Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film.

Hawkins appeared in two Woody Allen films, Cassandra's Dream (2007) and Blue Jasmine (2013); for the latter, she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

For starring as Elisa Esposito, a mute cleaning woman in the fantasy film The Shape of Water (2017), she earned critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She has also appeared in stage productions with the Royal Court Theatre in London, and in 2010 made her Broadway debut in Mrs. Warren's Profession.

[7] She attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich, and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1998.

[6] Hawkins started her career primarily as a stage actress in such productions as Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Romeo and Juliet, The Cherry Orchard, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Misconceptions.

Her first major television role came in 2005, when she played Susan Trinder in the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama Fingersmith, an adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel of the same name, in which she co-starred with Imelda Staunton.

She acted in David Hare's adaptation of Federico García Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba in 2005, at Royal National Theatre.

[10] She also had a supporting role in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream, starring Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor.

In 2008, Hawkins had her breakthrough when reunited with Leigh for a third time in the 2008 comedy-drama film Happy-Go-Lucky, portraying Poppy Cross, a kindhearted primary school teacher.

"[11] Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian that "Sally Hawkins plays [Poppy] superbly", while Tom Long of The Detroit News dubbed her performance "Oscar-worthy".

In 2013, Hawkins starred opposite Cate Blanchett and was directed by Woody Allen for the second time in the critically acclaimed film Blue Jasmine, a role for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nods for the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and other accolades.

[25] The film is based on the children's books by Michael Bond where Paddington, an anthropomorphic bear who migrates from the jungles of Peru to the streets of London, is adopted by the Brown family.

[28] In 2017 she appeared in the Guillermo del Toro film The Shape of Water, as Elisa Esposito, a mute woman who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature.