret Life: Saffron Burrows, Actress, age 35|work=The Independent|date=31 May 2008|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-saffron-burrows-actress-age-35-835629.html|access-date=22 May 2012|first=Charlotte|last=Philby}}

Burrows is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is bisexual, and said that she "prefers the company of women". She was engaged to actor Alan Cumming in the 1990s and dated director Mike Figgis for five years until 2002.{{cite web|last=Warn|first=Sarah|url=http://www.afterellen.com/people/5219-saffron-burrows-embraces-lesbian-relationships-on-screen-and-off |title=Saffron Burrows Embraces Lesbian Relationships on Screen and Off| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925105246/http://www.afterellen.com/people/5219-saffron-burrows-embraces-lesbian-relationships-on-screen-and-off |archive-date=25 September 2016|publisher=afterellen.com|date=12 October 2003}} She was previously in a relationship with actress Fiona Shaw.

Burrows married writer Alison Balian, her girlfriend of six years, in August 2013. Burrows gave birth to their son in 2012 and their daughter in 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/01/saffron-burrows-married-to-alison-balian-mozart-in-the-jungle|first=Hermione|last=Hoby|title=Saffron Burrows: 'I'm really proud of my family and who they are'|date=1 December 2014| access-date=2 December 2014|work=The Guardian}}{{cite news|last1=Passalaqua|first1=Holly|last2=Vulpo|first2=Mike|title=Law & Order's Saffron Burrows Gives Birth to a Baby Girl|date=28 January 2017|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/824986/law-order-s-saffron-burrows-gives-birth-to-a-baby-girl|work=E! News}} Burrows and Balian separated in 2020.{{Cite web|date=2020-02-19|last=Hayes|first=Martha|title=Saffron Burrows: 'I was raised to feel like I could love who I wanted'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/feb/19/saffron-burrows-i-was-raised-to-feel-like-i-could-love-who-i-wanted|access-date=2021-07-11|website=The Guardian|language=en}}

Burrows has expressed sympathy for European-style social democracies and for French Socialist politician Ségolène Royal.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8It-elFQSc Frost over the World] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225162955/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8It-elFQSc |date=25 February 2013 }}, YouTube, 28 March 2008. She joined an anti-racism group when she was 11 years old and went on to become the Vice President of the National Civil Rights Movement.{{cite news|last1=Philby|first1=Charlotte|title=My Secret Life: Saffron Burrows, Actress, age 35|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-saffron-burrows-actress-age-35-835629.html|work=The Independent}} Burrows is a campaigner for disabled rights and equality.{{cite web|title=The 50 Hottest Women of the UK|work=PopCrunch.com| url=http://www.popcrunch.com/50-hottest-women-of-the-uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617032348/http://www.popcrunch.com/50-hottest-women-of-the-uk/|archive-date=17 June 2010|access-date=22 May 2012}} In 2009, she became an American citizen.{{cite news|title=Burrows becomes an American|date=21 June 2010|work=Daily Express|url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/182169/Burrows-becomes-an-American}}

;Blockbuster Entertainment Award

• 2000: Nominated, "Favorite Newcomer Actress" – Deep Blue Sea

;Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 2008: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" – Boston Legal
• 2009: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" – Boston Legal

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Saffron Burrows}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|4787|Saffron Burrows}}
• {{Screenonline name|id=1189097|name=Saffron Burrows biography and filmography}}
• [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/saffron_burrows Articles written by Saffron Burrows] for the New Statesman UK
• Saffron Burrows' Guest DJ Set on KCRW [http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/gd/gd080514saffron_burrows KCRW Guest DJ Set]

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Category:Living people

Category:1972 births

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:20th-century English actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century English actresses

Category:21st-century English LGBTQ people

Category:Actors from the London Borough of Camden

Category:Actors from the London Borough of Hackney

Category:Actresses from London

Category:Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School

Category:American bisexual actresses

Category:American film actresses

Category:American stage actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:British bisexual actresses

Category:English emigrants to the United States

Category:English film actresses

Category:English stage actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:LGBTQ people from London

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Category:People from St Pancras, London

Category:People from Stoke Newington