Georgina Cates won attention for her feature film work starring opposite Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman in An Awfully Big Adventure. The story on how she got the part is perhaps as interesting as the movie itself. The story goes: Georgina Cates was an unknown 16-year-old from Liverpool when she beat out thousands of other young actresses for the coveted lead role of Stella, the feisty heroine. She had never acted before but her resemblance to the character was so striking that the casting director chose her over all the others with experience because she so clearly embodied the fresh, unstudied Stella. However, what the producers discovered after shooting, was that Georgina was more like Stella than they could have imagined. Georgina was actually actress Clare Woodgate, from London. When her photo and resume failed to result in an audition for the part, Clare was determined not to fail and so she transformed herself into the unknown Georgina and won the part, and a nomination from the London Critics Circle Awards. Perhaps she thought a bit of luck came with her ruse, because she later went on to legally change her name to Georgina Cates.
      Cates studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Oxford School of Drama. She has been nominated for a Best Actress BAFTA for her work in the BBC’s "Loving," an adaptation of Henry Green’s novel. American audiences really took note of the sexy beauty when she appeared in Clay Pigeons, opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn.
      She has twins, Jakob and Naiia, with ex-husband Skeet Ulrich.
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