Biography
As the U.K.'s rising "it" girl, this model-turned-actress became best known as the as flirtatious shop assistant Jessie on the popular period drama "Mr. Selfridge" (PBS 2013- ). The budding actress also became a fashion icon after appearing on the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) red carpet in 2014 looking every inch the movie star she aspired to be. Born on May 30, 1990 in London, England, Sai Bennett followed in her mother's footsteps and started modeling at an early age. She signed with Storm Models, the same agency that famously represented Kate Moss, and she appeared in a number of campaigns, editorials and music videos. She even appeared in a photo exhibition with her mother, for a series called "Models & Mothers, in October 2013. Bennett made her acting debut in the season one of the popular series "Prisoners' Wives" (BBC One 2012-13), a South Yorkshire-based drama about four women coping without their partners, who are all in prison. While the part was small, it served as a stepping-stone for larger roles to come, with Bennett taking on her first film role in the independent British-Swedish co-produced feature, "Trapped" (2012). Directed by Phillipe Weibel, the thriller follows the story of two zoology students who encounter a strange young woman (Bennett) while venturing through unexplored wolf territory. Going from the wilds of Sweden to the corseted-society of London in the 1900s was quite a transition for Bennett, but she charmed audiences as the new shop girl Jessie Pertree in season two of "Mr. Selfridge." While "Trapped" served as a training-camp in indie filmmaking, Sai would get a taste of bigger-budget, studio productions when she appeared in Michael Winterbottom's hotly anticipated film "The Face of an Angel" (2014). Based on the salacious Amanda Knox murder trial, the acclaimed British director told a fictionalized version of the infamous murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. Instead of a true-crime whodunit, Winterbottom used the murder trial as a springboard for an investigation of society's fascination with violence and served up a damning critique of the media culture that surrounded the trial. Bennett played the slain Elizabeth Pryce, whose character represented the real-life victim. The film, featuring Daniel Bruhl, Kate Beckinsale and Cara Delevingne, premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival to mixed reviews, but Winterbottom's attempt to turn a true crime story into a intellectual cinematic exercise was applauded and the film introduced Bennett to the international stage.
