Tamzin Merchant
Merchant in 2011
Born
Tamzin Claire Merchant

(1987-03-04) 4 March 1987 (age 39)
Haywards Heath, Sussex, England
Alma mater Homerton College, Cambridge
Occupations Actress and author
Years active 2004–present

Tamzin Claire Merchant[1] (born 4 March 1987)[2] is an English actress and author. She is most notable for her roles as Georgiana Darcy in the film Pride & Prejudice (2005), as Catherine Howard in The Tudors (2009–2010) and as Anne Hale in Salem (2014–2017).

Early life

Merchant was born 4 March 1987,[2] in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England.[3][better source needed] She was educated at Windlesham House School and Brighton College,[4][5] although she has also lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[4] After twice deferring university places to concentrate on her acting career, she eventually studied English and Drama with Education at Homerton College, Cambridge.[5]

Career

Merchant's early credits include Margo Durrell in the 2005 BBC television film My Family and Other Animals and Georgiana Darcy in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice.[1] In 2006 she appeared in two more BBC dramas, as Sara Fox, the daughter of Alan Davies and Michelle Gomez, in the comedy The Good Housekeeping Guide, and as Probationer Eastwood in the historical drama Casualty 1900s.

In 2007, while studying at the University of Cambridge, she performed in an audio production of Lady Windermere's Fan as Lady Agatha, while in 2008 she appeared in the ensemble drama Radio Cape Cod in which she plays a summer theatre camper. She appears in the music video for Jamie T's "If You've Got The Money" and in Belle and Sebastian's "Nobody's Empire". In 2009, she played Alice Davies in Princess Kaiulani.[6]

She was cast playing Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, in the third-season and its finale and features heavily in several episodes of the fourth (and final) season of The Tudors (2009).[2][6]

Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of the HBO series Game of Thrones,[6] based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels. The pilot was poorly received, and as a result the first episode was completely remade. Merchant was replaced in her role as Daenerys by Emilia Clarke.[7]

She played Miranda in the DCI Banks episodes "Playing with Fire - Part 1" and "Playing with Fire - Part 2". In early 2012, Merchant played the 17-year-old Rosa Bud in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood.[6]

Merchant was a series regular for 3 seasons of Salem on WGN America from 2014 to 2017.[8]

In 2019 Merchant was cast as a series regular on the Amazon Prime series Carnival Row.[9] The series premiered on 30 August and was renewed for a second season.[10]

In 2020, she starred as Lucy the lead role in the multi-award winning short film Gifts of the Heart, for which she won The Cutting Room International Short Film Festival Best Actress in a Short (CRISFF Award).[11]

In 2025, she starred alongside John Malkovich, Sean Bean, Miranda Richardson, and Anton Lesser in the biographical drama film: The Yellow Tie.[12]

Other work

She wrote the 2021 children's book The Hatmakers.[13]

Filmography

[6]

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Pride & Prejudice Georgiana Darcy
2008 Radio Cape Cod Anna
2009 Princess Kaiulani Alice Davies
2011 Jane Eyre Mary Rivers
Red Faction: Origins Lyra Mason
2012 Second Wind Anna
2014 Copenhagen Sandra
2015 Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse Rhonu Direct-to-video film
The Messenger Sarah
2016 The Dancer Kate
2017 Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire Queen Rhonu Direct-to-video film
2020 Running Naked Sara
2020 Gifts of the Heart Lucy Short film [11]
2022 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena
James and Lucia Helen Fleischmann-Joyce
2025 The Yellow Tie Ortancia [12]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2005 My Family and Other Animals Margo Durrell Television film
2006 The Good Housekeeping Guide Sara Fox
Casualty 1906 Probationer Eastwood
2008 Bonekickers Helena Episode: "Army of God"
2009–2010 The Tudors Catherine Howard Main role (seasons 3–4), 6 episodes [2]
2009 Game of Thrones Daenerys Targaryen Unaired pilot[14]
2011 Red_Faction: Origins Lyra Television film
DCI Banks Miranda Aspern Episodes: "Playing with Fire - Part 1", "Playing with Fire - Part 2"
2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood Rosa Bud Television film (2 parts)
2013 Murder on the Home Front Molly Cooper Television film
2014–2017 Salem Anne Hale Main role
Nominated—Fangoria Chainsaw Award - Best TV Supporting Actress (2017)[15]
2017 Supergirl Lyra Strayd Recurring role, 5 episodes
2019 Thanks for the Memories Joyce Conway 2 episodes (the entire film)
2019–2023 Carnival Row Imogen Spurnrose Main role [16]
2023 Tom Jones Aunt Harriet 4 episodes

Music videos

Year Title Artist
2006 "If You Got the Money" Jamie T
2007 "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" Groove Armada feat Mutya Buena
2014 "Nobody's Empire" Belle and Sebastian

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Hay Fever Jackie Queens' College, Cambridge
2008 Dahling You Were Marvellous Sister 3, Hanger-on ADC Theatre
2009 Breakfast at Night Chorus ADC Theatre
2009 The 24hr Plays Group 1 Producer ADC Theatre
2010 Cigarettes and Chocolate Gemma ADC Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best TV Supporting Actress Salem Nominated [15][17]
2017 Oxford International Film Festival (OXIFF) Best Screenplay Juliet Remembered Won [17]
2020 Global Independent Film Awards Best Actress in a Lead Role (Bronze) Gift of the Heart (short) Nominated [17][11]
2020 The Cutting Room International Short Film Festival Best Actress in a Short (CRISFF Award) Gift of the Heart (short) Won [17][11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tamzin Merchant Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "A 'Tudors' tutorial". New York Daily News. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Tamzin Merchant: The Multi-Talented British Actress and Author". primeheadlines.co.uk. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Tamzin Merchant". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Record Oxbridge Success". Brighton College. 28 June 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Tamzin Merchant Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  7. ^ Hall, Jacob (4 February 2016). "'Game of Thrones' Showrunners Get Honest About the Awful Pilot They Had to Reshoot". Slash Film. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (1 November 2013). "Shane West Set As Male Lead of WGN America's 'Salem', Tamzin Merchant Cast as Female Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (22 September 2017). "'Carnival Row': Amazon Adds Four To Cast of Fantasy Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  10. ^ Massabrook, Nicole (1 September 2019). "Will 'Carnival Row' Return For Season 2? Renewal, Cancellation Details". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d "Gift of the Heart". giftsoftheheartfilm.com. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  12. ^ a b "The Yellow Tie". filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  13. ^ Hibberd, James. "Tamzin Merchant on The Hatmakers and Carnival Row season 2 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  14. ^ Hibberd, James (28 January 2021). "Tamzin Merchant breaks silence on playing Daenerys in original Game of Thrones pilot". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  15. ^ a b "Never mind Oscar, here's the 2017 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Nominees Ballot!". FANGORIA®. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  16. ^ Petski, Denise (22 September 2017). "'Carnival Row': David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Indira Varma & Tamzin Merchant Join Amazon's Fantasy Drama Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  17. ^ a b c d "Tamzin Merchant Awards". imdb.com (Index source only). Retrieved 25 December 2025.
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