Hayley Elizabeth Atwell is a British-American actress. She is known for her work in stage productions, such as A View from the Bridge, and onscreen, for period pieces, such as the 2008 drama The Duchess, the 2010 historical drama miniseries The Pillars of the Earth and for her portrayal of Peggy Carter in various films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the lead role in the ABC action-adventure series Agent Carter. Seven years after meeting television writer Gabriel Bisset-Smith at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Atwell began a long-term relationship with him. In a December 2012 interview, by which time the relationship had ended, Atwell expressed regret about being as open as she was in interviews about the relationship, saying, “We were friends for seven years before we started a relationship and now we’re friends again. I didn’t plan that at all – I’m not some amazing ex-girlfriend at all”. As of 2010 Atwell lived in a flat in the Primrose Hill area of London. In 2015, she moved to Los Angeles to be close to the production of Agent Carter, although still retained her personal base in London. During the filming of Captain America: The First Avenger in 2010, Atwell took a three-month course in art history and haiku at the Open University.
