The daughter and granddaughter of actors, Emily Lloyd began acting on stage as a teenager in her native Britain. After auditioning and being initially rejected, director David Leland hired her for her film debut, in "Wish You Were Here" (1987), based on the early life of future brothel madame Cynthia Payne. The petite blonde blue-eyes actress earned stellar notices and the National Society of Film Critics Best Actress Award for her spirited portrait of a low-rent Lolita fond of the catchphrase "Up yer bum!" Hollywood beckoned and Lloyd went on to play the defiant daughter of a Brooklyn mobster
