Eline Powell (born Eline Pauwels,[1] 12 April 1990)[2] is a Belgian actress best known for playing the title role on the American TV series Siren.[3][4]
Early years and education
Powell is the daughter of Belgian pharmacologist Rudi Pauwels and clinical researcher Carine Claeys, who in 1994 were two of the co-founders of the biotech company Tibotec.[5] She was born in Leuven and lived in Mechelen until she was fourteen years old.[6] After a short stay in Switzerland, she moved to England,[6] but she has Belgian citizenship and considers Belgium her home.[1]
Powell started her career in a short student film For Elsie, where she played the role of Mila, a mobster's daughter who wants to learn the piano in one day. Her performance earned awards from the Beijing Student Film Festival and the Student Academy Awards, USA;[2] and the film's director, David Winstone, received the Foreign Film Gold Medal at the 39th Annual Student Academy Awards in 2012.[8]
In 2014, Powell played the title role in the Italian drama film Anita B. directed by Roberto Faenza, for which the 2014 Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival named her that year's Breakout Actress.[11][12]The Hollywood Reporter, on the other hand, criticized her performance as "ineffective.. failing to convey any traces of the suffering her character has obviously endured."[13]
In 2016, she appeared in two episodes[1] of Game of Thrones as Bianca, a young actress plotting to murder her rival.[14][15]
In August 2016, Powell was cast to star in the Freeform seriesSirenplaying Ryn, a feral mermaid who comes to a small coastal village in search of her sister.[18] To prepare for the role, Powell studied legends of mermaids and sea creatures.[19] To develop ideas for the mermaid's body language, she worked from videos of marine and other predators.[20][4][21] For the mermaid's newly learned speech, Powell was inspired by the accent of Icelandic singer Björk.[14] She also worked with a free diver to learn monofin techniques for underwater swimming and fast turns.[22]
Reviews of Siren were generally positive about Powell's performance,[23][24][25] with IndieWire saying, "Powell's ability to embody a being who is mainly a physical presence, yet fill it with wonder, fear, and menace without uttering a word, is magnetic."[26]The Tampa Bay Times praised her performance as one of "Siren's biggest strengths" (the other was its Pacific Northwest setting.)[27]TV Guide, on the other hand, reviewing the pilot, complained that Powell "looks weird...performs the act of staring weird, as though she's trying with all her might to pop her eyeballs out of her head through sheer will."[28]
Siren, which was the top new cable drama during spring 2018, was renewed in October for a second season, premiering on 24 January 2019.[29]
Personal life
In December 2018, Powell announced her engagement to British director and animator Lee Lennox.[30]
She announced her pregnancy on Instagram April 2021. She later gave birth to a girl in July 2021.[citation needed]
^ abVanselow, Arthur (24 July 2018). "Who is actress Eline Powell from "Siren"? Her Wiki: Siblings, Affair, Bio, Boyfriend, Dating, Single, Parents, Net Worth". Showbiz Post. Retrieved 23 January 2019. After RADA, Eline launched her career by starring in the short comedy-drama film "For Elsie" in 2011, next to Blake Ritson and Olegar Fedoro, actually also the directing debut of David Winstone. Eline won several awards for her work on the film, including Audience Award from the Beijing Student Film Festival, and Honorary Foreign Film Award from Student Academy Awards, USA, among others.
^ abVolpe, Allie (6 April 2018). "'Siren' Star Eline Powell on Embracing Physicality in Your Performance". Backstage. Retrieved 24 January 2019. It's a process where I sought to be creative with it. It hasn't been done before, at least that take on mermaids. I looked at a lot of different types of predators, mammals on land and in the sea.
^Bobbin, Jay (20 January 2019). "Powell dives into 'Siren' role". Boston Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2019. Her pharmacologist father founded a biotech company (with her mother) in their homeland and a molecular diagnostic company in Switzerland, and he has been a leading force in the treatment of the HIV virus.
^ abDebie, Eline (25 April 2018). "Vlaamse Eline Powell speelt hoofdrol in 'Siren': 'Maar ik sluit Belgische series zeker niet uit'". Flair. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019. Ik ben in 1990 in Leuven geboren en heb dan tot mijn 14 jaar in het Mechelse gewoond. Daarna even in Zwitserland, om vervolgens definitief naar Engeland te verhuizen. Daar ben ik aan mijn studie aan de Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Londen begonnen. (I was born in 1990 in Leuven and then lived in Mechelen until I was 14 years old. Then in Switzerland for a short while, and then permanently moved to England. That is where I started my studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.)
^French, Philip (5 January 2013). "Quartet – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2019. Dustin Hoffman ... makes his confident directorial debut at 75
^"Siren's Eline Powell – Early Film Appearances". Pixel51. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2019. Powell's character Angelique gives Cedric (Michael Gambon) a manicure, is a server in the dining hall, and has an assignation in the tall grass with co-worker Simon (Luke Newberry).
^ abScheck, Frank (28 April 2015). "'Anita B.': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 March 2018. The story begins with the title character (Eline Powell) arriving in a small town near Prague...
^ abcdTrapunsky, Charles (29 March 2018). "Interview: Siren's Eline Powell". BriefTake. Retrieved 24 January 2019. I wanted to find a slang or lilt or an accent so I tried out a few things, and I quite liked this one particular thing in Icelandic, the way Björk speaks, they have a quite a breathy pause after every consonant. That's not the whole Icelandic accent, but it's an aspect of it, and I thought it was so brilliant because Ryn uses breath a lot to be expressive.
^Chiapello, Juliette (29 March 2018). "Siren : qui est Eline Powell, la troublante sirène de la nouvelle série ?". Allocine. Retrieved 23 January 2019. Bianca, qui interprétait Sansa Stark, faisait alors appel aux assassins de Braavos afin qu'ils la débarrassent de sa rivale, et qu'elle puisse reprendre le rôle phare de Cersei Lannister. (Bianca, who played Sansa Stark, then called on the assassins of Braavos to rid her of her rival, so that she could take over the leading role of Cersei Lannister.)
^ abHannam, Laura (2 May 2018). "Siren star Eline Powell: 5 reasons to watch her new SYFY mermaid drama". BT.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019. She played scheming actress Bianca in Game of Thrones and a Syren in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. And she is now the star of SYFY drama Siren, a dark take on the mermaid fantasy theme.
^Tomada, Nathalie (25 January 2019). "Eline Powell: Interview with the Mermaid". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 25 January 2019. The first earliest mermaid mentioned in history books was Atargartis in Assyria, a thousand BC. In Africa, you have Mami Wata. I was looking at all different countries and their versions of mermaids.
^Crookes, Adam (12 April 2018). "Interview: Eline Powell – an actress at the height of her powers with 'Siren'". Crookes Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2019. I watched a lot of Blue Planet and looked at different predators, particularly mammals in the sea AND on land. I just played around and picked what I thought would work best.
^Clark, Terri (31 March 2018). "Exclusive Interview with Siren's Eline Powell". Talk Nerdy With Us. Retrieved 24 January 2019. I love the very quick movements of cheetahs that make people jump a bit... But I also love the fluidity of bigger mammals, like whales and orcas.
^Gross, Ed (29 March 2018). "It's Not Easy Being a Mermaid — Just Ask 'Siren' Stars Eline Powell and Alex Roe". Life and Style Magazine. Retrieved 4 September 2021. With Alex [Roe] commenting that the movement of the mermaid is very much Eline at work and not effects, she explains that when she got the job while in London, she had already begun training with a 'top level free diver' who had appropriate monofins, including really broad ones which are used in swimming competitions.
^Mason, Jessica (26 March 2018). "Review: Freeform's Mermaid Show, Siren, Is a Fresh Take on an Old Tail". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 26 January 2019. The biggest strength is in the lead performance by Powell as Ryn. Powell is not only unearthly in her look, but never lets us forget that Ryn is not human. She manages a balance of innocence and raw, animalistic danger that's fascinating to watch any time she's on the screen.
^"PIXEL 51's Ten Best Newfound Things of 2018". Pixel 51. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2019. Ryn reacts to some humans with anger tinged with hunger, to others with affection infused with a slight air of superiority. Accustomed to being at the top of the food chain, she does not find humans very threatening, but she does find them interesting. Watching this character develop was the highlight of the year.
^Nguyen, Han (29 March 2018). "'Siren' Review: A Murderous Mermaid Is the Only Thing Keeping Freeform's Tepid Series Afloat". IndieWire. Retrieved 24 January 2019. Powell's ability to embody a being who is mainly a physical presence, yet fill it with wonder, fear, and menace without uttering a word, is magnetic. Even when she begins to speak broken English, that can't diminish the intensity of her performance.
^Tatham, Chelsea (27 March 2018). "Review: The mermaids in 'Siren' don't want to be part of your world". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 24 January 2019. Siren's biggest strengths come from Powell's performance as an apex predator of lore and the show's Pacific Northwest setting — a popular backdrop for pulpy YA television.
^Surette, Tim (29 March 2018). "Siren's Strangeness Saves the Supernatural Genre From Drowning in Predictability". TV Guide. Retrieved 25 January 2019. I hope I can say this, she looks weird. And by "looks weird" I mean performs the act of staring weird, as though she's trying with all her might to pop her eyeballs out of her head through sheer will.
^"An Interview with Actor Sean Power – AmStarDam". Living on Fascination. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2021. The movie stars Belgian actress Eline Powell as Desiree. 'Eline has all the makings of a Hollywood starlet,' he says. 'She's like the next Holly Golightly, from the famous 1960's movie Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn. In AmStarDam Eline is the damsel in the bad guy's tower, who works for her uncle Eddie and his minions.'
