Born in Paddington, London, England on August 9, 1976, Rhona Mitra is the daughter of Nora and Anthony Mitra. In 1984, Rhona Mitra's parents got divorced and, as part of an overall lifestyle change, 8-year-old Rhona Mitra was sent off to boarding school. Several years passed at two different all-girls schools, but Rhona Mitra and her energetic spirit were not fit for the discipline those English establishments offered, and she was subsequently expelled from both of them.
A teenager back in London, Rhona Mitra lacked direction and became involved with the wrong crowd. She was enveloped in the club scene and developed a drug habit that tied into the all-night and day raves she attended. Four years passed before she finally realized that her yearning to act and be in the public eye could not be ignored. Turning her life around, she attended drama school for one year.
With newly acquired acting skills, she hit the British casting calls with much fervor, landing a one-time appearance in the series Ghostbusters of East Finchley in 1995. Rhona Mitra's career continued to progress when she filmed her first movie, Monk Dawson, the following year, although it was only released in 1998. It was her appearance as a mischievous schoolgirl in the three-part miniseries The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous that really established her as a budding young talent.
After the encouragement of friends and family, who always claimed she had a likeness to a certain butt-kicking video game character, Rhona Mitra auditioned and received the part of Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider action series. As Croft, she attended trade shows and participated in media events, always in character. In fact, she had breast enlargement surgery to further her image as a true Croft look-alike.
Further showing off her skills, Rhona Mitra cut tracks for the video game's soundtrack along with Dave Stewart, formerly of the Eurythmics. The whirlwind of shows, rabid fans and crazy e-mail requests lasted nine months, enough to establish a solid background for Rhona Mitra in the United States.
Rhona Mitra's first major leading role post-Croft came in 1999's Beowulf, alongside Christopher Lambert. She was featured prominently in the trailor for the film Hollow Man, but actually had a bit part in the movie, making it clear that she served as eye candy to reel in audiences.
Rhona Mitra had a more prominent role in several episodes of FOX's Party of Five as Holly, a British medical student romantically involved with "Bailey" (played by Scott Wolf). Throw in some spreads for some men's magazines and Rhona Mitra became one highly publicized fox.
In 2000, Rhona Mitra landed a permanent role on the ABC medical drama Gideon's Crossing, but unfortunately, the show tanked after one season. The bigger highlight that year came with the release of Get Carter, in which she shared a steamy love scene with Sylvester Stallone. Returning to England, Rhona Mitra appeared in Ali G Indahouse starring (of course) Sacha Bron Cohen aka Ali G, the popular gangsta comedian. Her role in 2002's moneymaking romantic comedy, Sweet Home Alabama, is evidence that she was slowly but surely breaking into Hollywood circles.
In 2003, Rhona Mitra had roles in The Life of David Gale, starring Kevin Spacey, and Highwaymen, starring James Caviezel. She also appeared in Stuck On You with Matt Damon and was on the TV drama The Practice. In 2005, Rhona Mitra has a reoccuring role on Season 3 of the hit show Nip/Tuck. Then, in '06, she was in the Canadian horror-action film Skinwalkers.
Finally, in 2007, Rhona Mitra began appearing in some blockbuster hits alongside some of Hollywood's most accomplished actors. She was in the flick The Number 23 with Jim Carrey and Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg.
Rhona Mitra's 2008 movie credits included the British science fiction film Doomsday and The Boy in the Box, and her '09 flick Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, the third installment of the Underworld series.
