Naomie Harris Honored With OBE From Queen Elizabeth II

Naomie Harris was honored with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth today.

NAOMIE HARRIS RECEIVES OBE FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH

An OBE is given to Brits who have made a significant contribution to their specific area of activity. Harris has starred in countless roles, and is currently up for a supporting actress Oscar for her role in Moonlight. She is also well known for playing Moneypenny in recent James Bond films.

As the daughter of an immigrant, it was with an added sense of pride that I received an OBE from the Queen today. I spent the ceremony reflecting on how my deceased grandparents would have felt seeing their granddaughter receive this kind of recognition from a country they fought so hard to be accepted by. I am proud to be British, and proud to be of Jamaican/Trinidadian descent, and I am incredibly proud of all the sacrifices my grandparents made so that I could live my dreams.

A post shared by Naomie Harris (@naomieharris) on Feb 23, 2017 at 1:01pm PST

“This is really phenomenal,” said the 40-year-old actress. “This is representing my country and being recognized for having made a contribution to the nation. It can’t get better than that.”

The 90-year-old monarch herself gave Harris her award, which is quite an honor, and Harris admits she was stunned. “I was impressed by how youthful she looked,” Harris said. “She looked incredibly young and really healthy — she has good skin.”

The actress also took the opportunity to thank Danny Boyle for jumpstarting her film career. “I credit so much to Danny Boyle. He really gave me a chance when nobody else would at the start of my career when I had no credits to my name,” Harris explained. “Then later on he gave me a part in Frankenstein at the National after having left drama school 10 years before and not having done any theater. He took a chance again and that’s how Bond happened.”