Rachel Clare Hurd-Wood (born 17 August 1990) is an English actress and model, best known for her roles as Wendy Darling in the 2003 film Peter Pan, Corrie McKenzie in 2010's Tomorrow, When the War Began, and Sibyl Vane in 2009's Dorian Gray.

Biography

Background
Hurd-Wood was born in the Streatham district of South London, England, the daughter of Philip and Sarah Hurd-Wood. She lived in London till the age of eight, when she and her family moved to a Victorian cottage at the edge of a leafy forest in Godalming, Surrey. She moved back to London into a shared flat for pursuing her degree in linguistics at University College London at the age of eighteen. She moved into her own house in London just before her 21st birthday. She has a younger brother, Patrick who appeared with her in Peter Pan as one of the sleeping children in the "I Do Believe In Fairies" scene. He also plays the role of Samuel Crowthorn alongside his sister in her later film, Solomon Kane in which she plays Meredith Crowthorn. Her father's work involves performing, writing scripts and doing voice-overs for commercials. He appears in one of her films, An American Haunting, as one of the guests in the Christmas party scene towards the beginning of the film. She joined a drama club in her school and took part in its stage production during her second year. Hurd-Wood dispelled the false rumour that her uncle is Hugh Laurie in a 2009 September–October interview for the magazine Little White Lies: The An Education Issue and then again in a 2010 live Myspace web chat for the film Tomorrow, When the War Began. "My uncle lives in Wales and is an artist", she says.


Education
Hurd-Wood attended Rodborough Technology College in Milford, Surrey from 2001 to 2006 for her GCSEs with Art, English Literature, Psychology and Philosophy as subjects. She had tutored lessons during the filming of Peter Pan in Australia during 2002 to 2003 as her work lasted for a span of 8 to 9 months. She later attended sixth-form Godalming College from 2006 to 2008 to study for her GCE Advanced Levels with Art, Psychology and Philosophy as subjects. Hurd-Wood had considered becoming a marine biologist because of her love for dolphins. She gave up on the idea when she discovered that it would require studying science because she thought she was not very good at it. She became interested in working with children who have special needs or disabilities. Hurd-Wood studied linguistics from 2008 at University College London, having completed her first year in 2009, but left the course incomplete before travelling to Australia for the filming of Tomorrow, When the War Began, when she decided to focus entirely on her career in acting.


Charity support
Hurd-Wood signed for World Famous StarCards, a charity supporting the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children's Charity, at the world charity premiere of the movie Peter Pan in London on 9 December 2003. Her autographed card was auctioned in 2009. It tops the chart for the most popular signing, according to Paul Brett, founder of the StarCards charity.

Hurd-Wood along with other celebrity supporters of the charity Shooting Star CHASE, Keeley Hawes, Matthew MacFadyen and Max Clifford joined more than 50 children with life-limiting illnesses and their families for the event on Sunday, 20 December 2009. The charity worked with Coca-Cola and the Merlin Group, which runs Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and the London Eye, to transform Christopher’s (CHASE) Hospice in Guildford, Surrey into a winter wonderland and gave the children at hospice a wonderful Christmas surprise.

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