from Evening Standard Magazine UK / by Emily Sheffield
Sophia Myles beat Sophie Dahl and Rosamund Pike to the coveted role of Lady Penelope in next year’s ‘Thunderbirds’. Now she’s about to star in Hollywood’s vampire tale ‘Underworld’. Not bad for a vicar’s daughter from Isleworth, says Emily Sheffield
Success, easily attained at a young age, can wreak havoc on the most innocent of characters, especially when Hollywood is involved. Thankfully, 23-year-old actress Sophia Myles appears totally without guile. She arives for our interview exactly on time, leaving her airs and graces wrapped in the gossamer folds of Lady Penelope’s Chanel costumes, and is accompanied by her childhood friend, Olivia – ‘because we are trying to spend time together before I move to Los Angeles,’ she says apologetically.
Dressed casually in jeans and white T-shirt, she sits opposite, hands neatly folded in her lap, answering questions with grave sincerity, often glancing towards Olivia for approval. So quiet and self-contained, you wouldn’t guess that Vanity Fair recently hailed her as the Next Big Thing. Last autumn, she beat Sophie Dahl and Rosamund Pike to the coveted role of Lady Penelope, the glamorous secret agent, in a new