Holly joins Showtime's Borgias' mini-series.....

Fresh from her recent roles - Suzanne Rousset, Dirty Debbie and Diana Rivers - Holliday Grainger is set to join Jeremy Irons in the new Showtime mini-series which chronicles the infamous Borgia family. Production is set to begin soon. I will give you more details when I have them.

It's now official - she is playing Suzanne in 'Bel Ami'...

Although this news is now over a month old, up until now there has not been any images of Holliday actually on the set of 'Bel Ami'. That, as you can see above, has changed and it now makes Miss Grainger being one of the main cast members official. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we may see more photos of her and possibly even an interview with her. I'll keep you posted....

Here is where Holly Grainger's movie career takes off....

Although "The Scouting Book For Boys" isn't likely to attract massive attention from UK cinema audiences, at least Holliday Grainger has made the kind of appearance on BBC Breakfast that generates the hope that more people will start to take notice of her. The part of Emily is her first leading lady role in a movie, and one that easily has the potential to bring her into contact with those who can launch her as a household name. 'Bel Ami', in which she plays Suzanne, and 'Jane Eyre' are the kind of projects she needs to propel onto the global movie scene. Whilst Hollywood might seem a long way off for someone who is just finding their feet in the movie industry, she is certain to find something that will lead her in that direction. If it can happen for Carey Mulligan, it can happen for her!

On-screen reunion for Holly Grainger and Robert Pattinson....

Back in 2007, Holliday Grainger's career profile was raised when she was cast as one of the stars of the TV adaptation of Kate Long's bestselling novel "The Bad Mother's Handbook". This one-off ITV drama also raised the profile of up-and-coming actor Robert Pattinson, who played Daniel Gale, the nerdy love interest of Charlotte - so much so that he was cast as the lead in the Hollywoodification of Stephanie Meyer's vampire book series, "Twilight", a year later. It was around that time that Holly entered cinema acting for the first time with the big screen version of Kevin Sampson's controversial novel "Awaydays". Well, if like me you enjoyed the televisual chemistry between Grainger and Pattinson, we may yet get to see them togther again, but this time on the big screen, because rumour has it that she is in the running for the part of Suzanne in the movie adaptation of the novel "Bel Ami". If it turns out to be true, it could well open doors for Holliday in Hollywood. So, let's keep our fingers crossed that it turns out that she has actually been cast.

Manchester's own Keira Knightley....

As loathed as I am to compare her to the star of "Bend It Like Beckham", the "Pirates Of The Carribean" movies and "The Duchess", Holly Grainger's elevation to movies from TV puts her into the spotlight enough for industry insiders to see her as a Manchester actress rising to A-List stardom within the space of eighteen months. Up until "Awaydays", Miss Grainger's career was firmly attached to small and supporting roles in TV.
Her presence at the 2009 British Independent Film Awards ceremony is the clearest indication that "The Scouting Book For Boys", in which she has the lead female role, is going to be the springboard towards more British movies and could possibly move her towards American films. It is far from certain from happening, but if her second motion picture brings her fully to the attention of multiplex audiences, then it will only be a matter of time before Hollywood comes knocking at her door.

Holly in 'Robin Hood' this coming weekend.....

As you can see above, Holliday Grainger will next be seen on TV in this coming Saturday's episode of the 3rd series of BBC's "Robin Hood". She plays Meg, a young woman who becomes embroiled in the diabolical schemes of Prince John (Toby Stephens) and Lady Isabella, the new Sheriff of Nottingham, having deposed her brother Guy.

Close-up: Holliday Grainger

She's battled vampires; now the young actor is fighting off her uncle...
By Luiza Sauma
Sunday, 8 March 2009


I've died four times in the past year," says Holliday Grainger. "I seem to play a lot of troubled kids." The 20-year-old has also played a maiden in the BBC's Merlin and a vampire-fighting student in ITV's Demons, but is reverting to her "troubled kid" image in her stage debut, as the suicidal Lydia in Athol Fugard's play Dimetos. The play, directed by Douglas Hodge, tells the story of Dimetos (played by Jonathan Pryce), who leaves the city with his niece, Lydia, and housekeeper, Sophia (the former Corrie actress and Victoria Wood favourite Anne Reid), for a quiet life by the sea. While Dimetos fights his desire for his niece, a stranger arrives to tempt him home. Then tragedy strikes.

"Anne got me the job," says Grainger. "She told Douglas he'd be stupid not to see me. I've got mixed feelings of terror and excitement about it. It's so different from the TV style of acting. I feel like I'm going through a five-week crash course in the Douglas Hodge school of acting, as opposed to going to Rada."

Grainger is more than just another rising starlet – she is also slowly working her way through an English degree with the Open University. "To be able to analyse plays and novels is so relevant to acting," she says. When Dimetos finishes, she admits that she will "probably want to fly back to my comfort zone in front of a camera", and is looking forward to the release of two movies this year – Awaydays and The Scouting Book for Boys , with fellow "one to watch" Thomas Turgoose. "I'd love to do more independent films," she adds. Looks as if the degree will have to wait.