Biography
Date of Birth
13 December 1992, Holloway, London, England, UK
Birth Name
Kaya Rose Humphrey
Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Mini Biography
Kaya Rose Scodelario was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, to Katia (Scodelario) and Roger Humphrey. Her father was English and her mother is Brazilian, of Italian and Portuguese descent. Her surname comes from her mother's Italian grandfather. Thanks to her mother, Kaya grew up fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, as well as English. At the age of fourteen, she auditioned for Skins (2007), the debut series for new channel E4 that would become known for casting real teenagers like her, who had no professional acting experience, rather than experienced adult actors. She won the role of "Effy Stonem" and joined the show in January 2007. After an challenging debut in which she never spoke, Scodelario and Effy made quite an impression on viewers. At the forefront of many disasters, including stalkers, death, and sexual pressures, Effy became a fan favorite for her ability to resolve testing life situations while keeping her head above water. As the character and the role grew, Scodelario enjoyed depicting what she described as the realistic trials and challenges Effy faced with friendships, relationships, and adolescence. After two seasons of Skins (2007), the series endured an overhaul at the end of 2007. Feeling that most of the characters had run their course, the writers wrote out every character except Effy. This put significantly more pressure on Scodelario because it meant that she would be the most recognizable face for season three. As she waited for the new season of Skins (2007) to begin, she took advantage of her recent clout to seek out additional career opportunities. She joined the elite agency Models 1 and soon was featured as the cover model for SuperSuper Magazine. She made her feature film debut with a role in Moon (2009), starring Sam Rockwell as an astronaut suffering from surreal encounters while on the moon. With a blossoming film career and her successful TV series to fall back on, Kaya Scodelario is certainly someone to watch.
Trivia
Has family near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Is fluent in Portuguese.
At the age of 14 she decided to become an actress.
Was in a relationship with Jack O'Connell, while starring in Skins (2007), until 2009.
Was in a relationship with Elliott Tittensor from 2009 to 2014.
She was ranked #12 on Portrait Magazine's 'Top 30 Under 30' list (2013).
Was the face of J.Estina's 2012 Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter campaigns with Kim Soo-Hyun.
In 2012, she appeared in the music video for the song "Candy" by Robbie Williams.
Has a french bulldog named Arnie.
Is dyslexic.
She is a big fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Has a shared tattoo with ex-boyfriend, Elliott Tittensor, that says "our love is unique" in Portuguese. A year later, she was engaged to Benjamin Walker.
Has a tattoo that says "Ben" (the name of her actor husband Benjamin Walker) in cursive script on the inside of her left ring finger.
(December 17, 2015) Married her boyfriend of 20 months Benjamin Walker at New York City Hall following a 12-month-long engagement.
Her father was English. Her mother is Brazilian, and has Italian and Portuguese ancestry.
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 24, a son in November 2016. Child's father is her husband, Benjamin Walker.
She was 14 when she auditioned for Skins. But in order to increase her chances of getting noticed, she claimed to be 16 on the audition forms. After a while, she was about to leave, because she felt herself too young for the show. A producer of the show noticed her and encouraged her to stay for the audition anyways. However, she was not cast as Effy at first. Another actress got the part, and after she dropped out, Scodelario was cast.
Said that she does not speak a word English with her mother. Both are only conversing in Portuguese, which is her mother's native language.
Kaya usually keeps a piece of costume jewellery from each character she portrays. Her keepsakes include Effy's (Skins (2007)) rosary beads, a necklace from Spinning Out (2020), and a thin gold chain used in Wuthering Heights (2011). She insists jewellery is one of the most important parts of building a character.
Close friends with Skins (2007) co-actresses Kathryn Prescott, Megan Prescott, Klariza Clayton and Lily Loveless. Megan, Lily and Klariza were the bridesmaids at her wedding.
Was named after Kiaya Ufgood from the film Willow (1988).
Trademarks:
Big blue eyes
Slender figure
Husky voice
Quotes
I don't think that I could ever play just a 'pretty girlfriend' or just a stereotypical female part that's just there to get her tits out - that just doesn't interest me at all, really. I just want to keep pushing myself with every role and keep pushing myself with every film.
[on Skins (2007)] I felt there needed to be a show for teenagers that didn't make them feel judged. 'Skins' never tried to preach. It allowed young people to make their own decisions about what to do and whether it was right or wrong. Young people really respond to that, and that's what sets 'Skins' apart.
I like the idea of up-and-coming actors nowadays being a little different and not necessarily the drama-school stereotype, being a bit more edgy.
Growing up, I was obsessed with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is why my dog is called Arnie. His films were pure Hollywood to me and I've seen all of them more than 50 times. The Terminator (1984) is my favourite. I haven't met him - it would be too freaky, I think I'd faint, I love him too much.
The first school play I did was Oliver Twist, and I beat the boys to the part of Oliver. The hardest, scariest girl in the school came up to me and said, 'You're a good little actress, intcha?' And I was, like, 'Oh my God, she said something nice to me.' It felt incredible. As soon as I discovered drama, I had something to love that was mine.
My mom taught me at a very early age that beauty is not the most important thing in the world. Always be kind, polite, and humble and treat everyone around you with thanks. Because beauty does not last forever, but feelings do.
The most rewarding thing about playing Carina was that I got to portray an intelligent, multifaceted woman who had real depth to her. I hope that it will inspire not only little girls, but hopefully little boys as well-that an intelligent woman is not something to be feared or to be gawked at, but someone to revere and to admire, just like any other male character. I hope that the next generation will be used to seeing these types of characters and representations of women in film regularly.
I think what's great is that we are having this conversation about it now, because people aren't really speaking up about the fact that many actresses seem to be cast in roles older than they are, or have been told that they are too old for a role. The more we talk about it, the more people will realize that it does not need to be this way and that we can develop and create roles for women that are diverse in their breadth and depth. I hope to work long and hard for many many years and hopefully by the time when I'm in my 50's, we won't still see the age divide and these double standards in movies.
I don't go for roles that are two-dimensional. They are all layered and none of my roles are damsel in distresses, so it is really cool that we are starting to reflect that in the movies now. It is refreshing, but it's also becoming more and more common, which is great. We have really cool female roles at the moment, however I believe we still have a very long way to go and I'm proud and glad I get to be part of the change.
