Rachel Hurd-Wood Profile

Profile last updated 14th July 08

The Basics

Age:17

Birthday: August 17th 1990

Height: 5 ft 7

Siblings: Younger Brother; Patrick

Location: Surrey, England

Represented by: Conor McCaughan, at Troika Talent


Claim To Fame?

Rachel starred as Wendy in the 2003 live action film of Peter Pan, along side Jeremy Sumpter who played Peter.

The film was released on Christmas day, 2003, unfortunately around the same time as box office smash Lord Of The Rings, which explains why Peter Pan was not very much of a box office hit. It was, however, the first live action feature film to actually have a boy play Peter, and is by far the most accurate adaptation of J. M Barrie's original story yet. 

To find out more about the film, we suggest a visit to this Peter Pan Resource Site.

So How Did She Get The Role?

There was a world-wide search for the right girl to play the character of Wendy. The Peter Pan producers held open auditions for the characters of Wendy, Curly and the Twins. For interesting experiences from girls auditioning, why not read a CBBC report here. You can find another similar article here.

"She [Rachel] found out about the part after her grandparents saw an advert on television. They contacted Rachel's mother and when she came home from school one day her mother started measuring her, when she found Rachel was in the height requirements, she said Rachel could audition." Source

After a few screen tests and meeting Jeremy Sumpter, her co-actor, Rachel landed her first ever film  role. "It's like a dream ... one minute I am walking across the playground to maths and next, I'm flying to Hollywood to meet the world's press." Source

What Else?

Rachel worked on a TV Drama, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stockings (2004). This appeared on British BBC Television, and Rachel had a role of a kidnapped girl called Imogen Helhoughton. She survives the kidnappers attempted murder and her performance is highly emotional. Rachel's scenes can be viewed on YouTube here. 



Rachel has also appeared in An American Haunting (2006) in which she played the haunted female lead Betsy Bell. The role was originally intended for a girl of about 20, as it's a very physically demanding role. Betsy is slapped as well as pulled and dragged about by her hair as result of the 'ghost', but when Rachel read the script she knew she had to get the role.

 "I'd read many scripts but as soon I started to read An American Haunting I couldn't put it down. As soon as I finished the last page, I was shaking, I was so scared and the ending of the screenplay took me by surprise and really shocked me. I called my agent right away because I really wanted to do this role." 

"The director, Courtney, wanted somebody perhaps older to play the role but I thought, if I have to fight hard in order to get this it will be worth it and it definitely has been." Source

The film, which is based on "true" events, was heavily criticised by critics for not taking the horror movie genre to new levels. However they highly rated the performances from the cast, especially Rachel, who gave an emotionally tough performance.  

Rachel then appeared as Laure Richis in Perfume: Story of  Murderer released October 2006.  The film is based on the best-selling German novel "Das Parfum" by Patrick Süskind, which is why the offical site is German.

 A brief plot outline of the unusual film revolving around the world of scents and perfumes: "Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with no smell, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent."

Rachel appears as the 'ultimate scent' that the murderer, played by Ben Wishaw, wishes to add to his collection, based on the 'smell' of innocence and beauty. The author originally claimed the film to be 'unfilmable' due to the obvious need to visualize smells. However, the film is a fantastic adaptation of the original novel. 

Rachel is perfect playing the "innocent young beauty" but we would love to see her in something modern. It seems that she cannot escape from 'period' films, and although she is lovely, Rachel always seem stuck in the 'damsel in distress' roles, usually involving only her nightgown for attire! We hope to see more variety from this wonderful actress soon.

What Next?

Although Rachel has been rumored to be involved in certain projects, in a 2006 December interview with Esther Walker before the release of Perfume, Rachel commented:

"I'm not going to pull out of college to pursue some big celebrity lifestyle because if no films come along, then you're in trouble. If another perfect role comes along, then, sure, I'll do it, but it hasn't." Does she have any interest in being on TV or on stage? "No, definitely not," she says of treading the boards. "You have to be so ..." she waves her arms, "big."

So not alot is lined up for Rachel, as she's focusing on her studies. She is however taking part in another period film, Solomon Kane, which is due to be released in 2009. She is credited to play Meredith Crowthorn, and therefore has been filming in Prague in January 2008. Hopefully more on this new production soon!

Other Facts

Has a long term boyfriend from Norway. "I’m good with my boyfriend. He’s not in the [acting] business. He’s just a normal guy. He lived in Norway. He’s English. One of my best friends, James, their mothers went to college together so I met him through James. We’ve been going out for over nine months." Source  

Her father, Philip Hurd-Wood, is a screenwriter, voiceover artist, and actor so Rachel was not completely new to the industry as it might be thought.

Rachel has wanted to be a Marine biologist for a long time, and dislikes celebrity life - she's surprisingly down to earth.

She loathes the pretentiousness associated with the profession (acting). "I can't believe what they make people do on the drama course at college," she says witheringly. "Obscene stuff to get them to 'loosen up' and all that 'Be a tree, be a frog'. All a bit ridiculous." Source

Rachel In The Galleries

There are too many pictures of Rachel for me to hold in my gallery, but there are lots of excellent photo galleries online dedicated to Rachel. For a list of Rachel Fansites click here. Check these out:

Rachel Hurd-Wood.Org Gallery

Rachel Hurd-Wood Web Gallery

Credits For This Page

Images from Rachel Hurd-Wood.Org and Rachel-HW.net

Resources include IMDB , Rachel Hurd-Wood.Org, Newsround

I wrote this page using all the linked sources. This means you can too, so please no copying.