Aimee-Ffion Edwards

Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 21 November 1987) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for her television roles as Esme Shelby in Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) and Shirley Dander in Slow Horses (2022–present), and her video game voice roles as Rachel Baker in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Mio in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Ranni the Witch in Elden Ring.

Early life and education Aimee-Ffion Edwards was born in Newport, on 21 November 1987.

Ffion is fluent in English and Welsh, having attended the Welsh-speaking schools Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd (Newport Welsh Medium Primary School) and Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw (Torfaen Welsh Medium High School). She played for a local youth rugby team, the only girl on the boys' team, until she was 14. She would often go from her ballet lessons to rugby matches. She studied A-level drama and later joined the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She was training to be a classical singer when she appeared on the Pop Idol-type Welsh language TV show Wawffactor in 2006, finishing as runner-up. In the first episode of Casualty 1909, she played a young prostitute who was being abused by her father.

In 2010, Ffion appeared in an episode of the supernatural BBC drama series Being Human as a theatre usher who is also a ghost. In 2012, she appeared in Sky Atlantic's four-part series Walking And Talking, a spin-off from an episode of Sky One's Christmas series of shorts Little Crackers. From 2013 to 2021, she appeared as Esme Shelby in the BBC series Peaky Blinders. In 2014, she appeared in two BBC Cymru Wales television productions celebrating the centenary of Dylan Thomas: as part of an all-Welsh cast in a television adaptation of Thomas' radio drama Under Milk Wood, playing the Laugharne Voice, and as Marianne in A Poet in New York, Andrew Davies' dramatisation of Thomas' last days.

In 2014, Ffion appeared as Katy in the Inside No. 9 episode "The Harrowing". From 2014 to 2015, she played Sophie in the BBC Four comedy series Detectorists. In 2016, she appeared in Death in Paradise as Sian. In 2017, she appeared in the Channel 4 comedy series Loaded. In 2019, she played Miss Aitken in BBC Three's comedy series Man Like Mobeen. In 2022, she joined the cast of Slow Horses during its second season as Shirley Dander.

Ffion will voice the character Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, which is to be dubbed into Welsh for the first time as the film prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027.

Stage Ffion made her stage debut in 2008 in SH*T-M*X at the Trafalgar Theatre in London. In 2009, she performed in Jerusalem at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2013, she appeared as Avonia Bunn in Trelawny of the Wells at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2017, she played Marcella in B, a play by Guillermo Calderón which had a limited run at the Royal Court Theatre.

Video games In 2015, Ffion voiced Rachel Baker in the video game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. In 2022, she voiced Ranni the Witch, a major non-playable character in Elden Ring and Mio in the English dub of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Filmography Film

Video games Year Title Voice roleNotes 2015 Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Rachel Baker 2020-2022 Assassin's Creed Valhalla Angharad ferch Meurig, Brigid, Tyra 2022 Elden Ring Ranni the Witch