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As production began on “Rise of the Tomb Raider”, the highly anticipated sequel to “Tomb Raider (2013)”, Luddington dabbled in other voice acting, playing Supergirl in the DC multiplayer battle game “Infinite Crisis”.
In 2017, she voiced superhero magician Zatanna in DC Comics’ animated film “Justice League Dark” and began working on the conclusion to Lara Croft’s origin story “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” soon after the birth of her first child. During this time, she portrayed the character of Beth Turner in the murder mystery podcast series “The Angel of Vine”.
CAMILLA LUDDINGTON | THE BRIT WHO TOOK AMERICA BY STORM
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As we eagerly await to see what the future holds for the “Tomb Raider” games, I’m looking back at the career of the most recent Lara Croft, Camilla Luddington, and how the young Bracknell-born actress rose to stardom in American television. All of which intertwined with playing one of the biggest figures in gaming.
Luddington’s love of acting began as the very young age of 4 when she won a local talent show. She later took acting classes at South Hill Park and signed with her first talent agent at age 11.
She was educated at The Marist School for girls before moving on to The American School in London.
After spending a year in Texas when her Father was posted there for work and six months in Pennsylvania for university, she went onto study screen acting at the New York Film Academy.
In her early 20s, Luddington made the decision to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.
While waitressing, she worked on several independent projects including “A Couple of White Chicks at the Hairdresser” - a short film starring Harry Shearer, Shelly Long and Deborah Theacker, “Behaving Badly” and a series pilot sizzle reel titled “Serving Time”.
Luddington also co-wrote and co-directed “The Filming of Shakey Willis” which was officially selected at the “LA Comedy Festival” and won the award for “Best TV/Web Series” at “QuirkFest”.
Her first television role was Emma Clark in an episode of “The Forgotten” in 2010. She also appeared in “CSI” and “Days of Our Lives” that same year.
Towards the end of 2010, around the age of 26, Luddington was chosen to portray a brand new reimagined version of a video game character that had become a pop culture icon, Lara Croft. However, she would not be officially announced until the development was near completion in early 2012.
Helping to shape and create this Lara for a new generation who was humanised, younger and untested, she would be the first actress to provide the performance capture for cutscenes as well as the voice and be at the start of an entire franchise reboot. One that would bleed into comics, novels and Hollywood films.
2011 was the breakthrough year for Luddington as she became widely recognised for her portrayal of Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge in “Lifetime”’s made-for-TV film, “William & Kate”.
Inspired by the early years of the Duchess’s relationship with Prince William and released in the lead up to the couple’s wedding, it attracted global attention and remains one of the American network’s most successful films to date.
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| Camilla Luddington (Kate Middleton) and Nico Evers-Swindell in “William & Kate”. |
On the back of that, she soon booked roles on “Californication” and “True Blood”.
Following the release of “Tomb Raider” in March 2013, the game received many accolades and the new level of emotion Luddignton brought to Lara Croft earned her three award nominations - a “Spike Video Game Award” nomination for “Best Voice Actress”, a “NAVGTR” (National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers) nomination for “Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama” and a “Behind The Voice Actors” nomination for “Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Video Game”.
It was, however, her role as Dr. Jo Wilson in the long standing medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, originally intended to be a recurring role for a few episodes, that would cement her status as one of the most recognisable faces on American television. It was then that she left her job as a waitress and she is now in her tenth year of playing the character.
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| Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson in “Grey’s Anatomy” 2012/2021. |
As production began on “Rise of the Tomb Raider”, the highly anticipated sequel to “Tomb Raider (2013)”, Luddington dabbled in other voice acting, playing Supergirl in the DC multiplayer battle game “Infinite Crisis”.
She also made her horror debut as June Abbott in “The Pact II” which she starred in alongside the Arrowverse’s Caity Lotz.
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| Camilla Luddington (June Abbott) and Caity Lotz (Annie Barlow) in “The Pact II”. |
“Rise of the Tomb Raider” swept up more awards upon it’s release in 2015, becoming one of the most successful in franchise history and after being nominated a second time, Luddington received the “Behind the Voice Actors” award for “Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Video Game”.
That same year, Luddington starred in another TV film called “The Healer” alongside Oliver Jackson-Cohen (“The Invisible Man”, “Emerald City”) and Jonathan Pryce.
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| Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Alec Bailey), Kaitlyn Bernard (Abigail) and Camilla Luddington (Cecilia) on set of “The Healer” in Nova Scotia. |
In 2017, she voiced superhero magician Zatanna in DC Comics’ animated film “Justice League Dark” and began working on the conclusion to Lara Croft’s origin story “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” soon after the birth of her first child. During this time, she portrayed the character of Beth Turner in the murder mystery podcast series “The Angel of Vine”.
At the age of 34, Camilla Luddington recorded her last ADR lines for “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” just before the game’s showcase at E3 2018. Her final performance as the character won her the “Gamer’s Choice” award for “Fan Favourite Female Voice Actor”.
Now a dual citizen in the US, her career continues to grow and it’s lovely to see.
With Hayley Atwell taking on Lara Croft’s character for the upcoming animated Netflix series “Tomb Raider” and the previous four voice actresses - Shelley Blond, Judith Gibbins, Jonell Elliott and Keeley Hawes - returning for the mobile game “Tomb Raider: Reloaded”, it’s unclear if Luddington’s connection to the franchise will continue. However, she has stated in interviews that she would always be happy to return.
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