Kaya Scodelario

Kaya Rose Scodelario is an English actress, best known for her breakthrough performance as Effy Stonem in the E4 teen drama "Skins" and as Teresa in "The Maze Runner."

With no prior acting experience, at the age of 14, Scodelario was cast in the 2007 first series of "Skins" as Effy Stonem. Upon Scodelario's arrival to the auditions she felt she was too young and became discouraged, a producer told her to stay and was asked to read for the part. While Scodelario's role had minimal speaking lines in the first series, her character developed considerably in the series during 2008, before she eventually became the central character in the 2009 and 2010 series after the cast had been replaced with a new generation of characters. This made Effy the only character to appear from series 1 right through to series 4 of "Skins." Scodelario left after the fourth series, making way for the third generation of characters. Her performance was praised by critics, and she was nominated twice in the category for Best Actress at the TV Quick Awards in 2009 and 2010.

Scodelario made her film debut in the science fiction-thriller film "Moon," which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, receiving positive reviews. In her second film "Shank," she plays a teenager called Tasha. In addition, she appeared in the 2010 remake of the "Clash of the Titans" as Peshet.

Scodelario was previously signed with Models 1 and has modeled for various magazines, including Teen Vogue, Nylon, Instyle UK, Elle UK, Dazed & Confused, Vogue and i-D. She also appears in the music videos for "Stay Too Long," "She Said," "Love Goes Down" and "Writing's on the Wall" by British musician Plan B. She can also be seen in the music video for Old Isleworth by The Ruskins and Robbie Williams 2012 Single "Candy."

In January 2012, Scodelario filmed her first American film, "Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes," in Los Angeles. She stars as the title character, Emanuel, a troubled 17-year-old girl who babysits her new neighbor Linda's "baby," which is actually a very lifelike doll. Scodelario signed on to the film franchise, "The Maze Runner," in April 2013. She starred as the lead female character, Teresa, in the first film, released in September 2014. She is also set to star in the upcoming home-invasion thriller, "Tiger House."

Scodelario suffers from dyslexia: "Watching an interesting doc on BBC Three about dyslexia, something that I have struggled with my whole life. It really affected my self-esteem."