Entertainment

Peaky Blinders' Annabelle Wallis: Growing up abroad shaped who I am

The actress grew up in Portugal.
The actress grew up in Portugal. The actress grew up in Portugal.

Peaky Blinders actress Annabelle Wallis believes growing up outside the UK gave her a “bigger world to learn from”.

The 32-year-old was born in Oxford but spent most of her childhood in Portugal, where she attended an international school.

She told The Sun On Sunday: “It was a real outdoor lifestyle. A lot of sports, paintballing and motocross riding with my brother.

Annabelle Wallis
Annabelle Wallis
Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis filming the Graham Norton Show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

“We travelled a lot, and my mother always encouraged us to be very independent, which has really helped me.

She added: “Growing up in Portugal very much shaped who I am.

“It’s given me a ­much bigger world to learn from. I went to international school. I had 42 different nationalities in my year and only 44 kids.

“When new kids came in from other countries you would adapt your voice so you could help them.”

Annabelle Wallis
Annabelle Wallis
Annabelle Wallis (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The Tudors star remained tight-lipped with the newspaper about her reported relationship with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, but said she had “nothing to hide”.

Annabelle added: “It’s just that when you have people in your life that you care about, you get very protective of them.

“And it’s not about you any more, it’s about other people, and the ones you love are the ones you protect like a lioness.”