Childhood & Early Life
Aimee-Ffion Edwards was born on November 21, 1987, in Newport, Wales, into a working class family. She was one of the five children of her parents. Her father worked as an engineer.
She attended the ‘Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd,’ a Welsh-medium school, and was an average student. She had more interest in extracurricular activities, such as sports. She played rugby and was the only girl in boys’ teams until she was 14 years old.
She also enrolled into ballet classes, but rugby remained her first priority. She often prioritized rugby over ballet. By the time she was a teenager, she had started gaining a keen interest in drama and acting.
She studied drama in high school and graduated with an A-level in drama. In order to further gain experience in acting, she enrolled at the ‘National Youth Theatre’ in Wales. She is fluent in both English and Welsh.
Apart from receiving extensive training in ballet and acting, she also took professional singing lessons after her high-school graduation.
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Career
Aimee made her acting debut in 2002, appearing in a Welsh short film titled ‘Dwr Dwfn.’
She had a big break in 2006, while learning classical Welsh singing. During her training, she participated in a Welsh singing talent-hunt competition named ‘Wawffactor.’ By the end of the show, she ended up as the first runner-up. In order to build an acting career, she had to move out of Wales. She moved to England toward the late 2000s.
In 2008, she made her TV debut with the role of ‘Sketch’ in the series titled ‘Skins.’ She played a quiet and scheming young Welsh girl. The series featured multiple actors as part of the main cast and ran for seven seasons, spanning 61 episodes. Despite its controversial content, the series was met with critical and commercial acclaim.
In 2010, she appeared as ‘Robin’ in the supernatural comedy–drama series ‘Being Human.’ The series was a huge success, both critically and commercially, and ran for five seasons.
In the second season of the highly popular crime drama ‘Luther,’ starring Idris Elba in the lead role, she played ‘Jenny Jones.’ The second season was the most popular in the entire series.
In 2013, Aimee received the biggest breakthrough of her career so far, appearing in the period crime drama ‘Peaky Blinders.’ She was signed to play a gypsy girl named ‘Esme,’ who was shown getting married into the ‘Shelby’ family. The series was a huge hit when she joined it, and it still remains one of the top-rated series on British TV.
In 2014, she made her film debut, with the TV film ‘A Poet in New York,’ based on the life of a popular Welsh poet named Dylan Thomas. Aimee portrayed ‘Marianne’ in the biographical period drama, which received an average critical response.
The same year, she lent her voice to the character ‘Laugharne’ in the film titled ‘Under Milk Wood.’ She then appeared in a guest role in an episode of the series ‘Inside No. 9,’ titled ‘The Harrowing.’
Later that year, she appeared in a supporting role in the comedy series ‘Detectorists.’ The series featured her as ‘Sophie,’ a university student. It ran for three seasons, covering 19 episodes, and received immense critical and commercial acclaim. It won two ‘BAFTA Awards,’ one each in 2015 and 2018.
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In 2015, she joined the cast of the six-part British serial ‘Wolf Hall,’ in which she played a Catholic nun named ‘Elizabeth Barton.’ The series was a huge critical success and earned the award for the ‘Best Miniseries or Television Film’ at the 73rd ‘Golden Globe Awards.’
She then appeared in the supporting role of ‘Sian Evans’ in the series titled ‘Death in Paradise.’
In 2017, she appeared as ‘Abi,’ one of the key roles in the comedy–drama series titled ‘Loaded.’ However, the series got poor ratings and reviews and was thus canceled after a season.
She then gained another big role, in the miniseries titled ‘Troy: Fall of a City.’ It featured her as ‘Cassandra’ and ran for eight episodes. It received praises from critics, eventually becoming a commercial success, too.
In 2018, she lent her voice to the character ‘Havoc’ in the British animated series ‘Thunderbirds Are Go.’ The same year (2018), she appeared in another voice role, ‘Arabella’ in the series ‘101 Dalmatian Street.’
In 2019, she appeared as ‘Miss Aitken’ in the series titled ‘Man Like Mobeen.’
She has been seen in the supporting role of ‘Sophie Adams’ in the 2014 drama film ‘Queen and Country.’
She has also appeared in theatrical productions regularly. She has played key roles in plays such as ‘B,’ ‘Jerusalem,’ ‘Fireface,’ and ‘The Recruiting Officer.’
