Anna Friel is an English actress who was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England on July 12, 1976. Both of her parents were teachers, but although she was highly educated, she never developed that desire to teach. She became very interested in acting at a young age and worked in many local talent shows that she received a lot of praise from.

Anna Friel got a very early start and she landed her first professional acting gig when she was only thirteen years old. Her first job was for the Channel 4 drama serial G.B.H. playing the daughter of a character played by Michael Palin. G.B.H. was a seven part British television drama that was made by the independent production company G.B.H. films. This role led to a series of appearances on different British television shows. She became part of the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside in 1992. She got much more exposure with this role and although she was only on the show for two years, he lesbian kiss remains one of the most talked about moments in all of British soap history. She even won the National Television Award for most popular actress for this show in 1995.

Anna Friel was never someone to shy away from taboo topics and she proved this yet again in 1996 when she appeared in the television film The Tribe by Stephen Poliakoff. This film included nudity, on her part, and a much talked about m'nage a trois sex scene with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jeremy Northam. Her acting chops extend outside of film as well as she has starred in many Broadway plays. She appeared in the original run of Closer at the Music Box Theatre and won many theatre awards for her performance. Her film credits include Rogue Trader, The Land Girls, All for Love, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Timeline, Me Without You and Goal!

Today, the most notable part of her career is in television. She has done work on shows like The Jury and Watermelon which was on ITV. Today, she plays the role of Charlotte Charles in the TV series Pushing Daisies. Her character is commonly referred to as Chuck and she is the leading lady opposite Ned, which is played by Lee Pace. Anna Friel is quickly becoming a high demand actress and this is something fans can watch when Pushing Daisies returns in September for its second season.