Naomie Harris adds another gold star to her résumé this week in Swan Song, a sci-fi movie co-starring Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, and Glenn Close that premieres today (December 17) on Apple TV+. You surely know Harris for her Oscar-nominated performance in Moonlight, playing the iconic Moneypenny in the Bond movies, and her recent blockbuster turn in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. But, here are a few things you might not know about her yet.
1. Her mother is a healer who has also worked as a screenwriter.
Carmen Harris, who emigrated from Jamaica to London as a child, wrote 26 episodes of the BBC's flagship soap opera EastEnders between 1994 and 2002. She also wrote for another British soap opera, Channel 5's Family Affairs, and the iconic BBC children's drama series Grange Hill.
2. As a child, Naomie took her first acting lessons at the renowned Anna Scher Theatre in north London.
This extracurricular performing arts school is known for teaching improvisation and giving opportunities to kids from working-class backgrounds. Fellow alumni include Daniel Kaluuya, Dexter Fletcher, and Kathy Burke, plus EastEnders stars Patsy Palmer, Tameka Empson, and Jake Wood.
3. She made her professional debut at age 11 in the BBC kids' drama series Simon and the Witch.
Harris appeared in 12 episodes of the late-'80s series about a boy who – you've guessed it – makes friends with a witch. Catch her in action below.
4. At age 11, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine.
"The progression of the disease became severe in my teens, and I needed an operation," Harris told Shape magazine. "Doctors inserted a metal rod down my spine. I spent a month in the hospital recovering and had to learn how to walk again. It was really traumatic."
Explaining how the disease affected her outlook on life, she added: "I saw kids in the hospital with scoliosis so advanced that they would never be able to stand properly. I felt really lucky. Since then, I have always appreciated the gift of a healthy body."
5. She has been sober her whole life.
Harris told Health magazine that her early experience with scoliosis "is the reason I don’t drink alcohol and never experimented with drugs or anything like that," adding: “I always felt the most important thing for me is health.”
6. She takes a sanguine view of the notorious Oscars mix-up involving her film Moonlight.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Harris said she was "glued to her seat in shock" as it was happening – until one of the movie's producers finally dragged her on stage. She also described the mix-up as "kind of cool" because there has "never been a moment like that before or since at the Oscars."
7. She studied social and political sciences at Cambridge University, and believes this has aided her career.
"Although it was not a particularly pleasant experience, Cambridge has always been helpful for me," Harris told Tatler magazine, according to The Times. "As an actor, a lot of the rooms I’ve been in are with people who’ve been there or to Oxford. Y’know, they might be a completely different generation to me, but it’s a point of connection. That may well be the reason why I’ve got a job over someone else. I really believe that sometimes happens.”
Harris also suggested that her Cambridge degree may have helped her to overcome sexism in her career, adding: "I’m not saying this is the way things should be. But people do perceive you differently as a result of having gone there, I think, particularly as a woman in this industry, it helps to have that. People assume, ‘Oh. She’s got a brain.’”
8. However, insidious racism affected her university life.
"For a long-time, my experience at Cambridge and the sense of alienation that I experienced there, I put down to class, rather than racism," Harris told Glamour. "It’s only in later life that I’ve looked back on that and I’ve thought, ‘How do class and race intercept?’ The two go hand in hand. This period has made me reflect on my experiences growing up – and so much that I discounted as not being racist, I look back on now and I think, ‘it probably was.’”
Discussing the privilege she witnessed at the prestigious English university, Harris added: "I was confronted with people from completely different backgrounds to mine, who would talk about going skiing with mummy and daddy in the holidays. And I was like, ‘What’s skiing?’ My parents took me to Butlin’s [holiday camp].” 
9. She credits Danny Boyle, who cast her in his 2002 zombie movie 28 Days Later, with helping to kickstart her adult acting career. 
“When I was a child actor, I got everything that I ever went up for, so I’d never heard ‘no’, really." Harris told The Guardian. “I expected the adult profession to be pretty similar, and then I couldn’t get employed at all.”
10. She is prepared to turn down a nude scene even if it costs her a role.
"I was offered this role by Michael Mann – one of the hugest directors of all time – and he wanted me to do this nude scene in Miami Vice," Harris told Glamour. "I’ve always said, that’s one of the things, from the very start of my career is, ‘I don’t do nudity.’ That’s a line for me that I don’t cross. He said, ‘Well, if you don’t do nudity, then you can’t have this role.’ So, I said, ‘OK, I’m not going to do this role.’"
Thankfully, Harris’s resolve would ultimately pay off. "My team thought I was insane and said, ‘What? This is Michael Mann. This is such a huge opportunity in your career,'" Harris continued. "But I was willing to walk away from it and, thankfully, Michael Mann changed his mind and said, ‘OK, that’s fine. You can have the role.’”
Have we missed out something interesting about Naomie Harris?