Hannah New Bio
Hannah New (born 13 May 1984) is a British actress and model whose screen work spans British and international film and television. She is best known for her performances as Lady Tilly Arnold on Bridgerton and as Eleanor Guthrie on the Starz series Black Sails. Trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama after undergraduate study at the University of Leeds, New has combined screen acting with international work and charitable projects off camera.
Early Life and Background
Hannah New was born in Balham, London, and is the youngest of three sisters. She began formal movement training at age four by attending a ballet school and later joined the National Youth Theatre, experiences that contributed to her early stage and performance grounding.
Her interest in other cultures led to extensive travel during her late teens and early adulthood; she visited more than 20 countries and spent three months in a children’s home in Bolivia in 2003. New studied Spanish at the University of Leeds and undertook study abroad time in Spain, an experience that preceded her discovery by a talent manager while in Barcelona.
Following her undergraduate work, New completed postgraduate training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, a conservatory that prepared her for professional screen work and formalized her acting training prior to her sustained television and film career.
Path to Celebrity
While living and studying abroad in Spain, Hannah New was spotted in Barcelona by American talent manager Stacey Castro in 2009 during a casting search tied to a period television production. That contact led to representation and early screen opportunities on projects produced for Spanish and international audiences.
New’s early path combined modeling assignments and small screen roles, leveraging language skills and international experience to secure parts in cross-border productions. Her combination of formal acting training and multilingual adaptability helped transition her from regional work into English-language television and films.
Hannah New Career
Early Career (2003–2011)
Hannah New’s professional career is recorded as beginning in 2003, initially encompassing modeling, travel-related projects and stage training. After being discovered in Barcelona, she was offered a role in the television adaptation The Time in Between, in which she played Rosalinda Fox, an English woman connected to the series’ central characters. That role marked an early television credit in her screen résumé.
In 2011 New appeared in a Spanish feature alongside David Hasselhoff and was cast in a lead role for a television pilot titled Shelter, which was not taken to series. These early screen projects established her presence in both Spanish and English-language markets and provided lead and supporting credits that led to more prominent casting opportunities.
Breakthrough (2012–2017)
Hannah New joined the cast of the Starz series Black Sails in 2012 and portrayed Eleanor Guthrie, a central figure who runs her father’s illicit enterprises in Nassau. The series premiered its first eight-episode season in January 2014, and New appeared across the show’s four-season run, filmed in South Africa and broadcast through 2017. Black Sails became a defining television credit that expanded her international profile.
In 2014 New appeared in the Disney feature Maleficent in the role of Queen Leila, the mother of Princess Aurora, giving her screen exposure in a major studio film released worldwide. The same year she secured a principal role in the thriller Under the Bed, a project that went into wider release in 2017. These film credits ran alongside her continuing television work and helped diversify her screen résumé.
Continued Screen Work and Notable Roles (2018–Present)
After Black Sails, New continued to pursue a mix of film and television roles. She played Elizabeth Crookshank in the feature Edge of the World, a role filmed in 2019 and released in 2021. In 2020 she joined the period drama Bridgerton in the role of Lady Tilly Arnold, a character that increased her visibility among global streaming audiences and connected her to one of the era’s most-discussed ensemble dramas.
Across the late 2010s and into the 2020s, New has maintained a portfolio of genre-spanning projects that include historical drama, contemporary thrillers and studio films. Her career has combined recurring television series work with standalone film roles, reflecting a deliberate mix of long-form and feature-length projects.
Notable Works and Milestones
Key career milestones for Hannah New include her casting and sustained role on Black Sails, her studio appearance in Maleficent, and her recurring part on Bridgerton. These credits represent a progression from bilingual and international parts to prominent roles on high-profile English-language productions. New has also sustained charitable activity concurrent with her screen career.
Hannah New Family
Publicly available biographical information identifies Hannah New as the youngest of three sisters. Beyond sibling relationships, further details about her parents or extended family have not been presented in the verified sources and are not included here.
Personal Life
Hannah New’s off-screen activities include charitable work and educational outreach. In 2015 she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in support of the Intyatyambo Community Project and has taught English to children in Khayelitsha during breaks from filming, reflecting a sustained interest in international volunteer work. Public records and verified biographical sources do not provide confirmed information about a current partner or children.
New continues to live and work between British and international productions, drawing on formal training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and early language study at the University of Leeds to inform roles across period drama and contemporary film. She remains active professionally with screen credits spanning 2003 to the present.