# Olivia Ross
**Olivia Ross** is a French-British actress born in 1992 in Paris, France, known for work in both French and English-language film and television, including *Personal Shopper* (2016), *The Old Guard* (2020), and *War & Peace* (2016)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/). She trained in London and built her career on both sides of the [English Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-channel), moving from supporting roles in French auteur cinema to leading television parts and international features[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1992, Paris, France; French and British nationality[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D200491.html) |
| Training | Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; Sorbonne Nouvelle (Licence de Lettres Modernes and Licence d'Étude Théâtrale)[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/) • [4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr) |
| Screen debut | *Tout est pardonné* (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2007), as Gisèle[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-200491/filmographie/) |
| Leading TV role | Queen Joan of Navarre in *Knightfall* (History Channel, 2017–2018, 10 episodes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/) |
| Breakthrough film role | Karin Hönig, the enigmatic pianist, in *The Universal Theory* (Timm Kröger, 2023)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/) |
| Recent work | Rose Blum in *White Bird* (2023), Joan Mitchell in *Niki* (2024), Amy in *Lady Nazca* (2025), Irène Ferraud in *Les Sentinelles* (2025)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/) |
## Training and early career
Ross was born in Paris to anglophone parents and took drama classes at a municipal conservatory in Paris before being accepted at the [Guildhall School of Music and Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/guildhall-school-of-music-and-drama) in London[6](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/255/154/105215/presse/white-lie-presskit-french.pdf). Her agency profile also lists a Licence de Lettres Modernes and a Licence d'Étude Théâtrale from the Sorbonne Nouvelle, along with hypokhâgne and khâgne at the Lycée de Sèvres[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). She is bilingual and speaks French, English, and German[7](https://www.ubba.eu/fiche/actrice/olivia-ross?lng=en).
Her screen debut came while she was still a teenager: she played Gisèle in Mia Hansen-Løve's *Tout est pardonné* (2007), a drama selected at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes at Cannes and winner of the Prix Louis Delluc that year[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-200491/filmographie/) • [4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). She followed it with Zabou Breitman's *Je l'aimais* (2009) and returned to Hansen-Løve for *Le père de mes enfants* (2009) and *Eden* (2014)[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/). [Olivier Assayas](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivier-assayas) cast her in *Carlos* (2010), *Personal Shopper* (2016), and *Doubles vies* (2018)[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/).
## Stage work
Ross's theatrical career is centered on [Shakespeare's Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/shakespeares-globe) in London, where she worked mainly under Dominic Dromgoole, playing Hermia in *A Midsummer Night's Dream* and Princess Katherine in *Henry V*, and taking part in the original production of *Blue Stockings*[8](https://lesplateauxsauvages.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dp-lassemblee-des-reves-planches.pdf). Her *Henry V* performance was filmed and screened in 2013 as part of the "Shakespeare's Globe" series of theatrical broadcasts[9](https://www.fandango.com/people/olivia-ross-576194/biography). Later stage credits include Marianne in *Tartuffe* at the [Theatre Royal Haymarket](https://www.edgepedia.org/theatre-royal-haymarket) (2018) and *L'Assemblée des rêves* at Les Plateaux Sauvages in Paris (2019)[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). From 2022 to 2025 she performed in *Earthscape – La philosophie de la maison* with Frédérique Aït-Touati's Compagnie Zone Critique[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr).
## Television
From the mid-2010s Ross took on recurring and leading television roles in international productions. She made her American television debut with a minor role in [Agnieszka Holland](https://www.edgepedia.org/agnieszka-holland)'s *Rosemary's Baby* miniseries (NBC, 2014), then played the naive Mademoiselle Bourienne in the BBC/A&E adaptation *War & Peace* (2016)[9](https://www.fandango.com/people/olivia-ross-576194/biography). In 2017 she was cast as Queen Joan, the 14th-century ruler of France and Navarre, in *Knightfall*, a [History Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/history-channel) period drama, appearing in 10 episodes across 2017 and 2018[9](https://www.fandango.com/people/olivia-ross-576194/biography) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/). Her agency profile lists this as her first leading female role in television[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). She then played Nadia in two episodes of *Killing Eve* (2018) and Julie Dulac in the French series *Trauma* (2019)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/). In 2025 she appeared as Irène Ferraud in the Canal+ series *Les Sentinelles*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/).
## Film career
Ross's first leading film role was Julie in Marine Place's *Souffler plus fort que la mer* (2016), which won the audience prize at the Saint-Jean-de-Luz Film Festival[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). Her international profile rose with the Netflix film *The Old Guard* ([Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://www.edgepedia.org/gina-prince-bythewood), 2020), in which she played Celeste alongside [Charlize Theron](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlize-theron)[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/).
**The Universal Theory.** In Timm Kröger's German-language thriller *The Universal Theory* (*Die Theorie von allem*, 2023), Ross played Karin Hönig, a mysterious pianist who haunts the young physicist protagonist at a 1962 quantum mechanics conference in the [Swiss Alps](https://www.edgepedia.org/swiss-alps)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-11/the-universal-theory-review-multiverse-timm-kroger-black-white). In an interview with *The Edge* magazine, she explained that she had a background in theater and music conservatory and wanted to portray the pianist convincingly for her musician friends; she received the jazz piece used most prominently in the film only a month before shooting began[11](https://www.the-edge-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/THEEDGEMAG_04_2023_WEB.pdf). The film was selected in the official competition at the Venice Mostra in 2023, where it won the Bisato d'Or from independent critics[4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr).
**Later roles.** In Marc Forster's *White Bird* (2023), she played Rose Blum, a mathematics teacher and the mother of the young protagonist Sara in occupied France[12](https://whitebird.movie/download?id=WhiteBird-ProductionNotes.pdf). She played the painter [Joan Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-mitchell) in Céline Sallette's biopic *Niki* (2024), about [Niki de Saint Phalle](https://www.edgepedia.org/niki-de-saint-phalle), which was selected in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2024[2](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/) • [4](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr). In Damien Dorsaz's *Lady Nazca* (2025), a France-Germany drama about the Nazca geoglyphs, she played Amy[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/).
## Other people named Olivia Ross
The name refers to several other performers. **Olivia Grey Ross** (born 2002, New Jersey) is a Los Angeles-based actress and 2024 BFA Acting graduate of the [California Institute of the Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-institute-of-the-arts), represented by Sovereign Talent Group and managed by Brooks Talent Management; her credits include the shorts *Were You There* (2025), *The Sound of Balloons 2* (2025), and *The Book of Jane* (2024)[13](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12855151/). **Olivia Ross Knight** is a Houston-based actor, intimacy and fight director, and teacher with an MFA from the [University of Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-houston)'s PATP, named Best Breakthrough in the 2025 Houston Press Theatre Awards[14](https://www.oliviarossknight.com/current-upcoming/). **Olivia Millar-Ross** is a Glasgow-based director and actor trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts[15](https://www.oliviamross.com/), and a Canadian actress named Olivia Ross, born in 1992 in [London, Ontario](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-ontario), has credits including *Tricaillin* (2013) and *Paranormal 911* (2019)[16](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7722503/).
## References
1. [Olivia Ross Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2684840/bio/)
2. [Olivia Ross, comédienne franco-britannique à la carrière multiple, CinéDweller](https://cinedweller.com/celebrity/olivia-ross/)
3. [Olivia Ross, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D200491.html)
4. [Olivia Ross, Fiche Artiste, AgencesArtistiques.com](https://www.agencesartistiques.com/Fiche-Artiste/679244-Olivia-Ross.html?lng=fr)
5. [Olivia Ross : Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-200491/filmographie/)
6. [White Lie press kit, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/255/154/105215/presse/white-lie-presskit-french.pdf)
7. [Olivia Ross, Actress, UBBA](https://www.ubba.eu/fiche/actrice/olivia-ross?lng=en)
8. [Dossier de presse, L'Assemblée des rêves, Les Plateaux Sauvages (2019)](https://lesplateauxsauvages.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dp-lassemblee-des-reves-planches.pdf)
9. [Olivia Ross Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/olivia-ross-576194/biography)
10. ['The Universal Theory' review, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-11/the-universal-theory-review-multiverse-timm-kroger-black-white)
11. [Olivia Ross, Franco-British actress, The Edge Magazine (2023)](https://www.the-edge-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/THEEDGEMAG_04_2023_WEB.pdf)
12. [White Bird Production Notes](https://whitebird.movie/download?id=WhiteBird-ProductionNotes.pdf)
13. [Olivia Grey Ross, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12855151/)
14. [Olivia Ross Knight, official site](https://www.oliviarossknight.com/current-upcoming/)
15. [Olivia Millar-Ross, official site](https://www.oliviamross.com/)
16. [Olivia Ross (V), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7722503/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › French actors › Surnames N to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license