Saura Lightfoot-Leon

Saura Lightfoot-Leon (born 1 January 1998) is a Dutch-born English-Spanish actress. For her debut feature film Hoard (2023), she received two British Independent Film Award nominations. She was named a 2024 Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a 2025 Brit to Watch by Variety.

Early life

Lightfoot-Leon was born in Leiden, Netherlands to English father Paul Lightfoot and Spanish mother Sol León, both dancers and choreographers, and grew up in The Hague. Lightfoot-Leon graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Acting.

Career

As a child, Lightfoot-Leon appeared in the projected background videos of her parents' ballet and contemporary dance productions, such as Silent Screen (2005) and Stop-Motion (2014) at Lucent Danstheater in The Hague. Stop-Motion was also staged in 2018 at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Upon graduating from RADA in 2020, Lightfoot-Leon was also featured in their project with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), She Remembers, which was staged virtually.

Lightfoot-Leon's television debut was in an episode of the BBC One miniseries Life After Life in 2022. She made her feature film debut as Maria, the leading role in Luna Carmoon's film Hoard, co-starring Joseph Quinn and Hayley Squires. For her performance in Hoard, she was awarded a Special Jury Mention at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. She was nominated for the 2024 British Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performance and jointly nominated for Best Joint Lead Performance with Quinn.

In 2024, Lightfoot-Leon had a major role in the Paramount series The Agency, playing CIA field officer Daniela Ruiz Morata. She also appeared in the Apple TV WWII drama series Masters of the Air and completed work on the Netflix limited series American Primeval, a period Western.