When Kate Moss comes calling, it's advisable to answer.
For Ellie Bamber, the call came with an irresistible offer - the chance to play said supermodel in a forthcoming biopic, focusing on her now iconic collaboration with celebrated figurative painter Lucian Freud.
Moss was 28-years old and well established as one of Britain's most successful fashion models when Freud painted her in the nude, an arduous nine-month project carried out at the artist's Holland Park home in 2002.
The painting would be sold privately for £3.5million some three years later, but its waif-like subject and her relationship with Freud will be reenacted for a wider audience in a forthcoming film.
Directed by James Lucas, the appropriately titled Moss & Freud will feature rising star Bamber as the supermodel in what could arguably be her most challenging role to date.
Ellie Bamber is gearing up for the biggest role of her career after being cast as supermodel Kate Moss in new biopic Moss & Freud (the actress is pictured as Moss on set)
The actress famously dated Game Of Thrones and Bodyguard star Richard Madden for 18-months between 2017 and 2019 (pictured in September 2018)
The task at hand is all the more daunting given she was handpicked by Moss, but those charting her career - including the supermodel, a self-confessed fan - will know the role is in safe hands.
Born in Surrey to investment banker father David and mother Zoe - who now works as her manager - Bamber developed a keen interest in acting from the age of 12 after being inspired by her drama teacher at Hawley Place School, now Hurst Lodge School, in Berkshire.
Mainstream success would soon follow, with the then 15-year old starring alongside Cold Feet star Hermione Norris and Martin Clunes in 2012 miniseries A Mother's Son.
It would be the first of many carefully chosen TV roles, with Bamber taking another small part in The Musketeers before emerging as a star in her own right with the lead in a 2018 adaptation of Les Misérables.
The actress would play Cosette in an ensemble cast featuring Dominic West, David Oyelowo, Lily Collins and Derek Jacobi - who reunites with Bamber by playing the enigmatic Freud in her latest film.
By then her personal life was winning as many headlines as her professional endeavors, with Bamber embarking on a relationship with Scottish actor Richard Madden in 2017.
Madden had already established himself as a household name thanks to a prominent role as the ultimately doomed Robb Stark in HBO drama Game Of Thrones.
It was inevitable then, that the spotlight would intensify as Bamber made sporadic public appearances with the actor during an 18-month romance, during which he enjoyed further success in BBC drama Bodyguard.
Bamber was 15-years old when she starred alongside Cold Feet star Hermione Norris and Martin Clunes in 2012 miniseries A Mother's Son (pictured)
Much like supermodel Moss, the British actress has a keen interest in fashion (pictured at The Fashion Awards in December 2022)
Hollywood beckoned in 2016, with Bamber winning the biggest role of her career in designer and director Tom Ford's thriller Nocturnal Animals (pictured)
A critical success, the film - aided by the talents of Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams - exposed Bamber (pictured in 2023) to a wider audience, and inevitably bigger roles
By then she was making her own mark, having been cast in big screen gothic horror Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Hollywood would soon beckon, with Bamber winning the biggest role of her career in designer and director Tom Ford's 2016 thriller Nocturnal Animals.
Speaking to ES magazine the following year, the starlet confessed Ford was truly 'incredible' on set, in terms of both vision and direction.
'I remember we had meetings with him and I would have an hour's session with him and talk about things like the accent,' she recalled.
'Obviously he's from Texas, so he was able to give me a clear idea of what my own character's upbringing was like. He was great with the direction, giving me notes.
'He would say, "Okay we need to work on that, we need to work on this. Let's get that together."'
The actress played Angela Knippenberg in The Serpent, a dramatization of serial killer Charles Sobraj and his murderous rampage across south-east Asia in the 1970s
She also took a starring role in the 2019 film Extracurricular Activities (pictured)
By January 2019 her relationship with Madden was over after the couple experienced a rocky patch during which they 'argued every day'
Bamber later admitted that therapy has helped her cope with personal and professional setbacks - among them her split with Madden (pictured at Paris Fashion Week in 2023)
A critical success, the film - aided by the talents of Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams - exposed Bamber to a wider audience, and inevitably bigger roles.
They would include an exciting role at the Donmar Warehouse in Ibsen's play, The Lady From The Sea, a project that enabled Bamber to broaden her portfolio as a talented stage actress.
By January 2019 her relationship with Madden was over after the couple experienced a rocky patch during which they 'argued every day.'
A source told The Sun: 'They were arguing almost daily towards the end and, despite considering couples' therapy, it became evident there were far too many issues that could not be fixed.
'Richard is the toast of Hollywood at the moment, and understandably wants to let his hair down.
'Ellie is a bit quieter, and wants to focus purely on her work. It felt like their day-to-day lives were increasingly becoming worlds apart.'
the style-conscious star has previously worked as an ambassador for Chanel (pictured at a Chanel Haute Couture fashion show in 2020)
Her rapidly developing career would include an accurate portrayal of the late model and showgirl Mandy Rice-Davies in The Trial of Christine Keeler - a BBC drama documenting the Profumo Affair and its eventual fallout (pictured alongside Sophie Cookson as Keeler)
Bamber pictured on This Morning (left) and Mandy Rice-Davies in the late sixties (right)
Bamber played Cosette in a TV adaptation of Les Misérables (pictured alongside one of two young actresses cast as a young Cosette)
Bamber later admitted that therapy has helped her cope with personal and professional setbacks - among them her split with Madden.
She told The Sunday Times' Style magazine: 'Therapy has definitely helped me with anything I've been struggling with. Everyone should be working on themselves, to understand that we all have faults as human beings and we can all be better.
'I know that from a personal perspective it has helped me with myself at times when I felt not so great. I'm very happy now, though.'
And with good reason; her rapidly developing career would include an accurate portrayal of the late model and showgirl Mandy Rice-Davies in The Trial of Christine Keeler - a BBC drama documenting the Profumo Affair and its eventual fallout.
Another real-life portrayal would follow, with Bamber playing German Diplomat Angela Knippenberg in The Serpent, a dramatization of serial killer Charles Sobraj and his murderous rampage across south-east Asia in the 1970s.
Bamber later revealed that she had to learn Thai and hire an acting coach to help her perfect her German accent for her role in the acclaimed series.
She told Lorraine: 'It was definitely difficult, I had an amazing acting coach in the UK who helped me with my German accent and I had a local Thai teacher.
'With Thai I leaned it like a song, I was in my hotel room trying to learn it like a song. It always modulates, Thai there's an upward inflection and downward inflections o it was really helpful.'
More recently the actress entertained Disney+ subscribers with a starring role as Elora Danan in fantasy drama Willow, an adaptation of the 1988 film, co-starring Warwick Davis
Speaking in 2022 - two years before her casting as Moss - Bamber admitted she was naturally drawn to darker themes and complex characters
More recently the actress entertained Disney+ subscribers with a starring role as Elora Danan in fantasy drama Willow, an adaptation of the 1988 film, co-starring Warwick Davis.
Speaking in 2022 - two years before her casting as Moss - Bamber admitted she was naturally drawn to darker themes and complex characters.
'I am really interested in exploring the human psyche and how we, as human beings, work,' she told Town & Country.
'I'm intrigued by all types of characters who have different types of flaws and [experiences of] human suffering. I am not afraid of getting too dark because I can separate it in my mind.'
The willingness to delve deep bodes well for her latest role as catwalk icon Moss, as does her own self-confessed love of fashion.
Indeed, the style-conscious star has previously worked as an ambassador for Chanel, a role that resulted in her leading the French brand's runway show in 2017.
'Chanel's garments are pieces of art,' she told Country & Town House. 'Their archives, ateliers and the way they work is so fascinating.
'I once went to a Chanel show where I was wearing this incredible embroidered dress. A woman came up to me and said, "I made your dress!" We then had this long conversation about how long it took her and what went into it. It was such a privilege to meet her.'
Pictured on set in London, Bamber could be seen wearing a plunging sequinned dress as she recreated the model's iconic 30th birthday look and puffed on a cigarette
Bamber transformed into Kate Moss as she was seen for the first time on the set of upcoming feature film, Moss & Freud on Monday (Kate pictured right in 2004)
The famed bash, which was held at Claridge's hotel in 2004, took on the theme of F Scott Fitzgerald's book, The Beautiful And Damned
Director James Lucas is known for his Academy Award-winning live action short film The Phone Call (starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent).
Speaking about the project in February, Moss said: 'As this is such a personal story of mine it has been essential that I be involved with James in all aspects as the project has developed.
'I am thrilled by the recent casting and excited that the film will begin shooting soon, I cannot wait to see it.'
Set around Freud's Holland Park studio and London in the heady days of early 2000s Britain, the story opens up to explore Freud's mysterious past and Moss' life as a globally recognised supermodel.
At the peak of the supermodel era, she was already an icon, but at a crossroad in her life and work, agreed to sit for acclaimed painter Freud - who died in 2011 aged 88 - over an arduous, intense nine-month period at his studio in Holland Park.
Although from seemingly different worlds and often at odds, as their relationship develops the two enigmatic personalities discover they're kindred spirits with lots to learn from each other and, as a consequence, about themselves.
The process becomes cathartic, leaving both changed forever.
Moss redefined the face of fashion in the 1990s and subsequently become a global cultural icon, her career spanning more than three decades.
She has appeared on the cover of every major fashion magazine in the world, including a record 40 covers for British Vogue.
Most recently, Moss was appointed as Creative Director for Diet Coke; curating the brand's vision and identity.
She founded Kate Moss Agency in 2016, a boutique agency representing some of London's most new and exciting talent.
Freud was one of the leading artists of the 20th century. He is revered for his uncompromising figurative art and his subjects, who needed to make a very large and uncertain commitment of their time, were often the people in his life; friends, family, fellow painters, lovers or children.
His work is sold for staggering amounts and his nude portrait of Kate Moss sold in 2005 for almost £4million.
Bamber can currently be seen starring in Disney/LucasFilm's show Willow based on and serving as a sequel to the 1988 film of the same name.
In 2021, the actress starred in BBC One/Netflix co-production The Serpent and in BBC One's The Trial of Christine Keeler.
