Miranda Raison is an English actress born on 1980 in Burnham Thorpe on the North Norfolk coast. Her father Nick was a jazz pianist and her mother Caroline was a news reader at Anglia Television. She has four siblings namely, Ed, Rosie, Sam and May. Her brother Ed is also in the field of entertainment and is the bass guitarist for American country singer and musician Stonewall Jackson. Miranda Raison is married to Raza Jaffrey, a British actor, who was her co-star in the television spy drama Spooks.
Miranda Raison joined the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, a leading drama school in the UK, to hone her acting skills. After completing her training, she began her professional career in the small screen by playing few minor roles in TV serials. In 2001, she appeared in television series like Perfect Strangers, Emerald Farm and Dark Realm. Miranda Raison has also acted in the BBC series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. In 2002, she played Deb Willet in The Private Life of Samuel Pepys, a British television drama series.
In 2005, Miranda Raison shot into the limelight when she portrayed Jo Portman, a fictional Field Operative in the Counter-Terrorism department at MI5 in the BBC One television drama series Spooks. Since then, she has been a regular member of the acting crew of Spooks.
In April 2007, Miranda Raison appeared in two episodes, "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks", of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. In fact, her father, Nick Raison, played the piano background as part of the orchestra when she, playing Talullah, sang the number 'My Angel Put the Devil in Me' in her opening scene on "Daleks in Manhattan". Miranda Raison also made a guest appearance on the fourth episode in the second series of Totally Doctor Who, a children's television series produced by BBC to run along with Doctor Who. In 2007, she appeared in the Comedy Showcase episode "Plus One" on Channel 4, together with British actors Duncan James, Rory Kinnear and Nigel Harman.
Besides television, Miranda Raison has also starred in a few films. In 2005, she co-starred with Scarlett Johansson in Match Point, written and directed by Woody Allen. This movie dealt with the role played by luck in determining man's destiny and it was a box office hit. It was also nominated for the Oscar and the Golden Globe Awards. Miranda Raison also acted in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo directed by Mike Bigelow. In 2006, she appeared in Land of the Blind, a dark political satire, along with Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander and Lara Flynn Boyle.
In the early stages of her career, Miranda Raison had played the role of Petty Officer Lucy Radcliffe in the four part comedy series Deep Trouble, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She has also acted in few plays like Ben Hur, Don't Just Lie There, Say Something, The Rivals and Othello.
