Rose Leslie (born Rose Eleanor Arbuthnot-Leslie on 9 February 1987 in Aberdeen) is a BAFTA-winning Scottish actress. She spent three years studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating with a BA Honours degree. She is best known for playing the role of Gwen in the first season of the highly successful drama series Downton Abbey (which also featured fellow Thrones actors Iain Glen, Ron Donachie and James Faulkner), a role which allegedly contributed to her casting on Game of Thrones. Leslie is descended from Scottish nobility, and grew up in her family's ancestral castle.